[Gadsden Family Home Movie Collection: Reel 165]

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 shows the Gadsden family enjoying a skiing holiday at Perisher Valley, in the Snowy Mountains, New South Wales, during the 1960s. We know that it is Perisher, as the first scenes are of the ‘Sundeck’ sign on the side of the Sundeck Hotel which would have been very new at the time, and is a feature of the film.

The Sundeck was famed for being the first hotel built in Perisher and the highest (so that the camera is able to get some spectacular views) and it was rebuilt a year after being opened in 1960 following a fire. This film shows family members at the Sundeck sitting on the balcony, lining up and taking off at the adjoining ski lift as well as skiing down the slopes.

This film was originally made using 16mm film.

Selected highlights list:
00:00:02:00 ‘Sundeck’ sign appears followed by views of falling snow through the window of the Hotel
00:00:45:00 we see the ski lift and family members or friends hopping on board
00:01:29:00 a large wooden toboggan being ridden across a slope by a family comes into view
00:01:40:00 shots of the Sundeck balcony looking out over the slopes and the ski lift
00:02:00:00 closer shot of the Hotel ski lift
00:02:10:00 the camera takes shots travelling along on the ski lift
00:02:38:00 close up of landing at the other end of the ski lift
00:02:30:00 scenes of the skiers on the slopes, particularly family members
00:05:15:00 Ronald is filming his own skis as he moves down the slope
00:05:30:00 Ronald takes a lovely shot of his wife Jess Gadsden skiing along a slope against a very blue sky
00:05:40:00 another great up close shot of the workings of the ski lift as part of the new Hotel
00:06:16:00 skiing competition starts for both children and adults
00:08:10:00 we can see the Hotel’s ‘new T Bar lift’ (a ground level simle design ski lift rather than a full chair overhead lift) being shown to us by some of the younger Gadsdens
00:08:24:00 the family can be seen on the Hotel balcony enjoying a beer
00:11:39:00 lots of children and young people take to the slopes
00:12:46:00 footage taken from the ski lift returning to the Sundeck Hotel