Skip to main content
Advanced Search
Figure in dress and child
Figure in dress and child

Figure in dress and child

Datec 1933
Object numberANMS1480[024]
NamePhotograph
MediumBlack and white photographic print on paper
DimensionsOverall: 70 x 115 mm,
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection Gift from Laurel Clode
DescriptionThis group of photographs and memorabilia are from a cruise to 'Papua' in 1933 on the STRATHAIRD, a P&O cruise ship. It includes such interesting items as a letter from the Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor to the passengers welcoming them, but also warning them about the issue of 'native children' asking for 'exhorbitant prices' for their photograph. Typed letters to family member recounts in detail the places visited and sights and events witnessed P&O pioneered cruising from Australia in 1932 when the new 23,000-ton mail steamer STRATHAIRD carried 1,100 passengers on the first cruise to Brisbane and Norfolk Island - a sailing which sold out in just one day. Small scale cruising from Sydney had long been the preserve of Australian coastal steamship companies. In 1932 both P&O and its sister company Orient Line started cruising with two of their large mail steamers. The STRATHAIRD has a signficant history, in November 1934 the Czechoslovak writer, journalist and opponent of Nazism Egon Kisch sailed on Strathaird to Australia speak at a conference organised by the Communist Movement Against War and Fascism and in 1948 the so-called 'Invincibles' Australian cricket team sailed on the STRATHAIRD.HistoryThis group of photographs and other memorabilia are from a cruise to Papua New Guinea in 1933 on the STRATHAIRD, a P&O cruise ship. It includes such interesting items as a letter from the Secretary of the Lieutenant Governor to the passengers welcoming them, but also warning them about the issue of 'native children' asking for 'exhorbitant prices' for their photograph. The material insinuates that this was the first cruise ship to visit Papua. In this time, the liner industry is quickly transforming, and the liner companies are searching for other sources of income beyond standard travel between specific ports. Because this is an early example of a cruise, and a very complete collection of material, it gives and excellent overview over this budding new business area. P&O pioneered cruising from Australia in 1932 when the new 23,000-ton mail steamer STRATHAIRD carried 1,100 passengers on the first cruise to Brisbane and Norfolk Island - a sailing which sold out in just one day. Small scale cruising from Sydney had long been the preserve of Australian coastal steamship companies. In 1932 both P&O and its sister company Orient Line started cruising with two of their large mail steamers. One of the most important elements of this collection, if also the most patronising and racist, is the excursion notes for passengers at Port Moresby, including an 'inspection of Native Village', a 'Native dance' in which the participants were 'grotesquely painted and wear fantastic masks' and a 'Native canoe race' in which passengers could book a seat for 5/-. The STRATHAIRD has a signficant history, in November 1934 the Czechoslovak writer, journalist and opponent of Nazism Egon Kisch sailed on Strathaird to Australia speak at a conference organised by the Communist Movement Against War and Fascism and in 1948 the so-called 'Invincibles' Australian cricket team sailed on the STRATHAIRD.SignificanceAs a record of the first cruise ship to visit Papua in 1933 this is a signficant collection. There are few personal cruise ship memorabilia collections from this period that include such an array of unusual material, particularly long descriptive letters and 'orders' for passengers on how to interact with local Papuans. It is also a relatively complete collection of this kind of material, depicting all aspects of early cruising.