Researching old Sydney papers for V.V information

[Franklin1]

G'day all,
The "Sydney Morning Herald" newspaper has announced a new digital archive service for researchers, as follows...



I tested this service out last week, and it appears to be having a few teething problems (slow response, no results, wrong results, etc), so it may require a bit of patience and perseverence to get some relevant information. If you are reasonably computer-savvy, I strongly recommend you work out how to use the "Advanced Search" function, so you can nominate different types and ages of information you are looking for.
Longer term members of our website may remember me talking about researching the original history of my Franklin caravan, so I tested this archive service for information about Franklin caravans in Sydney in the early days. I was able to see plenty of advertisements for Franklin caravans, and it appears they were first advertised in this paper in Sydney in the edition 19 March 1966. There are lots and lots of advertisements and photos of Franklin caravans between 1966 and 1970.
To get started, go to this website and click on the "Take A Tour" button on the right of the photo...
archives.smh.com.au/

ps. I would be very interested if southern readers can tell me if the Melbourne Age newspaper has a similar service. I need to track the Franklin caravan history back to Ballarat in the late 50s/ early 60s.

Happy hunting,
cheers,
Al.

[chippydave01]

Hi Al,
Thanks for the link.I still have not seen one Fairland caravan or any info on them since joining this site.That link has provided my first bit of info with 3 ads dating Fairland caravans 1966 1967 and 1969.
I will just have to find out how much a copy costs so i can read its full contents. Thanks Again Al .....Cheers Dave

[hwyman]

Hi franklin 1.

You may like to try the ballarat mechanics institute, they would likely have more information than the melbourne news papers or even try the ballarat courier news papers.
Here's a link to the mechanic's institute.

www.library.org.au/finda.htm

Ballaarat Mechanics Institute 1939

Ballarat Mechanics' Institute
117 Sturt St.
Ballarat 3350 Phone [phone]
email [e-mail]

Hwyman. .

[Franklin1]

G'day Dave, and g'day Hwyman...
Firstly to Dave...assuming you haven't worked it out already, the prices to view full articles, adverts, etc are shown when the "Subscribe" button is clicked. I haven't paid any money yet so I don't know whether it is worth it or not, but looking at the pricing list it would seem that $25 for 1 week is good value, particularly if you have broadband and could flog the downloads to death during that week. I might have a go at paying some money in the near future, just to see how it goes. Might work out cheaper than all the old magazines I've bought on e-bay that have so far given me "zip" about early Franklin caravans.
Secondly to Hwyman...thanks for the tip about the Institute, but no luck for me there. I have a long list of websites relating to Ballarat, with the most promising being the Ballarat Historical Society. I can pay someone to do the research for me, but I would need deep pockets. I've tried a number of ways of tracking down any of the three daughters of the original owner of my van (who died in 2003), without any luck. Bloody hard when you don't know any of the daughter's first names or current surnames!! All I have to work from is the old man's name. I'm patiently waiting for someone to join this website who has lived in Ballarat for a looooong time, and who knows all three daughters and has their current addresses and phone numbers. Now THAT would be my holy grail... ;D ;D

cheers,
Al.

[firefighter]

Hey Al

You could not have read what I put on about franklin vans
In runs & events thread page 1 Avoco run , I spoke with a franklin worker his no at franklin was 24 started early 60s
I asked him a lot of questions , on the history of franklin I am about to put this on the forum
Geoff ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[Franklin1]

G'day Geoff,
No, I'd missed the post about Avoca, but having just read it now, it seems you have some valuable information that would be VERY, VERY useful to me. You wouldn't happen to know the full name of the park manager? I'm thinking maybe I could send the information I've got about my Franklin caravan down to him for a read, and then maybe later make contact direct with him to have a chat.
I'm certainly looking forward to you posting all the info you have about Franklin caravans, ...or have I missed that as well? (I don't get on this site as often as I'd like, so I sometimes get left behind with all the new posts).
cheers,
Al.

[firefighter]

Hey Al

just got of the phone from talking to mel , mel has a mate who worked at franklin before him , i have also sent a photo of my franklin ( now owned by tinnie) to mel
Al give us a ring on 03 95637305
I have wrote out the story on franklin that Mel told me , will put it on the forum tomorrow as i need gay to do the photobucket bit
Geoff ;D ;D ;D ;D