Photograph albums including views of Flat 2, Floor 10, The Astor, Macquarie Street, Sydney, ca. 1938, and photographs of Vera James, Frederick C. James and George H. Anderson, ca. 1920-1940

PXA 1474

fonds

ca. 1920-1940

Graphic Materials, Textual Records, Photographs

976739

3 albums (330 photographic prints) - gelatin silver

Vera James (1892-1980), a New Zealand born actress, came to Australia in 1919 as a stage actress and was later recruited by Franklyn Barrett for two films, 'A Girl of the Bush' and 'Know Thy Child' (1921). She then went to Hollywood and won a leading role in a B-western 'McGuire of the Mounted' (1923), but her major role in 'Bavu' (1923) was removed in post-production changes. Several bit parts and stage shows as a dancer followed, but in 1929 she returned to Australia and retired from showbusiness.

Frederick Charles James, Vera's brother, and George Hughs Anderson were Australian agents for Max Factor during the 1930s and 1940s. They opened a Max Factor shop in Her Majesty's Arcade in Sydney.

Vera James was a resident of the Astor in Macquarie Street, Sydney, from 1949 to 1956. Fred James and George Anderson were residents of the Astor probably from 1937. They purchased Flat 2 on the 10th floor of the Astor for 3,100 pounds in March 1938.

The Astor's two founders and two architects were Christian Scientists, as were many of its original or early shareholders during the 1920s and 1930s.

References:
The Astor / edited by Jan Roberts. [Sydney] : Ruskin Rowe Press, 2003.
Australian film, 1900-1977 : a guide to feature film production / Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper. Rev. ed.. Melbourne : Oxford University Press, 1998.
The Sydney Morning Herald, 5 March 1938, p. 5. Accessed on Trove. http://trove.nla.gov.au/ (accessed on 31 May 2012)
Compiled from the collection.
Information provided by John Freeman, July 2017

Collection comprises three photograph albums.

FILE 01
Our home No. 2 Floor 10 The Astor, Macquarie Street, Sydney, [ca. 1938] [photograph album]

FILE 02
Souvenir Album 1933. A Century of Progress Chicago.
Album containing 177 photographs of an overseas trip by Frederick James and George Anderson to Fiji, Samoa, Hawaii, Mexico, and the U.S.A.. Includes photographs of the Christian Science Sanitarium in San Francisco [Arden Wood]; Chestnut Hill Sanitarium, First Church of Christ Scientist, and Mrs Eddy's Memorial in Boston; and the 1933-1934 World Fair in Chicago.
Also includes photographs of Fred with Max Fierstein [i.e. Firestein], Max Factor's son-in-law, an advertising sign for Max Factor in Brisbane, and photographs taken in Australia.

FILE 03
Album containing 138 photographs including portraits of Vera James in Sydney, views of Sydney Harbour, Manly, and tennis players, ca. 1920-1940. Includes a list of sundaes from Melody Lane Fountain Specials, Majestic Theatre, including the Vera James "Native" Sundae.

Out of copyright: Created before 1955
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

Dated by Curator of Photographs, Mitchell Library, May 2012.
Earliest date for Item 03 from presence of HMS Renown in Sydney Harbour in June 1920.

Item 03 has loose pages and photographs.