Description
This is a black-and-white photograph of a prospector outside his home, which is made entirely from flattened empty food cans. He is opening a tin that appears similar to three others in his packing-case larder. His mining equipment constitutes a pick, a shovel and a panning dish, while an axe is embedded in a foreground tree and a waterbag is on the edge of the roof. The words 'TINNED DOG HUT' are written on the photograph, which measures 14.5 cm x 11.5 cm.
Educational value
- This asset shows an unusual home made from flattened-out empty food cans, called food tins since they were made from tin - the small rectangular tin sheets have been attached to a frame to make the walls and the roof; a second structure nearby is also made from cans; a tin shed was probably safer than timber sheds or hessian tents, because of the constant danger of fire from the candles used for lighting; a tin shed would have made a better shelter from the dust, wind and rain too, but not from the heat.
- It gives an indication of the accommodation on Western Australia's gold fields in the 1890s - there were no permanent settlements when the gold was first discovered and prospectors had to use whatever materials were available for shelter and furniture, or transport everything from the coast; the floors of their buildings were of earth, which was hot and dusty in summer and wet in the rainy season; huts had no glass in windows or insulation to protect inhabitants from the weather, there was no sanitation and cooking was usually done outside.
- It suggests an extensive use of canned food - fresh food was virtually unobtainable or very expensive on the gold fields due to freight costs and lack of water; canned food was the staple diet of early prospectors and the roads were littered on both sides with empty cans and burnt-out fires; miners lived largely on meat, tea and damper, but canned food of all kinds, including butter, jam, fruit, fish, vegetables, plum puddings, tomatoes, potatoes and soup, was available; the 1903 opening of the Coolgardie Water Supply pipeline, later known as the Golden Pipeline, made the growing of fruit and vegetables and the keeping of livestock much easier.
- It shows several items of essential gold fields equipment - a waterbag hangs from the corner of the roof, probably placed there to catch the breeze; the waterbag is made from canvas, and the water would keep cool through evaporation from the porous material; a pick and shovel were needed for finding alluvial gold (nuggets near or on the surface) and breaking off exposed reef quartz to dolly (crush) for gold.
- It illustrates the use of the gold fields expression 'tinned dog' - even though all sorts of meat was available in cans, such as beef sausages and minced lamb, the men complained that it all tasted the same, like 'tinned dog'; it was generally regarded with suspicion because of its unrecognisable form, but may have actually been healthier than unrefrigerated meat hung outside shops and subject to the effects of heat and flies.
- It shows a prospector in his regular working attire of a long-sleeved shirt, moleskin trousers kept up with braces and a slouch hat - men wore waistcoats too, despite the oppressive heat; getting and keeping clothes clean in the waterless gold fields was a problem; denuded of timber, which had been used for fuel and other purposes, the gold fields were one large dustbowl and dry blowing for gold was a dirty occupation; this miner probably put his clothes over a bush and whacked them with his shovel to get the dust out.
- It is an example of a photograph produced from glass negatives coated with gelatin ('dry-plate' negatives), a process that allowed photographers to take pictures with relative freedom and speed - before the invention of 'dry-plate' negatives in 1880, photographers used 'wet-plate' negatives, which had to be exposed while the collodion emulsion on them was still wet, and then developed immediately, requiring photographers to carry a great deal of equipment (mini-darkrooms) with them; gelatin-coated glass negatives could be exposed at any time and developed at the convenience of the photographer.
