The State Library of WA

Keepsake: Suzanne Franklin - 1927 Railway Ticket

Suzanne Franklin's keepsake is a picture of her great-great-grandmother, Alice Franklin, the Lady Mayoress of Perth and an unused leather-bound railway ticket to the official opening of Parliament House in 1927. Alice's husband, James Thomas Franklin, was the last Mayor of Perth and the first Lord Mayor of Perth. In 1927, James and Alice were invited to the grand opening of Parliament House and given first-class railway tickets with sleeping berths from Sydney to Canberra and then Canberra to Perth. Many events and newspaper articles were written about them leaving for this historic event. The tickets went unused. A few days before departure, their eldest son George, 48, was run down on Bulwer Street while on his way to work. Alice and James stayed by his side in the hospital. George passed away two days later. On the day they were meant to be leaving, they buried their son. A week later, they went to the opening of Parliament House to represent Western Australia and meet the Duke and Duchess of York, who they would soon be hosting in Perth. As part of the State Library of Western Australia’s exhibition Keepsake: Cherished Family Mementos from the Collection, we asked The Chin Wagon to create a podcast series collecting stories from members of the public about their family treasures and heirlooms. Scrabble boards, cookbooks, medals, fishing lures, trinkets and tools. Why are these items so important to the people that hold onto them? The Chin Wagon is a mobile recording studio designed to capture WA’s stories. Run by much-loved storytelling collective Barefaced Stories , The Chin Wagon provides a fun, cosy hearth for people to share their most treasured memories, tall tales or embarrassing spills. Andrea Gibbs interviewed seven members of the public in this mini podcast series. Keepsake exhibition runs at the State Library of Western Australia until 4 February 2025.

Keepsake: Sophie Vowles - Grandma’s Cookbook

Sophies keepsake is her husband's grandma's handwritten cookbook. Joan Patricia Vowles lovingly added to this cookbook over forty years (1950 -1990), and Sophie inherited it when she passed away in 2006. The cookbook is made out of a notepad and filled with delicately handwritten recipes and poems, resplendent with butter, egg and oil stains. The recipes come from friends, family, church group members, and cutouts from cereal boxes and magazines. There are recipes for cakes, puddings, sauces, jams, relishes and pies. Ticks appear next to the recipes she likes and crosses next to the ones that didn't work out. Sophie has made many recipes from the cookbook, but perhaps not the Veal with Bananas. Her favourite recipe is the light ginger cake with golden syrup or treacle running through it with a hint of lemon. Sophie was interviewed and published in Coles Magazine in March 2021 with this recipe after posting a few recipes from the cookbook in the Coles Cooking Club Facebook Group. Joan Patricia Vowles (nee Keeping) was born in Narrogin in 1917 and lived in Tincurrin, a small town in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. The town has a street called "Keeping" named after her father, Walter. Joan became a hairdresser, moved to Perth in 1935, married in 1938 and had three kids (Patricia, Rupert and David). She loved a good chat, and her secret to a good cheese and tomato sandwich was celery salt. As part of the State Library of Western Australia’s exhibition Keepsake: Cherished Family Mementos from the Collection, we asked The Chin Wagon to create a podcast series collecting stories from members of the public about their family treasures and heirlooms. Scrabble boards, cookbooks, medals, fishing lures, trinkets and tools. Why are these items so important to the people that hold onto them? The Chin Wagon is a mobile recording studio designed to capture WA’s stories. Run by much-loved storytelling collective Barefaced Stories , The Chin Wagon provides a fun, cosy hearth for people to share their most treasured memories, tall tales or embarrassing spills. Andrea Gibbs interviewed seven members of the public in this mini podcast series. Keepsake exhibition runs at the State Library of Western Australia until 4 February 2025.

Keepsake: Petronila Lemisio-Poasa - Pa Hi Atu (Fishing Lure)

Petronila's keepsake is a traditional Tokelauan hand-carved mother of pearl fishing lure (Pa Hi Atu) made by Papa Fofo Poasa, her father-in-law. Papa Fofo Poasa hand-carved this traditional fishing lure with his son, Himona Poasa, the week before Himona suddenly passed away in February 2023. They carved the Pa Hi Atu in their home in Mandurah, Western Australia, using mother-of-pearl shells from Broome. Pa Hi Atu translates to fishing lure to catch the bonito (type of fish). Papa Fofo Poasa is one of the few Tokelauan traditional carvers in the world. Tokelau is a small, dependent territory of New Zealand in the Pacific Ocean consisting of three atolls. Petronila's husband, Himona, regularly caught fish in the Mandurah Estuary and distributed them to his community's elders and families according to the Tokelau traditions. The fishing lure is a special heirloom because it was made with love and represents the relationship between father and son. As part of the State Library of Western Australia’s exhibition Keepsake: Cherished Family Mementos from the Collection, we asked The Chin Wagon to create a podcast series collecting stories from members of the public about their family treasures and heirlooms. Scrabble boards, cookbooks, medals, fishing lures, trinkets and tools. Why are these items so important to the people that hold onto them? The Chin Wagon is a mobile recording studio designed to capture WA’s stories. Run by much-loved storytelling collective Barefaced Stories , The Chin Wagon provides a fun, cosy hearth for people to share their most treasured memories, tall tales or embarrassing spills. Andrea Gibbs interviewed seven members of the public in this mini podcast series. Keepsake exhibition runs at the State Library of Western Australia until 4 February 2025.

Keepsake: Cheryl Burton - Gold Kangaroo Brooch

Cheryl Burton was adopted in 1962 and immigrated from the UK in 1967. Her mother didn't know she would be giving Cheryl up for adoption until the birth and had mere moments to say goodbye. In 1990 when Cheryl was 28, she flew back to meet her mother for the first time. Cheryl's keepsake is a gold kangaroo brooch she gifted to her mother when they first met. Her mother never wore the brooch but kept it as a prized possession. Upon passing, she left Cheryl many items and personal treasures under her bed, including the brooch. As part of the State Library of Western Australia's exhibition Keepsake: Cherished Family Mementos from the Collection, we asked The Chin Wagon to create a mini podcast series collecting stories from members of the public about their family treasures and heirlooms. Scrabble boards, cookbooks, medals, fishing lures, trinkets and tools. Why are these items so important to the people that hold onto them? The Chin Wagon is a mobile recording studio designed to capture WA’s stories. Run by much-loved storytelling collective Barefaced Stories, The Chin Wagon provides a fun, cosy hearth for people to share their most treasured memories, tall tales or embarrassing spills. Andrea Gibbs interviewed seven members of the public in this mini podcast series. Keepsake exhibition runs at the State Library of Western Australia until 4 February 2025.

Keepsake: Gerry Coleman - Great Granddad's Utility Knife

Imagine the first time you ever see an airplane and it crashes into the ocean. Gerry's keepsake is his great-granddad's utility knife, which was gifted to him for saving the life of a world-renowned and revered Australian test pilot, Harry Hawker, in 1913. Harry Hawker was the chief test pilot for Sopwith Industries; this was only 11 years after the Wright brothers flew the first-ever successful airplane flight. Harry Hawker and his copilot (mechanic) Harry Cauper (also Australian) were test-flying a biplane over the Bay of Loughshinny in North County Dublin, Ireland, when they crashed into the sea. Gerry's great-granddad, Frank Ryan, was a local fisherman who rowed out and rescued them. No one in the community had ever seen an airplane. The next day, when a team tried to salvage the airplane, it was gone, except for one spark plug; the fascinated locals had stripped it for souvenirs.  The local Lord of the Manor, Roger Palmer, gifted Frank a special engraved utility knife for his service. Gerry's father handed the utility knife down to him. Gerry's father inherited it from his mother (Gerry's grandmother), who got it from her dad, the hero fisherman. As part of the State Library of Western Australia's exhibition Keepsake: Cherished Family Mementos from the Collection, we asked The Chin Wagon to create a mini podcast series collecting stories from members of the public about their family treasures and heirlooms. Scrabble boards, cookbooks, medals, fishing lures, trinkets and tools. Why are these items so important to the people that hold onto them? The Chin Wagon is a mobile recording studio designed to capture WA’s stories. Run by much-loved storytelling collective Barefaced Stories, The Chin Wagon provides a fun, cosy hearth for people to share their most treasured memories, tall tales or embarrassing spills. Andrea Gibbs interviewed seven members of the public in this mini podcast series. Keepsake exhibition runs at the State Library of Western Australia until 4 February 2025.