It’s not so fashionable these days, it seems, but there was a time when group photographs of people at their workplaces were standard fare. Here is a gallery of workplace photos, mostly from Newcastle, NSW.
A staff photo from Newcastle’s BHP steelworks in 1935 – the company’s jubilee year. The photo came from Mrs Jan Collins, whose mother, Esme Moodie, is in the picture. Esme married Christopher Windsor in 1933, but kept her maiden name at work. She left work in 1936 to raise her family. Her husband was a crane driver at BHP’s open hearth and in 1946 was badly burned at work. He managed to return to work – with great difficulty – but was never the same after the accident. He was killed in a motorbike accident in 1956 and Esme had to go back to work.
Staff at Wallsend District Hospital in the 1940s. Photo from Nance McKinnon.
Employees at Newcastle’s Tooth’s Brewery.
Staff of tailoring company A. Dodd and Co in Newcastle, circa 1935. Photo from Dawn Payne.
Employees at the electric lampworks in Hamilton North in the 1940s.
Letts clothing factory at Cessnock, circa 1940s. Photo from Dorothy CooperStaff of The Newcastle Sun, on January 1, 1935, when the paper was taken over by The Newcastle Morning Herald. Photo from Julie AinsworthUsherettes at Newcastle’s Victoria Theatre in the war years of the 1940s. L to R: Billie Williams, Dot Corbett, Lorna McKie, Helen Haggerty, Francis Smith, Norma Whittaker, Gwen Noble, Dulcie Lindsay. Photo from Max DonnanNewcastle Co-op store hardware department. Mr Mahaffey and unnamed staff members.Grocery counter of the Co-op store, Newcastle, May 1955. L to R: Ross Black, Barry Reeve, Arthur Joliffe, Joe Proudlock, Alan Power, Bevan Godwin, Lin Mason, Albert Pitt. Photo from Alan PowerStaff of Davies and Cannington printers, Newcastle, 1940s. Photo from Norman MeadStaff at Caldwell’s jewellers, Newcastle. Photo from Geoff Caldwell
Hello Greg. The photo of usherettes at the Victoria Theatre. Norma Whittaker third from the right is my mother. (Mrs Maurice Finnegan, in the old style). Born in 1923, She would have been in her early 20’s if this photo was taken mid 1940’s. We can discuss how I can obtain a good digital copy for my family archive. Anthony
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Hello Greg. The photo of usherettes at the Victoria Theatre. Norma Whittaker third from the right is my mother. (Mrs Maurice Finnegan, in the old style). Born in 1923, She would have been in her early 20’s if this photo was taken mid 1940’s. We can discuss how I can obtain a good digital copy for my family archive. Anthony