“When you walk into a major supermarket chain and nestling somewhere between the fruit and veg and the tins of
beans, you find a six foot tall display stand full of re-issue vinyl LPs, you know that the vinyl revival is truly rocking,” says Martin Hughes.
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You might say the Historical Radio Society of Australia is akin to a multi-location Australian museum, since most of its 1200 members are stewards of significant collections of historical radios…
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Inspired by the upcoming Voice to nation, Mark Duff researches an ignominious chapter of Australian history and an enduring mystery.
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It could be true that there’s a buyer for everything on eBay. At the very least, there seem to be some buyers very keen to own old VHS tapes. Yes, you read that correctly.
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Throughout history people have invented machines, devices and contrivances to improve all aspects of our lives. Author Damien Lewis decided it was time to reintroduce some of them.
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We trace the history of the violin, viola and cello from the medieval fiddle, through the peak of perfection reached by Stradivari down to contemporary instruments.
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The Astor Radio Corporation was established in South Melbourne in 1926, at a time when most radios were offered in a standard wood stain case. Astor set itself apart almost straight away by offering radios in varying colours, but it was the introduction of the famous ‘Mickey’ series of Astors that brought the company its early success.
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They’ve captured history in the making, from world wars to space flight. International triumphs, coronations and royal weddings sit beside great disasters and, sometimes, just a family picnic immortalised on film. Perhaps that’s why the camera captures our interest and intrigues us.
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You’ve probably never heard of Edwin Land, but we bet you’ve used his inventions many times in your life. Edwin Land invented Polaroid film and the instant Polaroid camera, whose images provide a contemporary background to the 1960s and ‘70s in a way that today’s digital cameras will never be able to do.
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The valve mantel radio first appeared around 1930, when companies began putting the valves and radio chassis inside a case and incorporating a speaker in one complete unit. Before then, radios looked more technical. Speakers were always a separate entity, and often shaped like a gramophone horn. But by 1956 the valve radio was on the way out. Sony had developed the transistor chip, and overnight the valve set was redundant. New transistors could be powered on batteries, were small, lightweight and truly portable. Quite a revolution.
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