Sport Collections

‘Our life is a living Scrap-book. Clipped from the scroll of Time and pasted in by the hand of Fate, every day brings its contributions, and the leaves accumulate until the book is filled’.

- EW Gurley, Scrapbooks and how to make them, 1880

The history of scrapbooks

Humans have compiled individual records of their lives and the world around them for millennia. The naming of that practice as ‘scrapbooking‘ however, may derive from England in the early 19th century. At that time, scrapbooks primarily consisted of drawings, sketches and paintings along with illustrated printed material.

Later in the 19th century, the practice of cutting articles from newspapers and assembling them in scrapbooks became more commonplace. Cutting-based scrapbooks represent most of our scrapbook collection. 

More than simply a collection of articles, however, these compilations provide us with a window into the minds of their creators, and how they made sense of the world. As EW Gurley said of her own scrapbooks, ‘I have almost as much reluctance in showing some of my scrap-books as I would in permitting others to read my private diary.’.

Scrapbook collections

Scrapbook of the World Cup, England 1973 / Lorna Thomas

Scrapbooks are distinct from other print collections because, unlike books and periodicals which are mass-produced, they are personally curated, one-of-a-kind items. As a result they can be found in many places within the Library catalogue, and different access may apply to them. For more information, see our call numbers search tip at right.

• As scrapbooks typically include newspaper clippings, many are housed with our published items. Collection highlight include the multi-volume Bert L Cox boxing scrapbooks (see right) and the Gregory family collection of cricket scrapbooks.

• A smaller collection of scrapbooks is catalogued as pictures and housed with the rest of the Library’s image collections. Scrapbooks catalogued in this manner can be expected to contain some photographs, postcards or other pictorial material.

• Many Australian sportspeople of past eras collected records of their sporting activities in scrapbooks. These may include news cuttings documenting their achievements, as well as mementoes such as photographs, scorecards, invitation cards and assorted other ephemera. 
• The Library’s collection includes some treasures, including scrapbooks of boxer George Mendies, Rugby League administrator Harold Matthews, and Australian cricketer Lorna Thomas.

Newscuttings

Fulfilling a similar role to scrapbooks is the Library’s newscutting collection, containing 353 boxes of clippings alphabetised by subject matter. Press clipping services were used by the Library for many years, and the collection includes a number of sports items. Box 293, for example, contains a folder on surfing, with articles dating between 1919 and 1978 from titles as diverse as the London Punch, Manly Daily and Grafton’s Daily Examiner. 

Although advances in digital technology have reduced the need for clipping news articles, this collection features time periods and newspapers not covered by online sources such as Trove or the Library’s eResources.

Newscuttings can be requested through the Library catalogue. The catalogue record also includes a complete list of subject headings.

Digital sporting scrapbooks on Trove

Trove users can keep the tradition of scrapbooking alive by creating their own lists. Lists can include any item available digitally on Trove, as well as catalogue records from library holdings across Australia. Below is a selection of ‘digital scrapbooks’ accessible via Trove:

•    Les Darcy (boxing)
•    Riverina Rugby League
•    VFL Grand Finals (Australian Rules football)
•    Chinese Soccer Team visits to Australia 1923 and 1927 (soccer)
•    Defection of Hungarian athletes during the 1956 Melbourne Olympics
•    Women’s lacrosse

Can’t find the list you are looking for? Get to researching and create one yourself!