[Editor: This article, about Wattle Day, and the activities of the Wattle Day League, was published in the Clarence & Richmond Examiner (Grafton, NSW), 8 September 1910.]
Wattle Day.
September 1st marked our first Wattle Day. Sydney seemed to be in gala attire; such a festive appearance, and every man sported a buttonaire of the yellow blossom, whilst every girl, woman, and child had a scrap pinned to their blouses. The significance has hardly caught on yet, though the fashion of wearing it was readily adopted.
We have to thank Mrs. H. E. Ross, Mrs. Kettlewell, and Mr. Maiden for the part they have played in establishing this festive day, and the League which has for its raison d’etre the fostering of national spirit, is a flourishing concern quite likely to justify its existence.
The most interesting event of the day was Nellie Stewart’s vendoring of wattle at the flower shop of Miss Goodenough in Pitt-street. For over an hour she rapidly sold bunches of “the golden glory of the bush,” and in this way added no less a sum than seven pounds to the Radium Fund.
The League proposes to supply schools and institutions with wattle seed, trees for planting in the grounds, by which means the supply of trees and blossom will be husbanded.
The sentimental phase of the question will be left to teachers and parents to impart, and in this way the young idea will be taught to honour the wattle, which, as the floral emblem of Australia, stands for “loyalty, home, country and kinship.”
Source:
Clarence & Richmond Examiner (Grafton, NSW), 8 September 1910, p. 7
Also published in:
The Maitland Daily Mercury (West Maitland, NSW), 10 September 1910, p. 6
The Maitland Weekly Mercury (West Maitland, NSW), 17 September 1910, p. 9
Editor’s notes:
buttonaire = a boutonniere: a buttonhole flower or a small bunch of flowers inserted through a buttonhole or pinned to the lapel of a garment
H. E. Ross = Hannah Elizabeth Clunies Ross (née Tilley) (1862-1947), Wattle Day campaigner; daughter of Charles Tilley (1824-1891), wife of William John Clunies Ross (1850-1914)
See: “Wattle Day”, The Institute of Australian Culture
husband = the careful management and/or usage of resources; a financially careful, frugal, prudent, or thrifty person (can also refer to: a married man)
Kettlewell = Agnes Louisa Kettlewell (née Storrie) (1864-1936), poet, author, journalist, and Wattle Day campaigner; she was born in Glenelg (South Australia) in 1864, and died in Woolwich (Sydney, NSW) in 1936
See: “Agnes Louisa Storrie (Kettlewell)”, The Institute of Australian Culture
Maiden = Joseph Henry Maiden (1859-1925), botanist, public servant, and Wattle Day campaigner; he was born in St John’s Wood (London, UK) in 1859, came to Australia in 1880, and died in Turramurra (Sydney, NSW) in 1925
See: 1) Mark Lyons and C. J. Pettigrew, “Maiden, Joseph Henry (1859–1925)”, Australian Dictionary of Biography
2) “Joseph Maiden”, Wikipedia
Nellie Stewart = Eleanor Towzey (Nellie) Stewart (1858-1931), actress; she was born in Woolloomooloo (Sydney, NSW) in 1858, and died in Sydney (NSW) in 1931
See: 1) Ross Cooper, “Stewart, Eleanor Towzey (Nellie) (1858–1931)”, Australian Dictionary of Biography
2) “Nellie Stewart”, Wikipedia
Radium Fund = a fund set up to finance the investigation of, and usage of, radium (a radioactive element) for medical purposes
See: 1) “The Radium Fund”, The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (Sydney, NSW), 7 September 1910, p. 6
2) “The Radium Fund”, Australian Town & Country Journal (Sydney, NSW), 7 September 1910, p. 18
raison d’etre = (French: raison d’être) “reason to be” or “reason for being”; (for a person, group, organisation, or something) the reason for one’s existence (especially the most important reason), one’s mission in life, one’s purpose; the claimed main reason or justification for carrying on in life, so as to fulfill a goal, mission, or purpose
vendoring = selling; the activity of a vendor: someone who sells (e.g. an ice cream vendor, a vendor in real estate), or something which sells (e.g. a vending machine)
[Editor: Changed “which as the floral emblem of Australia” to “which, as the floral emblem of Australia,” (added commas in line with the usage in the two other copies of this article.]
[Editor: The original text has been separated into paragraphs.]
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