Summary

This didactic exhibition label is from the Museum of Applied Science / Institute of Applied Science era, circa 1960, what later became Museums Victoria. The label accompanied a model of a horse drawn Reaping Machine. (See related records.)

Physical Description

Single-sided, typewritten print and handwritten title in ink on white (aged) card, mounted on thick cardboard painted blue, 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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