South Australia - Entertainment and the Arts
Miscellany
Further information is in Geoffrey H. Manning's A Colonial Experience
A "Sketch of the Life of Catherine Hayes", the singer, is in the Observer,
2 December 1854, page 10d.
A humorous letter headed "Amusement for the Times" is in the Observer,
30 December 1854, page 7f.
"The Fine Arts in SA" is in the Observer,
13 September 1856, page 6g,
8 October 1859, page 5g,
"The Arts in South Australia" on
15 December 1860, page 5c.
"The Literary Profession in Australia" is in the Register,
2 October 1856, page 2f.
"Literary Institutes" is in the Observer,
11 July 1857, page 5a,
5 June 1858, page 5f.
Literary societies are discussed in the Register,
10 September 1901,
4 September 1902, page 4c; also see
4 March 1905, page 8g,
6 and 7 September 1905, pages 6e and 6b,
20 April 1906, page 4d,
15 September 1906, page 6d.
Also see Adelaide - Libraries and Institutes.
"Popular Amusements" is in the Register,
5 January 1861, page 3a.
"Colonial Music" is in the Register,
12 December 1861, page 3b.
Also see South Australia - Entertainment and the Arts - Music.
A pyrotechnic display on Montefiore Hill is reported in the Observer,
2 May 1863, page 4f.
Fireworks Displays
(Taken from Geoffrey H. Manning's A Colonial Experience)
The first pyrotechnic display at which my family attended was on the evening of 27 April 1863 at the foot of Montefiore Hill. The operator was William Richards, whose advertisement stated that he had been induced, in consequence of the disappointment felt at a former exhibition of fireworks, to show that the colony was not deficient of a person who could give an appreciative display.There was a numerous attendance, though not nearly so numerous as on the occasion of Mr Wehl's exhibition some five or six months before. The weather was mild and pleasant and the moon shone brightly and this, to some extent, spoiled the general effect of the fireworks.
The First Adelaide Rifles Band was present and livened the scene by performing some martial as well as dance music. At 10 minutes to 8 o'clock a montgolfier balloon ascended, but after remaining a few minutes 'mid earth and heaven' its light was extinguished and it fell rapidly to the ground.
This was followed by several rockets and a beautiful representation of the Royal Star, the Cornish arms with the Prince of Wales's plume, shield and motto, Chinese fountain and other devices, as well as blue and other coloured lights. The display on the whole was very good, as far as it went, though we and others were disappointed at the small number of devices which were exhibited.
It was evident, however, that the performer was up to his work and only required an adequacy of funds to make a more imposing and interesting show. A collection to defray expenses was made among the spectators and it was stated that contributions would be also solicited during the week.
A display of fireworks on the north parklands "used by the SA Cricket Club" is reported in the Observer,
29 May 1869, page 5e.
A fireworks display at the Adelaide Oval is reported in the Observer,
19 March 1887, page 32c.
Also see South Australia - Miscellany - Guy Fawkes Day.
A "spelling bee" is reported upon in the Express,
31 August 1875, page 3e.
Cooper, Bailey and Company's circus is reported in the Advertiser,
12 and 20 March 1877, pages 5f and 6b.
Also see Adelaide - Entertainment and the Arts - Circuses.
"Bazaars" is in the Register,
8 and 18 October 1877, pages 4e and 6e.
Information on the phonograph is in the Express,
6 and 29 July 1878, pages 2b and 2c,
Register,
13 and 19 February 1879, pages 5a and 5b,
29 November 1890, page 4h,
Chronicle,
29 November 1890, page 14g.
Observer,
29 November 1890, page 31a.
"The Home Talking Machine" is in the Register,
4 December 1897, page 7a.
Sketches are in the Pictorial Australian in
February 1888, page 29.
Also see Adelaide - Entertainment and the Arts - Music.
- The great American inventor, Thomas Edison startled the world in 1877 when he produced the marvellous talking machine known as the 'Phonograph'. Mr A.W. Dobbie worthily followed up his work as a telephonic pioneer in South Australia by being the first to introduce this marvel of scientific circles in Europe and America. In 1878 he constructed two phonographs from descriptions published in American scientific journals and, in July of that year, I had the pleasure of attending a seance at which an instrument was tested.
Mr Dobbie's cylinder talked very audibly, although the voice of the human speaker had to be somewhat strained to secure a clear repetition as is the case with the telephone. Mr Dobbie pleased the audience by the fidelity with which the phonograph repeated a song he trolled into its mystical mouthpiece.
In February 1879 a few selected citizens of Kensington and Norwood were invited to the home of Mr T. Francis to see a few experiments with the phonograph. The instrument was 'most complete' and he informed us that he hoped to have it fitted with a clock, so as to secure a greater regularity of motion - a great desideratum with the phonograph.
The grooved brass drum on which the tinfoil rested while being punctured by the 'needle' or 'pen' was seven inches in diameter and twelve in length. The grooves were 14 to the inch and they corresponded with the reversible bar on which the drum turned backward and forward.
The whole of the instrument, except the drum, was made by Mr Francis and it contained several improvements among which was an agate point instead of a steel one for the 'pen' and some 'damping' to tone down the hard metallic sound usually given forth by phonographs.
The experiments in which we took part were interesting and successful, clearly proving the power of the phonograph to reproduce the words and even vocal tones of different speakers or singers. But the words did not always come out distinctly; indeed, as one of the company suggested, there was too great a resemblance sometimes to the music of a blowfly in a beer bottle.
The instrument also showed a partiality to some speakers and especially to nursery rhymes and such mild little stories as those about the 'Busy Bee' and 'Jack Horner'. However, a few scriptural quotations were 'reeled off' the tinfoil-covered cylinder with such marked fidelity that the words and peculiarities of pronunciation of the speakers were distinctly recognised by persons sitting two or three yards away from the instrument. A few nights later Mr Francis gave a lecture in the Norwood Town Hall on the subject 'The Telephone, Microphone and Phonograph.'
An editorial on the regulation of theatres and other places of amusement is in the Advertiser,
27 April 1880, page 4e.
Information on licensing places of amusement is in the Express,
18 October 1882, page 2c.
"Public Halls and Public Safety" is in the Register,
14 October 1884, page 4f.
"Are Bones Musical Instruments" is in the Register,
28 August 1885, page 5d.
"The Amusements of South Australians" is in the Register,
2 November 1885, page 6h.
Information on Julian E. Woods is in The Lantern,
10 September 1881, page 2.
"A South Australian Poet [Mr Chandler]", is in the Chronicle,
2 October 1886, page 18g,
"An Erratic Genius - Verses by an Early South Australian", John Bond Phipson, is in the Register on
7 December 1912, page 5b,
"Poetry in South Australia" on
11 January 1913, page 14e.
"South Australian Poetry" on
12 October 1923, page 11e.
Also see South Australia - Miscellany - Flags and Patriotic Songs.
"Centennial Colonial Band Concerts" is in the Register,
4 and 9 February 1888, pages 5b-6c and 5c,
7 March 1888, page 6e.
"The Silbon Troupe on the Oval" is in the Chronicle,
23 March 1889, page 15f.
"A Maori Troupe in Adelaide" is in the Chronicle,
19 January 1889, page 15c.
Information on the Art Needlework Society is in the Register,
26 June 1889, page 6e.
"Amusements - Old Time Memories" is in the Register,
10 August 1891, page 6c (theatre),
8 September 1891, page 6d,
26 October 1891, page 6b.
- On 26 March 1858 William Abernethy, the Australian giant, or fat boy, started his successful levees at the Masonic Hall and White's Rooms. He was a wonder in the matter of weight for age. Born at Brisbane Water, he made a successful tour of the colonies, left for England where he died, and a reference to him may be found in Buckland's Curiosities of Natural History, a book which might be read with pleasure by all our children; not so much, perhaps, for its reference to fat boys, but for the account it contains of the celebrated Jamrachs establishment, to which at one time our native birds, etc., were exported by thousands.
"Church and Stage" is in the Register,
17 March 1893, pages 4h-6d.
Also see South Australia - Religion.
A proposed brass bands' association is discussed in the Register,
7 February 1894, page 5c.
"Music, Shows and the Australian Public" is in the Register,
21 September 1895, page 4h.
"Pantomime, Circus and Other Entertainment" is in the Register,
14 May 1898, page 4f.
A sketch of the audience at a pantomime is in the Australasian Sketcher,
21 February 1974, page 200.
Biographical details of "the young SA soprano", Miss Lulu Gillespie, are in the Register,
17 August 1899, page 4i,
18 and 28 September 1899, pages 5c and 3h,
28 and 29 March 1900, pages 5b and 5a,
31 July 1900, page 4h,
Observer,
23 September 1899, page 16a,
31 March 1900, page 22c,
7 April 1900, page 32c.
"A Mutilated Bill" on the licensing of places of public entertainment is discussed in the Advertiser,
26 October 1904, page 4c.
"A Warning to Vocalists - A Chat With Mr T.H. Jones" is in the Express,
12 February 1903, page 4f.
"Singing as a Profession" is in the Advertiser,
22 November 1906, page 4d.
"People at Work - The Lantern Operator" is in the Register,
7 February 1908, page 5e.
"Two Wonderful Instruments - Episcope and Projection Lantern" is in the Advertiser,
13 August 1908, page 8h.
Also see Adelaide - Suburbs for an essay on a lantern operator.
"A New Singer - Miss Clara Kleinschmidt" is in the Register,
14 and 15 December 1908, pages 6c and 9g,
29 January 1909, page 7f.
"South Australian Singers" is in the Register,
28 April 1909, page 6e.
An obituary of Miss Jessie Redpath, singer, is in the Register,
14 August 1909, page 13b.
"Arrival of Houdini" is in the Register,
7 February 1910, page 9c.
"Government and Sunday Entertainment" is in the Observer,
12 November 1910, page 40e,
"Sunday Entertainment" is in the Advertiser,
10 and 18 March 1911, pages 7c and 18d,
"Sunday Concerts" in the Chronicle,
22 April 1911, page 40d; also see
Register on
15 and 18 July 1914, pages 12d and 11i,
"Sunday Amusements" is in the Advertiser,
2 March 1931, page 8d.
Also see South Australia - Religion - Breaking the Sabbath.
The reminiscences of Charles Cawthorne are in the Register,
22 and 29 June 1912, pages 7e and 5a.
"Public Entertainments - The Safety of Patrons" is in the Express,
30 January 1914, page 3a.
Biographical details of Alice G. Rosman, author, are in the Register,
21 August 1915, page 4g,
31 March 1928, page 5d.
"SA Novelist [Alice G. Rosman] is Adelaide's Best Seller" is in the Observer,
8 March 1930, page 51c,
11 September 1930, page 51c.
Biographical details of Miss Doris Leech, singer, are in the Register,
21 and 25 October 1916, pages 8f and 8i.
"Shadow Shows" is in the Register on
14 September 1918, page 6c,
"Reminiscences - Old-Time Entertainments" on
30 July 1921, page 12e (includes lantern slide lectures, circuses, etc).
"The People's Amusement - Theatre, Music and Pictures" is in the Observer,
8 January 1921, page 37b.
Biographical details of Mrs F.H. Rix, authoress, is in the Register,
24 February 1921, page 6h,
5 March 1921, page 5d (photo.),
of Miss Winifred Jenkins, authoress, on
21 June 1924, page 5e,
of Mrs E. Sandery, author, on
25 November 1924, page 4d,
of James Sadler, author, on
14 June 1927, page 8h.
"An Australian Composer - Kenneth Duffield's Career" is in the Observer,
2 July 1921, page 20e.
"Sheepman and Song Writer - Kenneth Duffield and His Revues" is in The Mail,
7 April 1923, page 2d.
"Fortune Telling and Amusement" is in the Observer,
12 November 1921, page 33e.
"Fortune-Telling from the Tea-Cup" is in the Observer,
15 December 1923, page 25c.
Also see South Australia - Miscellany - Fortune Telling, Spiritualism .
"Free Wireless Concerts" is in the Register,
3 and 4 September 1923, pages 8f and 13b.
Also see South Australia - Communications - Wireless and Radio .
Biographical details of Mr & Mrs Harold Gard, singers, are in the Register,
21 August 1924, page 10f,
7 January 1925, page 8h,
21 January 1926, page 3d.
"Crossword Limerick Competition" is in the Register,
20, 23 and 25 June 1925, pages 10d, 8d-9c and 9e,
22 August 1925, page 9c,
12, 23 and 25 September 1925, pages 11c, 9c and 9d,
Observer,
27 June 1925, pages 41e-61c,
29 August 1925, page 46a,
26 September 1925, page 47b.
An obituary of Mrs Margaret Box, author, is in the Register,
12 November 1925, page 8f.
"An Adelaide Writer", Mr Arthur Gask, is in the Advertiser,
21 May 1926, page 11g.
"Entertainment for Young People" is in the Advertiser,
14 August 1926, page 17d.
"The Floating Palais" is in the Advertiser,
11 August 1927, page 11e.
Also see South Australia - Social Matters - Dancing and Other Sins .
"SA Authors - Representative Novelists and Poets" is in the Register,
10 September 1927, pages 4e-4e-8d,
Observer,
17 September 1927, page 20a.
"Some SA Authors" on
10 April 1930, page 54b.
"Adelaide Authors" is in the Register,
24 August 1928, page 10f.
A lengthy series of articles on young South Australian organists, musicians, singers, etc, commence in The Mail
on 21 April 1928, page 14c.
"Old and Modern Songs Compared" is in The News,
31 May 1928, page 12d,
"Songs Our Parents Used to Sing" on
22 January 1934, page 4e; also see
16 and 19 October 1934, pages 7c and 6f.
"What Is Popular Music?" is in the Register,
27 September 1930, page 8c.
"Society Bitten by Contract [Bridge] Germ" is in The News,
30 March 1932, page 9d; also see
9 July 1932, page 6a.
"Yo Yo Becomes an Industry - Under School Ban" is reported in the Advertiser,
6 October 1932, page 8h.
"Sideshows of Other Days" is in the Advertiser,
16 September 1933, page 9c.
"Mending and Making Violins in SA" is in The Mail,
23 September 1933, page 15.
Also see Adelaide - Entertainment and the Arts - Music under "Violins and Violinists".
"Amusements of Pioneer Housekeepers" is in the Advertiser,
7 August 1934, page 8d.
Also see Adelaide - Housing, Architecture and Ancillary Matters - Domestic Matters .
Reminiscences of skittle alleys are in the Advertiser,
26 May 1936, page 19a.
Entertainment and the Arts - Choose again
