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Note: You can find two more videos over at the fantastic australian screen website.

From the State Library of Victoria

A SPIRIT OF PROGRESS

The Spirit of Progress train is a potent symbol of 1930s Modernism and technological achievement in Australia. This enduring icon of Australian train transport ran the Melbourne to Albury section of the Melbourne-Sydney rail link in continuous service from 1937 to 1986, with the engines replaced by diesels in 1953-54.

Stephenson & Meldrum’s input into the design of the Spirit began in 1935. In preparation for the task, and with no prior knowledge of such work, extensive overseas research on all facets of train design was undertaken. The firm’s involvement was comprehensive, ranging from producing early exterior sketches of the train’s shape, to consulting on every minute detail of interior finishings from furniture, fittings, blinds and curtains, to selection of crockery and table covers, right down to the numbering of the seats and carriages and the type and placement of lettering.

Innovations included air-conditioning, concealed lighting, stainless steel baggage racks with individual reading lights, and a modern galley kitchen modelled after the most up-to-date hospital kitchens of the period.

The train was given ‘Australian character’ through the use of Australian materials, with panelling of blackwood for the parlour car and Queensland brown beech for the dining car. According to an Argus newspaper report of the time, it made an impressive sight: ‘The eye … sweeps down the long line of carriages, unbroken by any gap or join. The great gold lines that gleam at the sides of the locomotive wings sweep away, and the whole thing immediately assumes a grace that is difficult to reconcile with such huge size’.

The Spirit consisted of First and Second Class cars, a dining car with kitchen, and a parlour observation car with smoking saloon. The engines were each named after historical identities associated with Victoria: Matthew Flinders, Edward Henty, Sir Thomas Mitchell, and Charles Joseph La Trobe.

The entire train was designed and manufactured in Melbourne’s Newport Railway Workshops.

Design & Innovation
When introduced, the train featured many innovations new to Australian railway practice, such as streamlining, full air-conditioning, and all-steel carriage construction. Its overall exterior and interior design reflected the latest Art Deco style, and interior fittings used materials such as stainless steel and native Australian blackwood veneers.

The luxurious new train also featured a dining car with a modern galley kitchen modelled after the most up-to-date hospital kitchens of the period and, at the rear, a round-ended parlour/observation car offering panoramic views of the Victorian countryside as it disappeared into the distance.

Learn more about the S Class Steam Locomotives that powered the Spirit of Progress.

I’ve only had a chance to gaze through into the windows of “Smart Alec”, as it doesn’t open till 10am, but they appear to stock quite a few panama hats from what i can see. I will try and pop into the shop next week and check it out in more detail.

I only ran across it because I get my morning coffee and croissant during the week from a great little cafe (run by a Frenchman, Anthony Sergent) called “La niche Café” which is right next door to it.

Two fur-felt styles called Stingy Brim and Trilby as well as a polypropylene straw (Punter) and a hemp braid straw (Casablanca) will hit retail shelves in October.

Stingy Brim

Trilby

Punter

Casablanca

AKUBRA has also introduced a new country style called Kokoda as well as a western style called Golden Spur. Both these hats come with 3 eyelets.

Kokoda

Golden Spur

What a great idea :)

The Brick Room

The Red Room

The Green Room

Maybe its time I started to plan my next trip to NZ ;)

Sydney - Saturday the 11th & Sunday the 12th of October 2008
Hunters Hill Town Hall, Masonic Temple & RSL Hall, Alexandra Street, Hunters Hill
Saturday 11th October 10 am - 5 pm
Sunday 12th October 10 am - 4 pm
Admission: Adults $12

Hats at Hunters Hill - link
That first Tuesday in November is approaching. And you need a HAT. Not just any hat but a hat that no one else will have. Maybe a 20s cloche, or a 50s floral, or a 30s picture hat, or a 60s pillbox. And, of course, you need the outfit to go with it. And the killer shoes. And the right bag. And you’d like your escort to make a bit of an effort, too. Where better to find it all than The Way We Wear Vintage Fashion & Textile Fair - your final opportunity for 2008 to find that perfect piece of vintage, that rare collector’s piece or that fan, parasol, perfume bottle or piece of lace to complete your decor scheme at home.

Canberra - Saturday the 1st of November 2008
Albert Hall, Commonwealth Avenue, Canberra
Saturday 1st November 10 am to 6 pm

One Day Special - link
By popular demand, The Way We Wear Vintage Fashion & Textile Fair is back for a special ONE DAY EVENT at Albert Hall on Saturday 1st November. Canberra vintage lovers didn’t want to wait round till next year for another Fair so we managed to secure the fabulous Albert Hall for one day only on 1st November. So, if you’re looking for that special one-off hat to wear to a Melbourne Cup lunch or just to watch it on TV, you mustn’t miss it.

Melbourne - Saturday the 22nd & Sunday the 23rd of November 2008
Williamstown Town Hall, Ferguson Street, Williamstown

Time to save those pennies folks :)

The Sydney Vintage Clothing, Jewellery and Textiles Show

Over 60 exhibitors from all over Australia will be selling vintage and antique clothing and accessories, antique and vintage jewellery, linen, lace and textiles and small collectables. The show will also feature a presentation of vintage fashions, lectures by Guest Speakers, Swing Dancers, Demonstration of Vintage Makeup and Hairstyle Techniques and other fabulous entertainment.

When: Friday night 17th, Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th October
Where: Canterbury Park Function Centre, Canterbury Racecourse, King Street Canterbury Sydney.
Cost: $12 for adults, concession and weekend pass available.

You can find more info over at their webpage.

The storyline is interesting and the artwork is spectacular. It’s being released in Italian by a comic book publisher later this year and i can’t imagine it will be to long before its picked up by an English language publisher either.

Its based during the prohibition period in St Louis (Missouri), and the characters are all cats. You really should just go and check it out for yourself.

Cliff Hardy, born and raised in working class Maroubra, ex-army, law student dropout, insurance company investigator turned Private Eye, has a love-hate relationship with his time and place. He embraces the best aspects of Australian life - the tolerance, the classlessness, the vigorous urban and rural culture - while despising the greed and the conservatism that are constantly threatening to undercut what he sees as “real Australia”.

Inevitably drawn into the ambit of the people he deplores, Hardy struggles to resolve his cases while remaining true to his own threatened values. The professional challenges spill over into his personal life where he is never on firm ground.

When i last reported on the 12th of September, i had just finished re-reading the 8th book in the series called “Deal me Out”.

It’s now moved onto the 1st day of October and last night i finished re-reading the 17th book in the series called “Matrimonial Causes”.

The Greenwich Apartments

Is brilliant young film maker Carmel Wise the innocent victim of gangland violence or is she enmeshed in a pornography racket as the press and the police imply? Carmel’s businessman father hires Cliff Hardy to find the real reason ‘the video girl’ was shot dead outside the Greenwich Apartments in Kings Cross.

The tail takes him to the sunny perninsula, leafy Lane Cove and the industrial waterfront. Hardy finds that every question and every answer had to be paid for in pain and fear. nd to some questions there may be no answers at all…

The January Zone

Politician Peter January is having trouble staying alive so he hires Cliff Hardy to help him. Hardy dislikes the role of politician’s ’security consultant’ but he dislikes bombers, hitmen and hate-mailers even more.

To stand close to January is to stand close to danger and corruption, but there are even greater evils and Hardy cannot back away…

Man in the Shadows

Gareth Grenway wasn’t all he seemed, but Cliff Hardy was used to that. What he wasn’t used to was the shadowy world Greenway leads him into: neurosurgeons, mental patients, AIDS sufferes, all negotiating a landscape of dreams and delusions. An old firend of Hardy’s ends up dead while Hardy chases the shadows, catching some, losing others.

The accompanying stories find Hardy on more familiar ground. When organised crime, political corruption and the Australian army are involved, Hardy battles the odds. But when it comes to a man-to-man contest, put your money on Hardy to win.

O’Fear

Everybody liked Barnes Todd: Korean War veteran, slightly dodgy businessman, good drinking mate. When he was wiped out in a car sout of Sydney, people were lining up to say how sorry they were. Head of the queue was Todd’s widow Felicia, closely followed by his business and army cronies.

Cliff Hardy hadn’t a clue, but business in the private eye game was slow, so he agreed to try and find out. And quickly came into contact with a lot of less-than-lovely people… especially the enigmatic Kevin O’Fearna, known as O’Fear.

Wet Graves

Someone’s trying to cancel Cliff Hardy’s licence, and he needs to find out why.

Finding the answers takes all his contacts - police, underworld and press - and keeps Hardy moving across Sydney, asking questions, probing the past… and finding the bodies.

Aftershock

When Oscar Bach’s body was found crushed under rubble, his death was classified as another tragic statistic of the Newcastle earthquake. So how could he have been seen alive five minutes after the quake? Who would want this man dead?

Hardy thought he needed the work, but did he need it this badly?

Beware of the Dog

The woman was dangerous, even over the phone. Cliff Hardy knew he should have listened to his instincts when he first met Paula Wilberforce.

He has to find the answers quickly, before the murderer strikes again. The only lead he has is a mutilated photograph. Whose face is it? And what are those strange shadows in the background?

Burn and other stories

This collection of stores finds Cliff Hardy in his usual milieu of inner Sydney mixing with the good, the bad and the quirky as he works on his cases.