Museums of History NSW - State Archives Collection

Museums of History NSW - State Archives Collection When the big hand is here ... and the little hand ...

John Cowper Twelve o'clock!

beachcomber australia Of course!

March 1921 ? - trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/15944393

"The aluminium long hand measures 9 ft."

trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/159038707/16897784 - this pic appeared in the Sydney Mail on 16th March, 1921...it was evidently taken by photographer Arthur Ernest Foster (d. 1958)...per the Sydney Mail, the clock hands were fixed in position for the first time on the previous Friday...ie. Friday, 11th March, 1921...and the clock was started on the Saturday...ie. Saturday, 12th March, 1921...

Taken from Central Station clocktower looking north. Rawson Chambers now McKell Building. Large building in background was Anthony Hordens department store, now World Square.

GrenadierGuardsDmr Thanks for the info.

Amongst other things, this pic gives a good view of the site of
Anthony Hordern & Sons' Haymarket Palace Emporium, which fronted George/Barlow/Parker Sts. By the time this pic was taken, Horderns had long since moved to their massive New Palace Emporium, which occupied the block bound by George/Pitt/Liverpool/Goulburn Sts...it was built in 1904-05. But many of the Haymarket Palace Emporium buildings remained standing for years afterwards...albeit with additions, etc...

The Haymarket Palace Emporium buildings seen here were built/rebuilt following the catastrophic July 1901 fire, which damaged and destroyed most of the original Emporium buildings...some were rebuilt in the later half of 1901...the others appear to have been built/rebuilt in the following year or so...

search.records.nsw.gov.au/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid... - link to the pic at NSW State Archives, where you can zoom in on the detail...when you get there, wait a few moments for the image to load...

City of Sydney Archives pic of Hordern's original Haymarket Palace Emorium, as it appeared in 1889

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/51979177@N02] Ha! I thought you had gone 'batty' from looking at these old photos. The poles and wires are really ugly - I think they were building the Cahill Expressway.

GoogleMapsStreetView - maps.google.com.au/maps?q=Sydney+NSW&hl=en&ll=-33...

Well that large building in the background is half built. Its the museum of contemporary art which was originally the Maritime Services Board. If I recall correctly, it was built around 1938, and unlike the Opera House it didn't take 17 years to complete, so being in a half-built condition like that should narrow down the date that the photograph was taken within about 6 months or so.
Not sure why you would have "dated earlier than 10/12/1952" so specifically, but I think this photo was taken about 1938 or thereabouts.

The tram shown in the photo doesn't appear to be a toastrack but another type (name unknown) that was in use in Sydney. The toastrack had compartments which could be entered from each side of the tram with two seats going right across the width of the vehicle. Thus each compartment lined up alongside each other and gave the impression of a toast rack with its slices of toast.

Unidentified : Collins, Gegg, O'Neil Families You can only really see one side of the trams in this image. However, I'd assume there'd be identical openings on the opposite sides allowing entry from either side of the tram.
Have a look at this image of a Toastrack 'O' class tram - there are some similarities to the trams shown in this image.
www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=208027&...
However we might need an expert in the tram field to confirm exactly what kind of tram it is!

I didn't realise that building was built in two halves.