Hook, Wheatley
& Williams doll
In the collection of Museum Victoria, Melbourne (circa 1916–1920).
National Treasure
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[email protected]TIME TRAVELLER
B
EFORE 1914 dolls
were mostly imported,
but the outbreak of
World War I hindered supplies
and local manufacturers
began to emerge.
Sydney Hook of
Adelaide had been keen
to start a manufacturing
business, and in about
1916 he made up his own
composition formula for
the production of dolls
through trial and error using
paper pulp, sawdust, whiting
and glue. The dolls’ heads were
formed in cast iron moulds
made by Wheatley & Williams
Pty Ltd of South Australia.
Sydney’s wife, Elsie, made
the first torsos, the articulated cloth
limbs filled with cotton-like kapok,
and the clothes for the dolls; later her
mother and employees took
on these tasks while Elsie
painted the dolls.They came
in 11 sizes and were
marketed as unbreakable.
The business became
part of the war effort. In
October 1918 it made a
‘Doll Bazaar’ float for a
Red Cross fundraising
parade in Hindmarsh.
The float was marked:
“See that the dolls you buy
are branded Hook’s Dolls
Made in Australia”.
After the war ended, new
suppliers flooded the market,
and a major fire destroyed
Hook’s stock, effectively
ending the business.
In later years Elsie returned to
doll-making during the Great
Depression and then World War II.January. February 29LISTENING TO
AUSSIE ORCASAn AGS project has conducted the
nation’s first major orca survey.T
HE KILLER WHALE is found
across the world, but little is
known about it in Australian
waters. To learn more about popu-
lations, migration patterns and
habitat use, Rebecca Wellard and
her Curtin University team are
conducting the first dedicated
Australian study of orcas. “We
must learn more to protect them
and their environments,” she says.
For two years, Rebecca has
been using ‘passive acoustic
monitoring’ to study the sounds of
two orca populations in WA – one
in the south, near Bremer Bay, and
the other off the central coast,
near Exmouth. Analysing marine
acoustics is a good way to study
whales, since they rely on sound to
communicate, navigate and hunt.
Orcas produce whistles, echoloca-
tion clicks, and ‘burst-pulse’
sounds. “We can study how they
use sound, but also take advan-
tage of the acoustic activity to
detect and track them,” she says.
The team has assembled a large
catalogue of sounds from the
study sites – and identifying killer
whales in these recordings is very
exciting, Rebecca adds. “Under-
standing more about Australia’s
killer whales, and the roles they
play in marine ecosystems, is
critical for their conservation.”Australian
Geographic
SocietyCLOCKWISE FROM TOP: MUSEUM VICTORIA/CC BY; REBECCA WELLARD / Orcinus orcaTYRRELL COLLECTION / MUSEUM VICTORIA