[Editor: This postcard (unused), which incorporates a photo of some men working with haystacks on a farm, was published circa 1906-1908. The postcard is undated.]
[Front of postcard]
Threshing, a busy time.
The total value of Farm products alone in Victoria for the year 1907 reach £22,184,818, an average of £411 per farm.
[Description: A photo of some men working with haystacks on a farm, along with a horse and card, and a farm engine.]
[Reverse of postcard]
National Series of post cards.
E. R.
Victoria
The Garden State of Australia.
Farm life in Victoria illustrated.
Issued by direction of
The Hon. J. E. Mackey.
Commissioner of Crown Lands,
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Victoria offers farms to farmers possessed of small capital on easy terms.
For Plans and Full Particulars of Closer Settlement Allotments Available apply to
The Agent-General for Victoria, Queen Victoria-street, London, E.C., or
The Secretary Lands Purchase Board, Public Offices, Melbourne.
[No identifying information about the manufacturer was included on the postcard.]
Source:
Original document
Editor’s notes:
Dimensions (approximate): 140 mm. (width), 88 mm. (height).
This card has been dated as circa 1906-1908, as those were the years when J. E. Mackey was the Commissioner of Crown Lands and Survey in Victoria. The previous Commissioner was John Murray. Mackey was succeeded by Thomas Hunt in 1908.
See: 1) “Personal” (advertisement), The Age (Melbourne, Vic.), 3 May 1906, p. 5 [“the Commissioner of Crown Lands (Mr. Murray) … Mr. J. E. Mackey, M.L.A., honorary Minister”]
2) “Erection of workmen’s homes, Geelong” (advertisement), The Age (Melbourne, Vic.), 3 September 1906, p. 5 [“J. E. Mackey, Commissioner of Crown Lands and Survey. Melbourne, 31st August, 1906.”]
3) “Sale of Crown Lands in fee simple” (advertisement), The Age (Melbourne, Vic.), 29 October 1908, p. 2 [“J. E. Mackey. Commissioner of Crown Lands and Survey. Melbourne, 23rd October, 1908.”]
4) “The Bent Government: New ministers sworn in”, The Yackandandah Times (Yackandandah, Vic.), 5 November 1908, p. 3 [“Mr J E Mackey, to be Chief Secretary, also Minister of Labor … Mr Thomas Hunt, to be President of the Board of Land and Works and Commissioner of Crown Lands and Survey”]
E.C. = (abbreviation) Eastern Central (a postcode for the Eastern Central area of London, England)
See: 1) “Postcodes”, The Postal Museum
2) “EC postcode area”, Wikipedia
E. R. = Elizabeth Regina, meaning Queen Elizabeth (“regina” means “queen” in Latin); regarding the reign of Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022; Queen 1952-2022), the royal cypher was EIIR (Elizabeth II Regina), commonly surmounted by a crown; however, Queen Elizabeth signed official documents simply as “ER”
See: 1) Carly Bass, “Royal rules: What does ER stand for and what will it change to now Charles is King?”, The Sun, 19 September 2022 [“The Queen signed all official documents with ER”]
2) Will Lennox, “Queen Elizabeth II: What does ER stand for in the Monarchy?”, Vogue Australia, 19 September 2022
3) Jack Slater, “What does ER stand for with The Queen?”, Metro, 27 September 2022
4) “Elizabeth II”, Wikipedia
5) “Royal cypher”, Wikipedia
Hon. = an abbreviation of “honourable”, especially used as a style to refer to government ministers, or as a courtesy to members of parliament (as a style, it is commonly capitalised, e.g. “the Hon. Member”)
J. E. Mackey = John Emanuel Mackey (1863-1924), compositor, academic, and Victorian politician; he was born in Sandhurst (Vic.) in 1863, and died in Nayook (Vic.) in 1924
See: “Sir John Emanuel Mackey”, Parliament of Victoria
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