Dress
Production date
1960s
Country
Australia
State/Province
Queensland
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Object detail
Description
1960s style brownie uniform dress
Classification
SOCIETIES Girl Guides
Production date
1960s
Media/Materials description
Fabric, cotton thread, metal zipper, plastic buttons
History and use
This dress is a good example of a Brownies uniform from 1950s-1960s Australia, worn prior to the discontinuation of the uniform in the 1980s-90s.
The dress is adorned with several badges and patches. The key badge is the pixie (Tookonie) badge. Each Brownies group was called a Six, and each Six was led by a Sixer, with a Second who acted as a deputy. The Sixes were named after woodland creatures or ‘fairy folk’, and each group was then given a Promise badge that depicted their chosen emblem. Common examples in western countries were Pixie, Elf, Gnome, Sprite, Imp, Leprechaun and Fairy. However each country could use different names for their ‘fairy folk’ to represent different cultural traditions and stories – like Australia using Junjarins, Lalagullis, Moora Mooras, Tintookies, Mullokas, Tookonies and Woorails.
On the Dress is also a ‘title tape’, reading ‘3rd Townsville’. This label represents which Brownie pack the individual was associated with. The ‘3rd Townsville’ pack was the West Park association of Townsville’s Brownies, located in the Pimlico suburb.
The items were originally owned by Lois Brown (nee Cripps) when she was a Girl Guide in Townsville in the 1960s. The items were donated to the Museum of Tropical Queensland in 2012.
The dress is adorned with several badges and patches. The key badge is the pixie (Tookonie) badge. Each Brownies group was called a Six, and each Six was led by a Sixer, with a Second who acted as a deputy. The Sixes were named after woodland creatures or ‘fairy folk’, and each group was then given a Promise badge that depicted their chosen emblem. Common examples in western countries were Pixie, Elf, Gnome, Sprite, Imp, Leprechaun and Fairy. However each country could use different names for their ‘fairy folk’ to represent different cultural traditions and stories – like Australia using Junjarins, Lalagullis, Moora Mooras, Tintookies, Mullokas, Tookonies and Woorails.
On the Dress is also a ‘title tape’, reading ‘3rd Townsville’. This label represents which Brownie pack the individual was associated with. The ‘3rd Townsville’ pack was the West Park association of Townsville’s Brownies, located in the Pimlico suburb.
The items were originally owned by Lois Brown (nee Cripps) when she was a Girl Guide in Townsville in the 1960s. The items were donated to the Museum of Tropical Queensland in 2012.
Associated person
Registration number
H49836
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