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The archive also includes items of popular and retail culture such as film and audiotapes, advertisements, photography, clothing, Coles Cafeteria staff uniforms from the 1960s and store fittings. In addition to the records of Coles and Myers, the archive contains the records of other businesses that have been absorbed into the company including Grace Brothers, Farmers, Penneys and Boans.
The collection represents more than just a corporate history of Coles Myer. Because of its scale and diversity it provides an economic, social and cultural record of Australia over a 160-year period.
Previously stored in company premises, the archive will now become publicly accessible for the first time as it is catalogued, conserved and transferred to the Library - a project estimated to take three years. It will be an invaluable resource for the study of business and retail history, and the associated areas of social history and popular culture.
Items from the collection will be made available for research, as well as for display and exhibition at the State Library and other institutions. It is anticipated that through the Library's redevelopment project, the archive will be housed in purpose-built storage for special collections, with climate and environment controls and security monitoring.
The State Library is grateful to Coles Myer for the substantial financial support that will fund staff to identify, organise, catalogue, and conserve the collection to archival standards, over a three-year period.
Illustrations
Left: Crowd gathering outside the Myer department store.
Right: Bargain sale at Myer c.1960 |
