Recollect: Health and Medicine. More from our Powerhouse Museum Visit.

Through a doorway, I saw what looked like a very interesting exhibit...and I was right; it was fascinating! I've copied the blurb from the museum's website.

'Explore the history and innovation of public health and medicine in this exhibition showcasing more than 1,000 objects from our extensive collection.

See beautifully realised anatomical models, surgical instruments from the 19th century to present day, taboos and strange historic medicine, and cutting-edge prosthetics and other examples of body enhancement. Be fascinated and intrigued by the Museum’s broad range of contraceptives, one of the most comprehensive collections in the world.'

The first cabinets featured numerous contraceptive devices...



And those information booklets from yesteryear...😉




Remember these?



Who knew there were so many varieties?



A teaching tool?



Some 'gynaecologicall/obstetrics items...



With DH being fitted with a pacemaker last December, I was particularly interested in this display of these devices over the last 40 plus years...



I took a closeup of the first one on that display board...it was quite large!



There were lots of shelves with pills and potions from years ago...





Soaps...



I remember the radio ads for these two items when I was growing up. That was before these over the counter powders were link with kidney disease/failure...horrid stuff! 😕



This urn like vessel was really an interesting piece. It's a container for the storage of leeches which would be used for medical purposes. The urn would be filled with water and leeches up to a few inches below the lid. The lid had to be extremely heavy as apparently leeches are 'escape artists'...eek!



Some old dentist tools...



An iron lung...



X-ray machines...



And an old NSW ambulance...



I'm sure that there were many more photos I could have taken in this exhibit...it was fascinating and what memories the items brought back. But I think I prefer modern day medical items. 😉

More of our Powerhouse Museum Visit.

As it's name suggests, this Sydney museum is in a repurposed Powerhouse. The building is large and on several levels. I imagine that many of these floors have been added into what was once a huge cavernous space. The wedding dress exhibition was on Level 4 and DH and I then walked down the ramp to Level 3 and that's what this post is all about. 
There is a huge space that soars up to the roof line...Lawrence Hargrave with his invention; a box kite is in this vast space.

At floor level is an old steam train engine with a few carriages.

I joked with DH that if we had have lived in the era of this train, we probably would have only afforded to travel in the 3rd class carriage...😉not very salubrious that's for sure! Lol

Behind the train was another very old vehicle...quite cute really! Lol

The theatrette at the museum was modelled on the Art Deco style of the Kings Theatre Chain. There was a meeting of some sort going on inside the theatrette so we couldn't explore inside, so just a photo of DH in the foyer.

Still on level 3, we walked through some more of the exhibits...they were quite an eclectic lot! I'm just posting a few of the many items.
A car...

Some clothing...
A crocheted dress that was worn by actor, Cate Blanchett, which she called her 'Cate Blanket'!

Aussie pop singer Johnny O'Keefe's suit...

A Jenny Kee ( an Aussie knitwear designer! sweater similar to the one that Princess Di wore...

Furniture...very avant-garde at that!

The sofa nicknamed 'The Marilyn'...
Another lounge...

There was a little display cabinet of Smurfs.

There was an example of an Enigma cipher machine which had been developed by the Germans after their codes were constantly being deciphered in WW1. During the Second World War the Allies actually were able to again break Axis codes...remember Bletchley Park!

Throughout the museum there were iPads which provided information about the exhibits...

It was scrolling through this iPad that I saw that there was an Enigma machine on display. When I found this machine, I saw something beside it that made me go, 'Wow!'

Yes, one of the first Apple computers; what a contrast with those iPads being used in the museum! 😳
Something quirky? A parade float called Granny Smith, which featured an old Hills Hoist clothes line and lots of green apples.

In another exhibition hall there was a display based on old style shops...

A lady standing beside me commented on the gun cartridges on display in the middle of old haberdashery items!

The next photo prompted old memories of our school days...pen nibs to use with the ink in the inkwells in our old school desks...

A very elegant old cash register...

A ad poster...my mum used to use 'blue bags' to whiten whites on washing day but I think she used Reckitts brand.

Then it was time to move to the next level down. And I've already written about the Annette Kellerman exhibition which was just one of the displays on that level. It was certainly a busy morning/early afternoon for us! 

Rubber Ducks; additions to DD1's collection.

I've previously written  a post about my older daughter's love of rubber ducks. On our travels DH and I have found a few different ones for her collection. It's a lot of fun seeing the variety of these little critters that's out there! 😉 
DD1 is getting married next month and I checked out an online shop that I'd found early this year as I thought this was a perfect excuse to add to her collection of rubber ducks. This shop in Amsterdam sells an extraordinary range of rubber ducks!!

A bride and bridegroom rubber ducks!

And the parcel arrived yesterday, just in time for me to present them to the bride to be at a 'girls dinner' tonight. She loved them! 💕

Million Dollar Mermaid; Annette Kellerman Exhibition

DH and I were very fortunate to see the Powerhouse Museum's Exhibition on the swimmer Annette Kellerman (1886-1975) This tribute to quite an extraordinary woman ran for 12 months; from August 10 2016 to August 10 2017, so we just made it!

Here is a link to the media release which  explains who Annette was. As well being an accomplished swimmer, long distance and synchonised  swimming, a vaudeville performer and she was an actor in the US silent film industry. But the main thing I learned from this exhibit was that she was a woman who fought for women's rights at a time when such things were unheard of. Here's some info about her from good old Wikipedia! 😊

The displays featured a wide range of exquisite costumes worn by Annette, memorabilia, as well as movie footage.
Below is the costume that Annette was wearing in the photo I took of the 'still' of the movie in the previous photo.






A close up of the beautiful mermaid costume...which wasn't actually worn by Kellerman. Esther Williams wore it when she played Annette in the 1952 movie, The Million Dollar Mermaid. ( I loved those Esther Williams movies which would run on Australian TV during school holidays in the 1960s! )
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More costumes, ranging from the 'neck to knees' costumes on the left to some quite 'adventurous' ones as the 20th century advanced! 😉

A gorgeous, rather ethereal looking gown and cloak worn by Annette...

Lots of wigs too...and glamorous head coverings...

More items to admire...


The exhibition also showed how hard Annette worked for the war effort. ( WW2)

A great exhibition Sydney Powerhouse Museum!