[Gadsden Family Home Movie Collection: Reel 26]

The Gadsden Company has a long and proud history of manufacture, dating back to its foundation by Jabez Gadsden in 1879. The company pioneered tinplate printing in Australia, and produced the first printed can the country had seen. By 1936 the company had twelve factories spread throughout Australia and New Zealand.

The company’s success allowed two generations of Gadsden family men – Stanley Gadsden and his son Ronald – to pursue their interest in amateur filmmaking (a relatively expensive hobby for the time). The two cameramen captured the family’s children, homes, many of its major events and holidays on film.

A collection of the films made by these Gadsden family photographers has been donated to ACMI by Chris Gadsden (Ronald’s son). The films comprise a fascinating assortment of imagery that provides a window into bygone days and customs.

This film is part one of two films that capture a family holiday to the far north region of Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef in May, 1975.

This film was originally made using Super 8mm film.

Selected highlights list:
00:00:14:00 Jess Gadsden and her son approach a Douglas DC9 Ansett airplane on the tarmac
00:00:18:00 Ansett staff boarding the airplane wearing uniforms in a popular 1970s burnt orange fashion colour
00:00:31:00 the Gadsden’s are filmed disembarking from the plane
00:00:46:00 members of the family pack a Holden station wagon car
00:00:50:00 a map of the holiday route where we can see Palm Cove in Queensland
00:01:24:00 scenic views looking toward the hills in the hinterland and of the beach
00:02:34:00 Jess Gadsden in a pink headscarf headed for the beach and then turns to wave at the camera
00:02:55:00 scenes of the mountains and rivers in the Daintree Forest
00:03:12:00 Daintree Ferry crossing a river and approaching the bank
00:05:45:00 filmmaker Ron Gadsden being filmed whilst harness fishing from their deep sea fishing charter boat
00:08:16:00 seabirds gathering on a sandbar
00:08:48:00 snorkelling in the waters around the boat
00:09:42:00 Jess Gadsden prepares lunch in very small quarters on the boat
00:09:54:00 three members of the family are rowed ashore
00:10:19:00 a huge gathering of Sooty Tern (Sterna Fuscata) seabirds on the shore
00:11:45:00 speeding through the water
00:12:29:00 passenger boats at a pier
00:12:55:00 seabirds diving for fish
00:13:47:00 an old long pier
00:14:05:00 showing off ‘who has caught which fish?’
00:14:34:00 sailing away from piers, boats and a hilly coastline and passing by an old rusting, older ship – possibly a tanker
00:15:05:00 fishing off the back of the boat as it speeds through the water
00:16:15:00 passengers in their ‘Guilder III Cairns’ t-shirts
00:16:55:00 baiting the hook