courier

From The Powerhouse Museum's "Photo Of The Day" blog: "If you look at the larger version of this image on Flickr you can see several signs have been placed on the building that reads ‘Many happy returns of the day’. You can clearly see a large group of people gathering out the front of the building and some of the ferries are full of passengers. What was so special about this day?"

Looks like it might be something about Mort & Co.? www.mortco.com.au/history.html "The name Mort & Co has been associated with Australia’s agricultural industries for decades. This link was first established in 1843 when Thomas Sutcliff Mort established Mort & Co as an auctioneering and brokering business specifically focusing on selling wool. This business developed and became a leading pastoral house before merging with R Goldsbrough & Co in 1888 to form Goldsbrough Mort & Co. Goldsbrough Mort & Co continued to grow, and in 1962 merged with Elder Smith & Co to form Elder Smith Goldsbrough Mort & Co Ltd. Consolidation continued, and in 1981 Elder Smith Goldsbrough Mort & Co Ltd merged with Henry Jones IXL to form Elders IXL which today trades as Elders. Charlie Mort, the proprietor of Mort & Co is a great-great-great nephew of Thomas and is proud of the mark that his ancestors have had on the Australian agricultural industry."

Info about the founder, Thomas Mort: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Sutcliffe_Mort ... which says he apparently died in 1878, so it wasn't his birthday, if indeed this pic is from 1900 :)

I was wondering if it might have something to do with the ferries... and they just hung the note on the Mort & Co. building because it was right there ;) Not sure if a merger would be classified as a birthday, as such...

@ Powerhouse Museum Collection - the Justice and Police Museum is one corner south. Tweddle's Belmore Hotel "First & Last" as seen from the other direction: www.flickr.com/photos/powerhouse_museum/2362703683/

info and even more Helio info from this link - 1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/Larkins/9946.htm N4002M Helio H-800 Courier prototype MSN H-1. H-700 Courier, H-295 with new undercarriage, wing carry-through structure, upturned wingtips and 350 hp Lycoming TIO-540-J2B turbocharged piston engine in new cowling. H-800 Courier, H-700 with 400 hp Lycoming IO-720-A1B engine, prototype N4002M c/n H-l, first flown March 24, 1983. Combined H-700/H-800 production totaled eighteen, c/n H-1 to H-18." This picture will date from around 1983.

It is believed that that suburb of Fig Tree Pocket was named after a remarkably large fig tree. The Surveyor General in 1862 requested an area around the tree to be set aside as a reserve. Four acres were gazetted and the reserve remains today near the end of Fig Tree Pocket Road. Unfortunately, the tree did not survive for many more years, probably due to settlement and land clearing. The lower part of the pocket was rich in alluvial soil and before settlement covered by dense rain forest. Source: kenmorehistory.org.au/our-history/a-history-of-fig-tree-p...

This would be a perfect picture to geotag. You have the geographic coordinates right there in the photo!

The location on Google Maps. According to the memorial stone itself, the stone was erected July 20, 1911. As such it seems that it would be pretty safe to assume the photo was taken after that date. Though it may be wrong.

According to the 1910 Census, Bloomington, Indiana, had become the new population center of the USA. Another Bain/LOC photo on this subject shows Prof. Wilbur A. Cogshall of Indiana University at Bloomington, who had pinpointed the location: New York Times story, July 22, 1911: query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9A03E...