History of Australia'

1910

On the 1st September 1910, the first Wattle Day was celebrated in Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne and was significant as being the first organised demonstration on a definite day ever witnessed in Australia.

Australia's Native Flower

Emblem of Patriotism and Love

Let the wattle henceforth be a sacred charge to every Australian. Let us foster and protect and cherish it. Let us plant it in all our parks and reserves and pleasure grounds, so that we may make pilgrimages to its groves in blossom time. let us give our schoolchildren wattle plants, and offer annual prizes for the best grown trees, that there may be no Australian who cannot link it with his childish memories....

To the native born Australian the wattle stands for home, country, kindred, sunshine, and love - every instinct that the heart most deeply enshrines.

Sydney Morning Herald, September 1, 1910

Wattle day activities outlined in the Sydney Morning Herald article included the planting of wattle trees in school grounds, the Lady Mayoress was to plant a tree in the grounds of the Benevolent Society and a public meeting that night was to be addressed by the Chief Justice. Blooms were on display in shop windows and on sale in the flower stalls near the General Post Office. Everyone was asked to wear a sprig of wattle and get into the spirit of this patriotic occasion.

On the same page of the Herald, another article written by Martyn Place (sic.) , sympathised with the Waratah as a potential emblem but concluded that the wattle had a 'better claim on Australian hearts than its more exclusive compatriot'. The article contained a piece of verse from a Kipling poem which is set in the Boer war.

Through the crack and the stink of the cordite,

Oh, God, my country again;

The smell of the wattle round Lichtenberg,

Ridin' in the rain!

Acacia pycnantha Photo: M. Hitchcock

The Wattle

The bush was grey

A week today

(Olive-green, and brown, and grey);

But now the Spring has come this way

With blossom for the wattle.

Veronica Mason

Full text in Anthology

At the bottom of the same page in the Herald, Veronica Mason's poem, simply entitled 'The Wattle' was reproduced. It had been sent in by W. Swanton of the Hurstville Superior Public School. This poem was later set to music and became the most familiar of all the wattle songs.

That first Wattle Day, schoolchildren in South Australia had special lessons in botany and drawing with the emphasis being on the usefulness and beauty of trees. An idea to decorate Adelaide's statues of royalty with wattle blossom however, was suppressed due to the recent death of King Edward VII. In an effort to enthuse officialdom, the South Australian committee, led by Will Sowden, sent sprays of Acacia pycnantha to the Governor, Members of Parliament, newspaper editors and other notables. The concept was quite widely accepted in the general community and many people wore sprigs of wattle for the first time.

1911

Enthusiasm for wearing the wattle as an emblem continued, due to active promotion by branches of the League. The Adelaide committee was especially strong and it did not confine itself to Wattle Day. In July, the visiting Sheffield Choir wore sprigs of wattle on a painted ribbon at their reception in the Exhibition Building, and on the 19th August, the Commercial Travellers' Association decorated their Commemoration Day Banquet tables with wattle blossom, even using the flower on menu cards and programs.

National Library of Australia

On Wattle Day itself, Adelaide was described as a city 'decked with gold', so great was the enthusiasm shown by members of the league. The Committee of the kindergarten Union sold 5000 sprays of wattle making a profit of about £ 83. Schoolchildren were given special lessons on the 'significance of honouring the blossom' and Wattle Day celebrations were introduced to London by the president of the South Australian branch, lady Symon, who had travelled there earlier in the year. In her absence, Will Sowden entertained the mayor and mayoress of Adelaide (Mr & Mrs Cohen), the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Melbourne (Cr C J Davey and Mrs Davey) members of the League and other workers at an afternoon tea in the May Club.

W. J. Sowden History of the Wattle Day Movement. Pamphlet held by the public Library of New South Wales. undated.

Wattle Day, so intent they were on their fairy flotilla Watercolour

Ida Rintoul Outhwaite (1888-1960)

www.chrisbeetles.com

Sydney

Sydney celebrated Wattle Day in a similar manner to the previous year. More schools were involved in tree-planting projects, 'Wattle' postcards and badges were issued and a copy of a Commonwealth 'wattle' poster was displayed for the first time. This poster was to be used to advertise Australia abroad. The New South Wales branch of the League encouraged children to develop a love of their native flora.

'We desire to stimulate Australian national sentiment and connect it with love of our beautiful and, I may add, our useful flora. Australia has a beuty all her own, and visitors from other landshave declared that some of our scenery is unsurpassed in the world. Above all stands out the golden wattle - a flower that South Africa, after having imported it from Australia, actually wants to make her own national flower. Let the wattle be to us, not merely a sign that we love the flower, but a sign that we love our country.'

Sydney Morning Herald, 1 September 1911

Vintage early Australia wattle Australiana postcard

www.janesoceania.com

It was now time to push for federal acceptance of Wattle Day and on 19th September, 1911 the South Australian branch met in order to propose the following motion:

'That it is desirable that the observance of Wattle day should in future assume a Federal character through the Commonwealth.'

W. J. Sowden History of the Wattle Day Movement. Pamphlet held by the public Library of New South Wales. undated.

Melbourne

For some reason, Melbourne couldn't quite get the date right in the early days. There was a Great Wattle League demonstration in Melbourne Town Hall on 5 September 1911 and the first 'Wattle Train' went to Hurstbridge on 31 August 1912. This train carried 980 passengers.

A.J. Campbell 'Wattle Memorabilia' undated pamphlet.

Three days later, on 2nd September, wattle blossom was first sold for charity in the streets of Melbourne and a total of £847 was raised. There is a logical explanation for the latter date as, in 1912, 1 September was a Sunday. The league had made a ruling that if the date should fall on a Sunday, then celebrations should take place the following day.

On 8 January 1913, Wattle day was 'federalised' in Melbourne at the first pan Australian Wattle Day League Conference, due to the efforts of people like Sowden, Campbell and Maiden. A Federal Wattle Day League was formed with branches in many States. They were to work towards having the emblem officially proclaimed and having Wattle Day celebrations throughout the Commonwealth. Ten days later, the Commonwealth Government Gazette, No 3 (Saturday, 18 January 1913), showed a coloured copy of the Commonwealth Arms carrying the wattle blossom accessory. It was introduced into the design on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, Mr Andrew Fisher.

In December, a wattle blossom stamp was issued. It was very popular and had to be restricted to a maximum of six stamps per customer as there was a great crowd waiting on the steps of the Melbourne GPO on the first day of issue. The stamps cost one penny each. (Since this first wattle stamp was issued, several have followed including the 1959 green stamp depicting Acacia pycnantha and priced at 2s 3d.

The Wattle Day League appeared to be going from strength to strength. It had captured the imaginations of thousands of Australians and enthusiasm was mounting daily. An event was to occur, however, which would not only shape history and change the world, but would also interrupt the work of the league. Proclamation of the emblem was laid aside for more pressing matters such as World War I and was not revived until my campaign which began in 1986.