Summary

This didactic exhibition label from the Museum of Applied Science presents the use of a new pesticide, benzene hexachloride for use in combating cabbage aphis, green peach aphis, thrip and the red-legged earth mite.
Dating from the circa 1950 era of the Applied Science arm of what later became Museums Victoria, this label employs a standard approach for Applied Science. It illustrates the etiology and presents the percentages for mixing a spray solution. The accompanying exhibit presented a sample of Gammexane No. 50 Dispersible Power, presented by Ramsay & Treganowan Ltd.

Physical Description

Single-sided, typewritten print and handwritten title in ink on white (aged) card, mounted on thick cardboard, 5mm border.

Significance

The Historic Exhibition Labels Collection illustrates the changing styles in didactic interpretation, aesthetics and approaches to audiences engagment throughout the history of Museums Victoria. From the earliest days of the National Museum of Victoria in the mid 1800s, through the various incarnations of the Applied Sciences collection, to the amalgamation of all the branches into Museums Victoria, the labels chart a course through the changes in audience needs and desires. There are beautiful examples of hand-written Ninteenth Century labels, some examples of extremely long didactic panels from the early twentieth century, and rare and unusal fonts in the mid twentieth century. The collection also illustrates the transition from hand-written and painted labels to the use of typewriters, then Letraset, and ultimately printed labels, culminating in the large format digital print room being introduced at Melbourne Museum in 2000.

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