Pastimes & hobbies

Bessie Rouse’s scrap album & the first Australian Christmas cards

A nineteenth-century scrap album, carefully stored in a bookcase at Rouse Hill House, holds hidden treasure – if you know what you’re looking at

Child's stoneware tea set

Child's play

The imagination of a child can turn the simplest toy into a prized possession

DES_JP2012_0010_1_4b.jpg

Come in spinner!

Gambling in Australia is regulated by the state and some types of gambling are illegal. The game Two-up, with its catch cry of ‘Come in Spinner!’, is legal only on Anzac Day and only in some states

Black and white photo of group on path framed by Norfolk Island pines.
WW1

Cupid camouflaged: a Red Cross silent movie

Cupid camouflaged is a lost film from the era of Australian silent movies, and was produced in 1918 as a fundraiser for the war work of the Australian Red Cross

Model of a ghost train railway bridge with ghosts.

From the collection: ghost train model

In this small timber working model, Peter Kingston re-created the ghost train ride from Sydney’s Luna Park

Objects on table in the morning room, Elizabeth Bay House

Here and there: music at home in Sydney and London, 1830–1845

On the 28th of March 2017, concert goers at Elizabeth Bay House experienced a magical evening contrasting two different musical worlds

Taronga Zoo

History of Taronga Zoo

Can you imagine Sydney Harbour without Taronga Zoo perched on Bradley’s Head at Mosman? For one hundred years families have been making the trip by ferry, tram and car to see the exotic and native animals at Taronga and get a picturesque view of the harbour

Illustration of man on horse.

Lennie Gwyther

Lennie ‘the Legend’ Gwyther spent his childhood running around the foothills of Leongatha in country Victoria with his four younger siblings and his prize-winning pony, Ginger Mick

Patrons, drinks raised, crowd a pub bar with a clock showing 10 pm.

Sydney’s Pubs: liquor, larrikins & the law

Sydney’s Pubs: liquor, larrikins & the law explores the colourful and complex history of the city's watering holes