Summary
This is a colour postcard of the south west facade of the Exhibition Building with grass and garden beds in the foreground, circa 1905. The postcard, which has a handwritten inscription and address on the reverse, was printed in Prussia as part of the Victoria Stamp Market (VSM) Series. The card depicts the Exhibition Building ornamented with what appear to be Christmas decorations.
The Exhibition Building was built for the 1880 Melbourne International Exhibition, which opened to visitors on 1 October 1880. On 9 May 1901, it hosted the opening of the First Commonwealth Parliament of Australia. By the early 20th century, picture postcards of the Exhibition Building were a popular Melbourne souvenir.
The division of the reverse of the postcard, allowing a message to be written on one half and the address on the other, was not permitted in Australia until 1905.
Physical Description
A colour tinted photograph of the south west facade of the Exhibition Building, with garden beds and lawn in the foreground tinted dark green. In the upper right hand corner the words 'Greetings from Melbourne' are embossed in gold. The card is decorated with coloured glitter. There is a white border below the photograph. On the reverse of the card there is a handwritten inscription and address. There is no date, stamp or postmark.
More Information
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Collection Names
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Collecting Areas
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Acquisition Information
Transfer from Trustees of the Royal Exhibition Building (REB), Sep 1991
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Place & Date Made
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Place & Date Depicted
Royal Exhibition Building (REB), Melbourne, Greater Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, circa 1905
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Addressed To
Miss E A Masore, New York State, United States of America, circa 1905
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Inscriptions
Obverse, text: Greetings/ from/ Melbourne; Exhibition Buildings, Melbourne Reverse, text: POST CARD; This Space may be used for correspondence; For Address only; Printed in Prussia; V.S.M. Series Reverse, handwritten: I am sending these/ by the English/ mail, I have wondered/ sometimes if we could/ not have written/ oftener Via England./ Notice how long the/ time is since you/ got the last by the/ American Mail/ J.P.; Via Adelaide/ per S.S. "Moldavia"/ Miss E.A. Masore/ c/o. Mr. W. A. Evaly ?/ 139 West 47th St/ New York/ U.S.A.
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Classification
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Category
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Discipline
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Type of item
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Overall Dimensions
139 mm (Width), 89 mm (Height)
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Keywords
Buildings, Civic Mementoes, Correspondence, Exterior Views, Postcards, Royal Exhibition Building, Souvenirs
