Collection: Macquarie University History Museum
Billy Can
| Accession # | AHM004183 |
| Creator | |
| Culture | |
| Period | late 19th century |
| Date | |
| Provenance | Australia |
| Material/s | Metal |
| Dimensions | 14.7cm (l) x 10.6cm (w) |
| Collection | Macquarie University History Museum |
| Source | AHM, Macquarie University |
| Classification | Vessel |
Click here to inspect 3d item.
The Billy Can, or Tin, has become an iconic symbol of Australian national identity and bush culture. Interestingly the origin of the billy is said to be at the goldfields, where miners used the empty food-tins over a campfire to heat or cook their food and tea. This then evolved into the popular billy can with a lid that served as a cup. The item from our collection is a black billy with two handles (double metal rings) at one side and another wire loop at the top for hanging over a camp fire. The lid lifts out as a cup, also with two handles. In 1859 W. Burrows described the billy as a “tin vessel, something between a saucepan and a kettle, always black outside from being constantly on the fire, and looking brown inside from the quantity of tea that is generally to be seen in it.”
-
Syllabus Links
- Stage 3 Syllabus Links
- describe and explain the significance of people, groups, places and events to the development of Australia (HT3-1)
- describe and explain different experiences of people living in Australia over time (HT3-2)
- identify change and continuity and describe the causes and effects of change on Australian society (HT3-3)
- apply a variety of skills of historical inquiry and communication (HT3-5)
-
Stage 3 History - The Australian Colonies
- The impact of the gold rushes on the colonies (ACHHK095)
- The reasons people migrated to Australia from Europe and Asia, and the experiences and contributions of a particular migrant group within a colony (ACHHK096)
-
Historical concepts
- Continuity and change.
- Cause and effect - reasons that led to migration to Australia
- Empathetic understanding - an understanding of another's experience of living in an Australian colony in the 19th Century.
- Significance - determining the importance (significance) of tools developed on the goldfields and adopted broadly.
-
Historical skills - Analysis and use of sources
- locate information relevant to inquiry questions in a range of sources (ACHHS102, ACHHS121)
-
Historical Skills - Empathetic understanding
- explain why the behaviour of people from the past may differ from today
-
Historical Skills - Research
- identify and pose questions to inform an historical inquiry (ACHHS100, ACHHS119)
- identify and locate a range of relevant sources to support an historical inquiry (ACHHS101, ACHHS120)
-
Historical Skills - Explanation and communication
- develop historical texts, particularly narratives and descriptions, which incorporate source material (ACHHS105, ACHHS124)
- use a range of communication forms (oral, written, graphic) and digital technologies. (ACHHS106, ACHHS125)
- Stage 3 Syllabus Links
- Educational Resources
-
Online Resources
- "My Old Black Billy" Folk Song
- ANU Meanings and origins of Australian words
- Trove Article from The Advertiser Newspaper, Adelaide
- NMA Website
- "GO TO THE BUSH! "—AND I WENT. (1890, August 2). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. 1848 - 1957), p. 4.
- Slim Dusty "Waltzing Matilda" Video
- 19th Century Tea billboard
-
Bibliography/References
- Dugan, F (9.12.1902) "The Early Days of the Eastern Goldfields" in The Western Argus Newspaper p.7 on trove
- Eggert, P (ed.) (2013) Henry Lawson While the Billy Boils. The Original Newspaper Versions Sydney University Press, Sydney
- Jeffries, R and Harrington, E (c.1940) 'My Old Black Billy; and other songs of the Australian outback', Allan and Co. Melbourne
- Knight, J (2011) "'A Poisonous Cup?‟ Afternoon Tea in Australian Society, 1870-1914" Honours dissertation, University of Sydney
- Spencer, C.G. and Manners, R.B (1993) Kanowna's barrowman - James Balzano (1859-1948) - the early history of Kalgoorlie's goldrushes Hesperian Press
- Webber, K., (2012) Daily Life on the Goldfields Powerhouse Museum
Cite this page
Macquarie University History Museum (2020). Billy Can, AHM004183. //objectbasedlearning.com/Macquarie-University-History-Museum/AHM004183 (accessed on: 14 June 2020).Rights & Permissions
We support the open release of data and information about our collections. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.