Spilling the Tea on Queensland’s History
- Words by Peppermint
Mid-century ‘kitchenalia’ and ‘Queenslandiana’ are having a renaissance of sorts among local designers and makers. But what do 200 tea towels en masse say about aspects of our collective memory and design aesthetic?
A vibrant tribute to the humble tea towel, the State Library of Queensland’s latest exhibition – Queensland to a T – examines just that. Dated between 1950 and 2016, the tea towels reflect our state’s changing ideas and interests – and the stubborn longevity of some stereotypes. Most of the collection was designed for popular consumption and is from the Glenn R Cooke Souvenir Textile Collection.
Collecting is about learning and these tea towels help tell the social history of the state and explain how Queenslanders saw their local communities.
Glenn, a social historian, curator and collector, believes the collection is the only one of its kind in the world. “I have searched the great cultural institutions of the world which, at most, have a handful and none have such a comprehensive focus,” he says. “For me, collecting is about learning and these tea towels help tell the social history of the state and explain how Queenslanders saw their local communities.”
Playing with themes of destination, design and domesticity, the free exhibition – which you can learn more about here – leans heavily into nostalgia and will run from 6 August to 22 January. Soak up the kitchen kitsch and take a gander at a few classic tea towels from the collection below!
left THE SUNSHINE STATE, ITEM NO. 3, GLENN R. COOKE SOUVENIR TEXTILES COLLECTION, STATE LIBRARY OF QUEENSLAND. right AUSTRALIAN PINEAPPLES, ITEM NO. 49C, GLENN R. COOKE SOUVENIR TEXTILES COLLECTION, STATE LIBRARY OF QUEENSLAND.
left LONGREACH ARTS AND CRAFTS, ITEM NO. 299, GLENN R. COOKE SOUVENIR TEXTILES COLLECTION, STATE LIBRARY OF QUEENSLAND. right GREAT BARRIER REEF, ITEM NO. 67, GLENN R. COOKE SOUVENIR TEXTILES COLLECTION, STATE LIBRARY OF QUEENSLAND.
left LORIKEET, ITEM NO. 88, GLENN R. COOKE SOUVENIR TEXTILES COLLECTION, STATE LIBRARY OF QUEENSLAND. right THE PET PORPOISE POOL COOLANGATTA TWEED HEADS, ITEM NO. 331, GLENN R. COOKE SOUVENIR TEXTILES COLLECTION, STATE LIBRARY OF QUEENSLAND.
left AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL ART, ITEM NO. 37, GLENN R. COOKE SOUVENIR TEXTILES COLLECTION, STATE LIBRARY OF QUEENSLAND. right MOOCHETH, THE IBIS, ITEM NO. 95, GLENN R. COOKE SOUVENIR TEXTILES COLLECTION, STATE LIBRARY OF QUEENSLAND.
left AUSTRALIAN WILD FLOWERS ITEM NO. 521, GLENN R. COOKE SOUVENIR TEXTILES COLLECTION, STATE LIBRARY OF QUEENSLAND. right CALENDAR FOR 1986, ITEM NO. 1298, GLENN R. COOKE SOUVENIR TEXTILES COLLECTION, STATE LIBRARY OF QUEENSLAND.
This article was created in partnership with our friends at the State Library of Queensland! Queensland to a T runs from 6 August through 22 January. Follow the link here for more details.
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“My piece of advice for makers and designers? Run your own race… make sure your key decisions stay anchored in your brand’s core beliefs.”
- Bec Bligh
Quick show of hands: who’s opened a water bottle expecting a refreshing sip… and instead been greeted by the unmistakable whiff of uh-oh?
Because for something that follows us everywhere (desk, car, hikes, yoga…), the humble drink bottle is strangely prone to becoming a science experiment. Hard-to-clean corners and gaskets. Mystery smells. Bec Bligh and her husband Tim know it well. A six-month sailing trip along the Queensland coast left them with a lifetime of memories and one stubborn annoyance: mouldy water bottles they couldn’t properly clean.
So they did something about it.
Enter @EverVessel. Thoughtfully designed borosilicate glass and stainless steel bottles that keep things beautifully simple: durable materials, wide openings, easy-to-clean parts and none of the techy gimmicks that tend to age badly. Turns out simplicity, done well, is pretty powerful stuff. (Their many design awards agree!)
And lately they’ve added a little extra delight: the Artist Series, where creatives like Paola Castro, Ben Miners and Martin Thompson transform these everyday companions into tiny travelling artworks. There are more colabs in the works, too: hydration, but make it joyful! 🎨💧
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Pull up a chair… there’s room at this table!
For the first time, Feast for Freedom is bringing people together for a spectacular long-table dinner as part of the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival.
A Longer Table is exactly what it sounds like: one beautiful shared table inside the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (@Asrc1), piled with generous dishes inspired by this year’s hero cooks, Noha and Nige.
From 6 to 9pm on Wednesday, 25 March, this is what you can expect:
🍽 A three-course shared feast
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✨ A room full of good humans
Your ticket doesn’t just buy you a delicious dinner. It supports the ASRC’s vital work and helps create a fairer future for people seeking asylum.
Seats are limited, and long tables have a way of filling up quickly – head to @MelbFoodAndWine’s website to book now: feastforfreedom.org.au/mfwf
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