Keep up with the latest posts on images and stories from yesteryear at the "Wizard-Of-Oz.com". Don't lose our history.
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Please share this story with your family and friends so that they can read about the Rainbow Township, its history, and what it has to offer tourists.
Thank you very much, Don...
17-Sep-2021 - The Commomwealth Hotel. New color image by Mick Gulovsen
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9-Sep-2021 - A young man's journey from Amsterdam to Rainbow in the early 1950s.
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18-Aug-2021 - Rainbow Basketball Premiers 1953
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18-Aug-2021 - Rainbow 1898 Railway Line Workers Camp.
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Pictured near the present golf club. Very hard to imagine what the old Rainbowrise township looked like during this period.
And for the people, a time of change. There was the added adventure of building a new town adjoining the soon to be completed railway station.
Australia was to become a nation on 1 January 1901, and the streets of Rainbow will be named after members of the Royal family, and their titles, along with the soon to be born Australian Federation, as well as local prominent business people-investors such as Cust, Dart, Gray, and Taverner. These names will be with the town forever.
17-Aug-2021 - Pella School Photo 1925.
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Photo Jan Edelsten.
Taken on the front steps of St John’s Lutheran church.
Back Row L-R- Lawrence Stasinowsky, Louis Nitschke, Norman Schuller, John Nitschke, Benno Wedding, Norman Mackenzie.
3rd Row L-R- Agnes Heinrich, Dora Keller, Linda Wedding, Gladys Heinrich, Doris Heinrich, Vera Wedding.
2nd Row L-R- Irma Keller, Ella Stasinowsky, Elsa Heinrich, Frances Mackenzie, Vera Mackenzie, Evelyn Schilling, Irene Mackenzie, Elsie Keller.
Front Row L-R- Percy Wedding, Victor Wedding, Bill Tilley, Herbert Schilling, Max Heinrich, Vincent Koop, Les Keller.
16-Aug-2021 - Federal Street Empire Day 1911.
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Date May 24 1911.
The celebration of Queen Victoria's birthday on May 24 was renamed Empire Day in 1903 after her death in 1901. It was celebrated throughout the British Empire culminating in fireworks and bonfires in the evening. The last celebration of Empire Day in Australia took place in 1958.
The recently formed Rainbow band is followed by the Fire Brigade members. You can see the crossbar of the large-wheeled fire cart, that has the brass hydrant attached to the right-hand side. and finally the school children, with some leading them on horses.
The lamp post interests me. I believe when this photo was taken in 1911 that the 32VDC street light system was operating, so this may well have been an electric light.
Or was it installed as oil or kerosene fired lamp prior to Dawson's electricity supply? It can be seen in other early photos, but I also wonder when it was removed.
10-Aug-2021 - Federal Street looking from Railway St. 1920s.
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Date 1920s
Recently discovered Photograph. July-2021
Year seems to be about right. After the great fire of 1910, and before the MECCA was built in 1936. Cars replacing horses. Power poles went up in 1911?
1-Aug-2021 - Rainbow Railway Station 1920s.
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Date 1920s
Mick Gulovsen finished this one off nicely by finding the original advertising sign on the platform, restoring it, then matching it in to suit.
28-july-2021 - Rainbow of Yesteryear colourised. Vintage images of historic properties, many with fascinating stories.
A completely new page of historical properties.
28-july-2021 - Rainbow in the Southern Mallee Australia – Wanted B&W photographs of old historical street scenes.
What should I do with my old photos?
Without a doubt, the best thing you can do if you think they are of reasonable quality and of historical significance, is to get them to the "Rainbow Archives". The dedicated hard working team there will welcome any new finds. They have been gathering up information for years, and will continue to do so for many generations into the future.
I do my own research in my own way, which is basically the information I can gather up from FaceBook groups, and individuals.
Peter Ralph writes the - ARCHIVINGS - column in the Rainbow-Jeparit Argus. He has his special way of telling these stories in a much more professional manner, plus he has the wealth of information of the RAHS behind him.
28-July-2021 - Eddy Street Houses.
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Eddy & King Streets.
Eddy Street
Dates Unknown
Jan Edelsten
Corner Eddy & King ??
Don
Thanks Jan. Great work. I'll have to find some harder ones. 🙂
Eddy Street
Diane Wall
Looks more like Eddy Street. From right to left in the sixties,
Williamson’s, Klemms, Strauss’s, Church of England, King Street next, then
Davis’s. This photo was much earlier in the century when A.G.Strauss was alive.
You can’t see the house in this photo because it was set back further in the
block, and there were no huge pine trees in the church yard and Williamson’s
front yard then, and there are electricity poles in the right places as now.
Helen Fisher
Diane is right. That is our house in Eddy St beside the Church of
England. We bought and worked on the original Strauss house. Both houses either
side of us now under restoration too.
Don
WOW. Thanks Diane, and Helen. Google street view
match the image below. The years and trees make so much difference.
23-July-2021 - Opening of St John’s Pella Lutheran church.
Photo supplied by Jan Edelsten.
The opening of St John’s Pella Lutheran church, 14 May 1911.
I straightened the image to be level with the ground and kept the cross and flagpole in the shot.
Click on image to enlarge to full size.
23-July-2021 - Rainbow 1918, or Dimboola?
This is also a very recent find. However I don't believe it is Rainbow, as I can't match it in with anything. Could be Dimboola as it has an advertising signs that mention Dimboola Farmers Co-operative, Young Bros. Auctioneers, and Millers & Tartakover Solicitors.
Rainbow's bottom pub was Young's in the early years, but not Bros. to my knowledge.
26-July-2021 Consensus of opinion is that this is not Rainbow, however it hasn't been proven to be Dimboola to date either.
27-July-2021
My Friend Mick Gulovsen is now doing research for me. He found "Young Bros" in Nhill. More likely to be Nhill than Dimboola. See image below.
Yes Mick is the man that is black listed by ADMIN.
Go figure!
Click on image to enlarge to full size.
22-July-2021 - Rainbow Railway station in full colour.
22-July-2021. This is a very recent find.
Image Supplied Don McKenzie.
Image Enhancement: Trevor Bretag.
Y157 entered service 28/2/1968. This has me wondering what year the station was demolished.
Click on image to enlarge to full size.
17-July-2021 - Llewellyn Schilling’s "Rise over the Rainbow" dream. Turning the silo art trail inside-out.
Making A Real Change. The old Flour-Mill was demolished in 1964, however the Concrete Silo remains on Bow Street Rainbow, and now has an exciting new story.
14-July-2021 - The Rainbow Fire Brigade. A few stories and photographs from the past.
The Rainbow Fire Brigade now has over 110 years of serving the local community. These are just some of the stories.
14-July-2021 - Rainbow in the Southern Mallee Australia - Wanted B&W photographs of old historical street scenes.
We need images from yesteryear. Rainbow town in the Southern Mallee. Old street scenes urgently needed. Don't lose our history.
10-July-2021 - Featured photo colourisation journey with BIG Mick. Rainbow Victoria in the early 1900s.
Mick's Colourisation Methods.
The colourisation procedure that my friend Mick Gulovsen is using. He shows us the steps involved for the featured photos at wizard-of-oz.com
7-July-2021 - Rainbow Railway Yards, Victoria, circa 1920
The Rainbow Railway Station and rail yards. Several horse-drawn vehicles are parked in the yards, and stacks of bagged grain are visible. Taken from the roof of the Commonwealth hotel.
5-July-2021 - This was a 1909 coloured postcard that was very fire-damaged.
This was a 1909 coloured postcard that was so fire-damaged that I decided that it wasn't worth putting any time into.
The more I looked at it, the more I realised that it was of historical significance as it has a view of the bottom end of Federal street, taken from Darts Ave, in a time period that I have very few photos of. The height of the trees, the Royal Hotel single story, the Eureka double story, plus the lack of electrical poles down the middle of the street, make it certainly look like around 1909.
Click on image to enlarge to full size.
3-July-2021 - Eureka Hotel early 1900s.
I distinctly remember being in the main bar of the Eureka hotel Rainbow on two very special occasions in February of 1966.
In a FaceBook Private Group? Then you won't have a share button.
Please share this story with your family and friends so that they can read about the Rainbow Township, its history, and what it has to offer tourists.
Thank you very much, Don...