Draft of a Bill to constitute the Commonwealth of Australia,
1891. Symon Library
I was amazed how good this draft looked after 117 years, you can tell that it wasn't a book that people took to the toilet with them and it is a testament to the level of preservation and archival processes that the National Archive of Australia is capable of. This is essentially a draft of rules by which government and all the humble servants and peasants are governed by. You probably can't get more Australian than this, except for maybe footballs, meatpies, kangaroos and Holden cars.
Hills Hoist
After a royal visit by the queen and then her mother in the early part of 1959, Hills Hoist Ltd. wanted to send the royal family a Hills hoist as a gift (seems like a perfectly natural response).
Hills sent a letter of intention to Sir Thomas Playford who was the South Australian premier at the time. Playford sent the letter on to the Governor General Field Marshal Sir William Joseph Slim. Hills Hoist Ltd. received the official word from the Governor General that the royal family is unable to accept gifts of value from commercial houses (like most authorities at that time the royals didn't want gifts that could be construed as a bribe, not officially anyway). The portion of the Hills letter shown here shows the Governor Generals hand written comment where he clearly objected to the request by writing 'I think this is utter nonsense'. The royal house never received their Hills hoist and so their dirty laundry remained behind closed doors.
Lance Hills rotary hoist received patent number 215772 on the 22nd of March 1956 but it was not the first rotary hoist to be patented. In fact going back as far as the 26th of August 1890 their was a US patent 434921 and hoists of similar design were floating around. It wasn't the whole Hills hoist that was patented as his earlier application lapsed, after which he was able to patent the winding mechanism. Regardless of these facts the Hills hoist managed to win a warm place in Australian hearts and many see it as a cultural icon.
Sources
IP Australia 2008, Hills hoist, viewed 5 March 2009, http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/patents/ex-hoist.shtml.
National Archives of Australia 2009, Find of the month - January 2005; Hung out to dry!, viewed 5 March 2009, http://www.naa.gov.au/whats-on/online/find-of-the month/past-years/2005/january.aspx.
State Library of South Australia, Advance Australia: South Australia and federation; images - constitution in the making, viewed 5 March 2009, http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/federation/slides/4/1FD_PM25b_1891SymonsNts.htm.
The inspiration room 2009, Footballs meat pies kangaroos and Holden cars, viewed 5 March 2009, http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2007/footballs-meat-pies-kangaroos-and-holden-cars/.
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