| Title |
Photographs of Robert Eadie and ephemera of 'Splash' the platypus. |
| Publisher and/or associated date/s |
193?-194? |
| Description |
8 items : black & white photographs ; 1 archival folder (3 cm) |
| Level of description |
Collection 40 ; order of material arranged by staff. |
| Contents |
1. Photograph: Studio portrait of Robert Eadie, almost half-length, to right, wearing jacket with vest, tie, and hat. 12 x 8 cm, mounted on card and signed 'Yours Sincerely Robert Eadie' and dated 6 April 1940. Printed on mount below photograph: Swan Studio, 133 Swan Street, Richmond. |
| 2. Photograph: Studio portrait of Robert Eadie, half-length, slightly to right, seated, wearing jacket with vest, tie, and hat. 12 x 8 cm, mounted on card and signed 'Yours Sincerely Robert Eadie' and dated 6 April 1940. Signed and dated 6 April 1940. Printed on mount below photograph: Swan Studio, 133 Swan Street, Richmond. |
| 3. Photograph: Private photo of Robert Eadie standing in the grounds of the Healesville Sanctuary. Signed and dated 2.2.40 on the front, inscribed 'Many happy memories RE' on the back, with pencil annotation 'Eadie PF115.31' |
| 4. Photograph: Press photograph of 'Splash'. 29 Oct. 1936. Includes typewritten label on back: "The Platypus, Australia's Patchwork Animal: This queer little fellow is "Splash," a famous Platypus which for more than two years has lived happily in captivity at Healesville, near Melbourne, Australia, and has become not only tame, but proud and playful. The Platypus is the world's strangest living creature and is found only in Australia. It has fur, a duck bill, webbed feet, lays eggs, suckles its young, and is equally at home on land or in the water". Also includes ink stamps "Exclusive photo for rotogravure section, please credit Australian Press Bureau, 426 SO. Hill St. Los Angeles, Cal." and "Nov 20 1936", and handwritten "Animals Platypus". |
| 5. Card: Tipped in on the inside of the card is a plate of a reproduction print of 'Splash'. Below the plate is a printed message, "Greetings from 'Splash'", and below this, "Glen Eadie, Badger Creek, Healesville, Victoria". Printed on the front, "Greetings". Handwritten on the back of the card in pencil is "M Collins". The card is possibly from 1936. |
| 6. Booklet: The platypus / by P. Crosbie Morrison M.Sc. : please accept this booklet as a souvenir of your visit to the Platypus Display at the Sir Colin MacKenzie Sanctuary, Healesville, Victoria (printed in the 1940s?). Handwritten on the front in pen, 'Kilmore'. |
| 7. Booklet: [copy of item 7, no markings] |
| 8. Pamphlet: About the platypus / by P. Crosbie Morrison. (printed in the 1960s?) |
| Conditions of access |
Open for research. |
| Summary |
This collection comprises three photographs of Robert Eadie, as well as 1 photo and 4 items of ephemera relating to 'Splash' the Platypus. |
| Terms of use |
Copying permitted for research. |
| Related materials |
Search the Research Library catalogue and Museum website for books and papers with information on 'Splash' the platypus, included below are links to Mackenzie/AIA Papers and 'Collecting for a Nation' symposium. |
| Administrative / Biographical history |
""Splash" was Australia's first - and probably only - 'tamed' platypus. He was kept by the naturalist Robert Eadie, the first curator of Melbourne's Healesville Sanctuary (1932-1937), for several years during the 1930s"--Douglas Stewart Fine Books catalogue entry #14003. This collection was purchased by the Research Library from Douglas Stewart Find Books in 2016. |
| Publication note |
Some items in this collection also have a discrete library record, see links below to these records for further information about the item. |
| Local note |
Online articles relating to Robert Eadie and Splash the Platypus have been printed and added to this collection for reference. |
| Subjects |
Eadie, Robert, -- 1863-1949 |
| Splash(Platypus),1932-1937 |
| Sir Colin Mackenzie Zoological Park |
| Sir Colin Mackenzie Sanctuary -- Healesville (Vic.) |
| Platypus |
| Call number |
AU NMA:RL 40 (8 items) |
| Internet Site |
MacKenzie/AIA Papers |
| See Also |
The platypus / by P. Crosbie Morrison |
| See Also |
About the platypus / by P. Crosbie Morrison |
| See Also |
A sum of many parts: the history of the National Historical Collection |
