[Gadsden Family Home Movie Collection: Reel 27]

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 the second of two that capture a family holiday to far north Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef in May, 1975.

The Gadsden family travel by yacht to visit a tropical shore, enjoy an evening barbeque, go scuba diving and bask in the sun. They then travel to the town of Kuranda by train going through some spectacular rainforest scenery on their way.

This film was originally made using Super 8mm film.

Selected highlights list:
00:00:22:00 passenger yacht ‘Tiki’ anchors off an island and lets down a rowboat.
00:00:40:00 wallabies and kangaroos join the travellers for lunch
00:00:59:00 a kangaroo eating bread from its paws
00:01:31:00 old coral and shells on a beach
00:02:00:00 various efforts to break open a coconut
00:03:07:00 eating the coconut
00:03:20:00 tropical flowers, banana trees, palms and views around the landscape
00:04:12:00 lunch being set up on the beach – cutting vegetables and a makeshift barbeque plate on the sand
00:04:23:00 entering the water for snorkelling
00:04:49:00 sausages and onion rings on the barbeque plate with flames underneath
00:05:34:00 serving food from the barbeque to the travellers
00:05:57:00 the travellers picnic on the beach
00:06:18:00 sunbathing on the beach
00:07:00:00 speeding across the water
00:07:05:00 pamphlet for ‘Cairns-Kuranda’ rail trip showing the route the travellers will follow.
00:07:25:00 lovely old train
00:07:45:00 passengers boarding a train at a rail station
00:07:54:00 views from the moving train - the track below, sugar cultivation and lush hills
00:08:23:00 ‘Redlynch’ rail station with glimpses of pot plants and ferns typical of Queensland
00:09:05:00 scenic views and waving children
00:09:25:00 view of the train snaking ahead
00:10:00:00 views of the lush landscape from a higher vantage point
00:10:25:00 the train travels through tunnels and close vegetation and local onlookers standing by the tracks
00:10:36:00 train travels over a lovely old wooden bridge as it rises higher into the forest covered hills
00:10:58:00 a waterfall
00:11:30:00 looking out over fields to the sea as the train keeps moving along
00:11:44:00 train travels past labourers – probably from sugar cane fields
00:12:00:00 a sign for ‘Barron Falls’
00:12:29:00 the camera inadvertently captures a fashion moment from the 1970s – long hair in low ‘pigtails’ tied with equally long green narrow ribbons
00:12:44:00 the Gadsden travellers looking out the train window
00:12:54:00 Jess Gadsden among other sightseers hopping back onto the train from a lookout point
00:13:20:00 coming into the picturesque Kuranda rail station filled with pot plants and foliage and views around the station
00:14:16:00 sign for ‘Kuranda’
00:14:33:00 the Gadsden travellers enjoy a beer whilst at Kuranda Station