Local History Museum items at Karratha Library
The items displayed are just a small example of some of weird, wonderful and amazing items housed in the Local History Archive.
Items on display:
Shire of Roebourne Directories
The Local History Archive contains a range of the City’s historical directories, dating from 1979-2004. Back in the day, these were the ‘go to’ for information on community groups, businesses and more.
Rotary Telephone
A staple of many Australian households, this rotary telephone was part of the ‘PMG 800’ series, released in Australia in 1962.
Polaroid Camera
The Polaroid Land Model 250 was produced in 1967-69 and at the time cost $160. It features folding bellows, a large viewfinder and automatic exposure.
Wall Clock
This Shire of Roebourne wall clock was presented to volunteers on ‘Thank a Volunteer Day’, held on 5 December 2003.
Library Catalogue Cards
Before online catalogues were a thing, libraries used catalogue cards to store collection information. This particular card holder contains Local History information on ships and shipping.
VCR player and VHS tapes
Before we had DVD players and streaming services, there was the VCR player. This humble piece of technology was extremely popular. It is estimated that in 1993 over 80% of Australian households owned a VCR player.
Microfiche
Microfiche is a card made from transparent film and is used to store printed information in miniature form on ‘plates’. These images are of maps.