Case study two - step 3:
Talk with donors, owners and investigate community associations
This will ensure that the context, provenance and potential social values of the object are fully understood. Encourage the donor to write notes and describe the history and meaning of the object and when it was in use. Consult other people in the community who may have information about the object or expert knowledge of similar items and of the associated industry or trade.
Cabbage tree hat example:
The Society’s notes associated with the hat were presumably written from information supplied by the donor when it was donated. Notes include information about the family’s arrival in Australia, their home and work. They also record Mr W A Denniss making a small tool to strip the cabbage palm leaves into narrow widths before plaiting.
The Society collected additional information from local sources, which builds a picture of the pattern of manufacture of cabbage tree hats by people in the Illawarra. Of particular note is the reference that members of the Denniss family paid Aboriginal people to climb the cabbage trees and collect palm ‘hands’ for plaiting in exchange for a ‘halfmoon’ of damper. There is also a record of the Tibbles family making quantities of hats to sell twice a year at their stand at the Sydney markets; and Mrs Brooks of Kangaroo Valley putting palm hands on her laundry roof to be bleached by the
sun and frost.