Museum of Sydney stories
A cereal collector
Barry Divola is a journalist, music critic, author and cereal toy aficionado. Find out more about his unusual collection of plastic childhood toys
About How to Move a Zoo
This summer, join the stampede to the Museum of Sydney to discover how hundreds of animals journeyed across the city to their new home at Taronga Zoological Park in 1916.
Ambition and adventure: the early life of Arthur Phillip
During the bicentenary of Arthur Phillip’s death we looked back at the early life of this intriguing man, who had enjoyed an extraordinary career before he even set foot on a boat bound for Botany Bay.
An Eye For Design
The development of the exhibition Iconic Australian Houses saw a collaboration between two of SLMs in-house designers with freelance creative Tracy Lines. Find out more...
Boxing Day 1908 Burns v Johnson
The World Heavyweight Boxing Championship held at the Sydney Stadium, Boxing Day 1908, was to change the history of boxing with Johnson crowned the first black Heavyweight World Champion.
Bridging Sydney
The story of Sydney's Harbour Bridge unfolds like an epic tale. The 2006 exhibition and book, Bridging Sydney, chronicles its long development and dramatic construction.
Collected: about the exhibition
A family trinket holding wishbones, a designer dish rack and thought-provoking contemporary art are some of the items featured in a new exhibition of collection acquisitions.
Collection pixels
By digitising our museum and library collections, Sydney Living Museums can interpret and provide access to a rich array of items that offer fascinating insights into our material history.
Fabricating heroes: Iridescent by Gerwyn Davies
Sydney Living Museums has commissioned photographic artist and costume maker Gerwyn Davies to launch our 2022 creative theme, ‘Life reimagined’, with Iridescent, an exhibition at the Museum of Sydney.
Iridescent by Gerwyn Davies film
Hear artist Gerwyn Davies discuss the making of Iridescent by Gerwyn Davies now showing at the Museum of Sydney.
Life at Government House in the Macquarie era
Historian Jane Kelso describes a busy schedule of social gatherings and official events at Sydney's Government House during the governorship of Lachlan Macquarie.
Life in Plastic, it's fantastic
Barbie is the iconic fasion doll of the 21st century that millions of children have grown up with. However how many people know the story of her creation? Read about Barbie's surprising origins and the dolls displayed in our Toy's Through Time exhibition.
Little wars on the floor
The immense range and popularity of toy soldiers is on display at the new Toys through Time exhibition. Find out more about the figures on display and the four generations of one family that have played with them.
Lloyd Rees - The Art of Life
Draftsman, printmaker, painter and teacher – celebrated Australian artist Lloyd Frederic Rees had a wide sphere of influence across his long artistic career.
Meet Ryan McNaught
Australia's very own certified LEGO® professional built 18 awesome skyscrapers for our 2015 hands-on exhibition 'Towers Of Tomorrow with LEGO® Bricks'.
Modelling the first Government House
A beautifully crafted scale model shows, for the first time, the final form of Sydney's original government house, having grown from a basic six-room home to the rambling edifice, eventually demolished in 1845–1846.
On firm foundations
The Museum of Sydney is built on and around a site that links us to the very beginnings of modern Australia. Here in 1788 on the ancient land of the Gadigal people, Governor Arthur Phillip built Government House. In this house and its later additions, the first nine governors of NSW lived and worked.
Patsy's Plastic Surgery
Do you have a beloved toy that needs fixing? We took our Patsy doll for a check-up at the Sydney Doll Hospital, see her transformation here.
Robot Romance
Claudia Chan Shaw is most familiar to many as the presenter of the ABC show The Collectors. Find out more about her collection of tin toys.
Skint! Making do in the great depression
On Tuesday 29 October 1929 the New York stock market collapsed. Twenty-six billion dollars vanished into thin air, leaving markets in ruin for the next 3 years. Australian exports fell overnight, leaving local industries at a standstill, driving up unemployment, misery and hardship. Australia's debts to overseas banks were impossible to meet. Wage cuts, shorter working hours and brakes on government expenditure hit hard. The great depression dug in...
SLM in 3D
A project to capture 3D scans of all Sydney Living Museums properties will greatly assist conservation work and create exciting new interpretation opportunities far into the future.
Sydney Visionaries
Cities are not just built. They are created by movers, shakers, dreamers and schemers. Sydney is no different. Drawing on the exhibition at Museum of Sydney, this article profiles eleven trail-blazers who, through intellect, determination and passion, influenced the shape, culture and identity of this harbour city.
Sydney's Toy Kings
Once a saddlery, Walther and Stevenson's operated a two storey treasure trove of toys on Sydney's George Street. It was a must-see place for every boy and girl from the 1930s to the 1960s
The Designer's Task
Ever wondered how an exhibition is put together? Come behind-the-scenes and meet SLM designer Matt Guzowski, as he shares his experiences, influences and tells it like it is in the world of exhibition design.
The registrar's challenge
SLM's exhibition loans registrar Bronwyn McKenzie discusses the many challenges of managing objects in exhibitions and provides tips on recording, storing, handling, repairing and caring for special things that go on display in our various exhibition spaces.
The splendid clipper 'Sobraon'
The forlorn hulk of the HMAS Tingira features in several 1930s drawings of Berrys Bay by celebrated artist Lloyd Rees. Presented by Rees as a solitary, romantic figure in the serene harbour landscape, the former luxury clipper has particular resonance not only with Rees, but with one of our properties - Rouse Hill House & Farm - and a prominent colonial family, the Rouses.
The story of how to move a zoo
In the early hours of Sunday, 24 September 1916, an elephant named Jessie walked out through the gates of the Zoological Gardens at Moore Park in Sydney’s eastern suburbs and began an extraordinary journey through the city.
Transubstantiation by Danie Mellor
Transubstantiation explores the means by which the intended and purposeful use of land was changed during Australia’s early colonial history.