Red Suitcase STRATHCONA’S EARLIEST ENTREPRENEURS
In this our 95th year we uncovered the mystery of the Red Suitcase. Donated by Joan Gardner Allan (‘54) in 2017, the contents were carefully logged and archived early this year.
T
he suitcase has given us treasured insight into our embroidered blazers adding to Strathcona’s historical collection as we move towards our 100th year. The red case has also given us a remarkable insight into the lives of two strong, innovative, entrepreneurial women who carved a successful business based on their friendship, skills and love for Strathcona. A brief history of hand embroidered school blazer pockets: In the 1920’s and 30’s Dolly Richmond supported herself and her sister by learning to embroider pockets for many of the schools in Melbourne through the agency of the department store Ball & Welch. In the early 1940’s Dolly married a wealthy widower and gave her business to her niece, Queenie (Victoria) Withers. In 1943 Queenie’s daughter Robin Coutts (Withers ’56) was ready to start school and her parents chose
Strathcona. Queenie’s embroidery business paid the school fees. About this time Queenie met her neighbour in Hartwell, Nance Allan, who had two daughters, Joan Gardner (Allan ’54) and Pat Thomas (Allan ’57). The two families formed a very strong friendship. Queenie offered to teach Nance the way to sew the emblems on the pockets and so another business formed that enabled Joan and Pat to also attend Strathcona. Nance went on to teach herself the art of bullion embroidery for the Prefects pockets. The two women sewed every morning and had special attachments on their phones to leave hands-free so they could talk to each other as they worked. Mr Goulet from Ball & Welch would deliver and collect the weekly orders every Friday evening from the two homes. Each pocket was a careful work of art.
DETAILS OF THE DONATION ITEMS • Canvas backing for embroidered pockets • Box 2: Embroidery thread, gold and silver, for bullion embroidery • Tool – somewhat like a hammer, probably used for holding stencils in place plus a box of tacks • Box 4: sample of original pocket (Strathcona) and stencils for a variety of school pocket emblems, sundry tools, compass, pencils etc for stencilling • Ball & Welch Box: Stencils, threads • A brief history and two leaflets from the 90th Anniversary Fair 2014 • Box 7: VERY detailed and TINY stencils, hand cut, for tiny detailed pocket work • Box 8: Four drawered container, containing thread offcuts and brown paper, probably as part of the backing of the pockets (All contained in a red suitcase)
BY MRS DIANA LITTLE Alumnae Administrator
2019 VOL 1
37