A New Normal

Among the activities documented by the Department of Community Services is the work of the Maternal and Child Health Service (Infant Welfare) program which began in Victoria in 1917. Under this program, infant welfare centres were established to tackle the high levels of early childhood illness and mortality. The program, which continues to this day, offers free universal primary health services to children from birth to primary school age.

One of the most important services it offers is free immunisations of young children against once-common diseases. These diseases have now become rare thanks largely to the widespread willingness of parents to immunise their children, an effect known as ‘herd immunity’, which protects both people who have been immunised and those who have not. In this photograph, a mother and her child are under the care of a nurse and a doctor during an immunisation session in the 1980s, possibly to protect the baby against mumps or measles.

This photograph is among several contained in an album created by the Education Department that document the Open-Air School for Anaemics in what was semi-rural Blackburn. Many open-air schools operated in Britain, North America and Europe in the early twentieth century. Part of their daily routine featured a rest period in the fresh open air.

Alongside a nutritious diet, exposure to natural light, regular medical check-ups and close contact to nature, the open-air school movement claimed that it was possible to treat the onset of tuberculosis in children, particularly those living in the congested confines of the inner city. The photograph gives us a glimpse into part of the routine of the school. It shows a class of young pupils reclining in deckchairs on the grass outside their wooden school building, each of them covered with a blanket to keep them warm in the cold air.

For more than 70 years influenza vaccines have been grown in fertilised chicken eggs. This remains the most common method for making flu vaccines around the world. Viruses need living cells to infect and develop within; they cannot reproduce and cannot be cultivated like bacteria or fungi. Instead, the virus takes over a cell and directs the cell to create replicas of the virus. When there is enough viral matter in each egg the virus is made inactive (viruses are not strictly alive and so cannot be killed), the remaining material contains the virus antigen, which is further purified and incorporated into a vaccine. 

When injected, the antigen causes a reaction in our bodies that creates antibodies. The antibody, also known as an immunoglobulin, is a blood protein used by our immune system to recognise and attack antigens. Unfortunately, vaccines target specific virus antigens, so one injection does not protect us from all viruses; and indeed, viruses replicate so often that they mutate regularly, so we require regular flu shots for protection.

At the time this image was taken, 4:49 pm on 12 October 1951, only 15 per cent of all journeys to work in Melbourne occurred by car. This image and accompanying text comes from an album of photographic prints made by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board during November and December 1951.

The photographs document the arrival of the new normal of traffic congestion, its causes and the effects it had on tram movements within the Melbourne CBD. The album provides convincing evidence of traffic congestion and its impact on public transport, a trend that was to worsen in succeeding decades.

The concept of fumigating mail is many hundreds of years old, originating when the process did not necessarily have a scientific basis, as there was no clear understanding of contagions. The fumigant was usually based on folklore: strong smelling compounds and solutions were thought to kill off the ‘miasma’ of illness. So from Boston to Venice, letters were exposed to boiling vinegar or perfume, tobacco smoke and even cyanide gas. In the last century or so, yellow fever and small pox have been the target of mail fumigation, the fumigant of choice being sulphur dioxide.

The letters in this image were being fumigated using Formalin, this being a mixture of formaldehyde and water. Once heated, the subsequent formaldehyde vapour would act as an industrial disinfectant targeting biological pathogens such as bacteria and fungi. Formalin was used, because while initially toxic, it breaks down over a few hours to become harmless. Mail treatment continues into the twenty-first century, with many countries using ionising or ultraviolet radiation on the mail as it passes through their major sorting hubs.

The negatives in this series were accumulated by the Publications Unit of the Department of Education and Training. They depict schools, school students, teachers, maps, educational activities and other education-related subject matter. This photo was taken at the beginning of the era of mass-produced, pre-sliced, packaged bread in the 1950s. Before this families had either baked their own or had fresh bread delivered from their local baker. The convenience of packaged bread required food scientists to get involved in making loaves of bread that were fast-rising, long-lasting, and uniform.

During the recent pandemic lockdown, some of us regained enough hours in our day so that the creation of home-baked bread could again triumph over convenience. While our lifestyles full of commuting, working, and attending social activities had made packaged bread a necessity, reclaiming some of this time has allowed the expert home baker and beginner alike the opportunity to rediscover the joy of freshly baked bread. Like the scientist in this photo, home bakers experimented with their own techniques and ingredients to get their bread just right.

“I was alarmed when I first spotted Katerina up a ladder with a saw in her hand on one of my daily walks. Despite her advanced age, she was determinately hacking away at some overhanging branches while balancing on the stepladder. ‘Should you be on that ladder?’ I called up to her, ‘It doesn't look safe!’ ‘Someone has to do it,’ she shot back immediately. ‘My son usually does it, but I haven't seen him for over 4 months.’ 

At the time we were in stage 4 lockdown. None of us could travel beyond 5 km, meaning Katerina’s son couldn’t visit, or help her tame the garden. The lockdown is now over and I imagine Katerina is happy to be able to see her son again. But it’s worth mentioning when I walked past her house a few days after we met, I noticed her branches were cut back; something Katerina had been able to achieve in isolation.” Ilana Rose, photographer. Website: www.ilanarose.com.au

“31 March 2020, 17:41 pm. Former Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Cellist, Josephine Vains plays a social distancing ‘concert’ for her neighbourhood. Like many artists hit hard by the lockdown, Josephine had to be creative in order to continue performing, so began to play impromptu concerts on the pavement outside her house in Brunswick. As Josie’s neighbours received notifications via WhatsApp, they would enjoy the beauty of music and escape the anxiety caused by the lockdown, whilst socially distancing for 30 minutes. 

Throughout 2020, random acts of kindness and togetherness arose within the community. As the unemployment rate rose and Australia entered a recession, community spirit, and acts such as Josie’s, proved to be vitally important for society’s psychological well-being. This image is a perfect visual representation of how music’s healing properties remain despite its exponents being severely affected by the global pandemic.” Christopher Hopkins, photojournalist. Website: www.chris-hopkins.com.au