Category: Australian Folklore
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Documenting Play: From the Front Line
This article was published in Play and Folklore no. 66, December 2016, by Museum Victoria. In 2007 and 2008 I had the privilege of working for the Childhood, Tradition and Change project as a fieldworker. The project was funded by the Australian Research Council Linkage Project Scheme and received additional support from the National Library of Australia,…
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Halloween in Australia? It’s been here much longer than you might think…
Earlier this month, farmer Rusty Dredge was preparing to harvest around 150,000 jack-o’-lantern pumpkins on his farm near Broome, WA. Most of these pumpkins will have now made their way to homes in Western and South Australia where they’ve been stabbed, hacked at, and lovingly transformed into ghoulish lanterns for Halloween. A steadily growing celebration in Australia, many…
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Superstition, Shoes & Secrets – Australia’s History of Concealed Objects and Evil-Averting Symbols.
WATCH VIDEO: Below is a transcript of the content that appears in the video (with a few extra pictures and a comment here and there): 1863 Sydney, Australia George and Mary Hurley move into a house in Lower Fort Street, Dawes Point. During this period, families often lost their children to disease and illnesses that pose no threat today. Life expectancy was significantly…
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The Writing on the Wall. Latrinalia: Graffiti from the Restroom.
Latrinalia. The poetry of the bathroom (a.k.a the lavatory, the loo, dunny, closet, privy, urinal, latrine, washroom, little boy’s or little girl’ room, powder room, bogger, john, crapper, pissoir or water closet).
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Superstitious? A Snapshot of Modern & Remembered Superstitions & Beliefs.
There’s something about this picture that may (or may not) make you feel queasy… Meet Effie Conigrave, age 17 and dressed as ‘good luck’ in 1887. We’re given no clues as to why she’s dressed as ‘good luck’. Nor do we know if this outfit actually did bring her any luck. Based on her frock…
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Australia Votes: A Long Campaign in Memes. Dank memes, #FakeTradie and what we’ve been sharing. #MemeWars #MemeElection
Do you remember where you were when the upcoming Federal Election was announced? Me neither, though I do recall feeling queasy, vowing to stop watching the news and preparing for the inevitable onslaught of mind-numbing slogans, over-simplified arguments and social media stunts. Seventy-five days sentenced to political hell. Election campaigns are a bit like witnessing a nasty car…
A Hidden Culture 