outfit

‘Finney Isles & Co’ holds a huge place in Brisbane history. Founded by Thomas Finney & James Isles, ‘Finney’s’ was well known in our Ann St location in the mid to late 1800’s as Brisbane’s ‘go to’ drapery for fashion textiles, before later expanding to build the iconic Queen St Mall building we now know as the ‘David Jones Building’. Source: www.finneyisles.com.au/our-story

Thomas Finney (1837-1903), merchant and politician arrived at Brisbane in the Flying Cloud. Two years later in partnership Finney Isles & Co. bought a drapery business in Ann Street, Fortitude Valley, and with a staff of five traded as Finney Isles & Co. at the Valley Exchange. By 1869 the business had branches in Rockhampton and Gympie; next year they opened a second Brisbane store, the City Exchange in Edward Street. The firm bought these premises in 1873 and with the acquisition of further property expanded into such lines as tailoring, furniture, furnishing and hardware, an early development of the modern department store. The trading was not consolidated until 1909 when new premises were built extending over a whole frontage between Queen and Adelaide Streets. Finney was always interested in the welfare of his employees and in 1879 pioneered 6 p.m. closing in Brisbane stores. In 1885, with other firms, he instituted 1 p.m. closing on Saturdays and continued it despite the reversion of other firms to the old Saturday hours of 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Source: adb.anu.edu.au/biography/finney-thomas-3518

Dressing Up in Brisbane, 1900s Style By JOL Admin | 14 August 2012 The Brisbane Poster Ball was held on 20th September 1900 to raise funds for the Lady Lamington Hospital for Women. Many attendees created costumes advertising a particular company, with the daughter of the Chairman of Queensland Brewery Limited dressing up as a bottle of Bulimba Gold Top Ale. Excitement about the ball was intense. The Queenslander reported on 29th September 1900 that by 7 o'clock the entrance to the Centennial Hall in Adelaide Street was crowded with visitors holding tickets of admission and directly the doors were thrown open there was a mad rush for the hall. Source: www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/dressing-brisbane-1900s-style#:~:....

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Some powerful words "The women leaders that Longman admired were rebels, but in a constructive sense, 'women who revolted against evil conditions and false conventions ... the few who thought today what the rest of the world would think tomorrow' and sought to bring about change rather than revolution (Queenslander, 11 July 1929). Women, she believed, needed to 'possess their own souls' before they could effectively help others (quoted in Fallon, p. 114). Central to possession of the soul was economic autonomy, either through an equal right to work, or through direct payment to mothers whose service lay in raising children at home (Fallon, p. 138). 'I do not see that it would be any worse for a woman to be paid the basic wage than a single man who may never marry', she insisted, 'because if a woman should marry she would always help towards the upkeep of a home' (Brisbane Courier, 31 August 1933). Marriage should be an 'equal partnership' with wives entitled to a share in 'any house or business which they might have helped to build' (Courier-Mail, 18 September 1936). She also argued that women should take control of their bodies (Fallon, p. 142-3). 'Intelligent women are no longer breeding machines ... They recognise the right of children to be well born ... And yet there are no signs of a decrease in either maternal or paternal love' (Northern Miner, 14 July 1933). Source: www.womenaustralia.info/leaders/biogs/WLE0196b.htm

Style and pose.