Oblong Folio (ca. 25.5 x 33 cm or 10 x 13 in). 20 card stock leaves. Ca. 190 mounted gelatin silver photographs from ca. 13.5 x 8 cm (5 ½ x 3 ¼ in) to 4.5 x 3 cm (1 ¾ x 1 ¼ in) and eleven real photo and printed postcards, ca. 9 x 14 cm (3 ½ x 5 ½ in). Most photos with period ink captions, written on paper labels attached to the mounts or loosely inserted. With three mounted pieces of period printed or manuscript ephemera, from ca. 12.5 x 19 cm (4 ¾ x 7 ¼ in) to ca. 7.5 x 10 cm (3 x 4 in). Period green pebbled cloth album, fastened with a string; front board with a gilt-tooled generic title “Photographs.” Several photos detached from the leaves and loosely inserted, about a dozen photos previously removed from the album, a couple of photos mildly faded, but overall a very good album of interesting photos.

A lively collection of gelatin silver photographs taken and collected by Essie Dimick, a wife of an American employee of the “Timber Transport & Storage Co. Pty. Ltd.” in South Wharf, Melbourne, during her life there in 1928-1931.

The album opens with portraits, taken on board the S.S. “Ventura” on the way to Australia. Following that are twelve views of Samoa, including tropical shorelines; the US Naval Base; and “Native Life.”

Over ninety photographs are of Australia, in and around Melbourne. Of Melbourne, there are several views of South Wharf, Port Phillip, the business sector, Melbourne Zoo, and St. Kilda (including St. Kilda Botanical Gardens). Eight photos are of the offices and employees of “Timber Transport & Storage Co. Pty. Ltd.” including the caretaker, one Mr. Foden. Other photos of Melbourne include portraits of the Dimicks’ and their friends during leisure time in places like Dromana, Brighton Beach, and Aspendale, with many people identified in the captions. There are also snapshots from Woodend (playing golf, attending tea, and posing before the Woodend Clock Tower), boating in Daylesford, and views of Adelaide.

Twenty-one photographs are of Fiji. Nine are of Levuka (Ovalau) with views of the shoreline, the hospital and Catholic church, as well as portraits of Fijians posing with Dimick and the captain of the S.S Golden Harvest. Ten are of Oinafa (Rotuma) with snapshots of Rotumans loading the S.S Golden Harvest, a “golf club house on Island of Rotumah, Fiji built by Natives for some Englishman,” and portraits of Rotumans including a group photo of schoolchildren.

Over fifty photos at the rear show the Dimicks’ life back in Oregon, as well as California and Washington in 1931-1936. The snapshots include ice skating, “driving across the Siskiyou,” “On Redwood Highway,” “at Mt. Ranier,” and “Chateau Oregon Caves.” Most people in the portraits are identified in the captions.

The three ephemera include a manuscript menu for a “July 4th Independence Day Dinner, Special All American Dishes” (held in Australia, July 1930), a golf scorecard from “The Sandridge Golf Club, Fisherman’s Bend, Melbourne,” and a pamphlet advertising “The House of Mystery, Sardine Creek, Gold Hill, Oregon.”

Overall, an interesting collection of original gelatin silver photos, illustrating life and work of an American employee in Melbourne in the early 1930s, as well as lively views of Samoa, Fiji and its people.