Quintessential Queensland

Tea-towel: Atherton Tablelands.This striking design shows a map of Atherton Tableland in the Cairns hinterland surrounded with images of the beautiful Lake Barrine, the most impressive of the waterfalls in Queensland, on the Barron River. Collection of Glenn Cooke

Tea-towel: Queensland Centenary, 1959. If this was an appropriate representation of the State, Brisbane should have been represented by Parliament House rather than the Brisbane City Hall – the centre of the greater Brisbane council area. In this and many other examples, the City Hall, opened in 1930 as the home Greater Brisbane Council, was the iconic image of the city. Collection of Glenn Cooke

Richardson's Tea-towel: map of Queensland, c1960. This tea-towel was based on map the Queensland published in the Queensland State Governments principal souvenir of the centenary 'Queensland centenary: the first 100 years 1859-1959’. It was edited by Arthur Smout with the historical assessment provided by Leslie Slaughter and was widely distributed through the state school system. The poinsettias (Brisbane’s floral emblem), the Cooktown Orchids (the State flora emblem) and the cluster of tropical fruit add a note of colour. Collection of Glenn Cooke

Australian Tourist Guide. Tea towel. Collection of the Centre for the Government of Queensland