Classic photos show grotesque Sydney ahead of anniversary

Extraordinary vintage photos have emerged showing the disgusting state of early Sydney ahead of the city’s 175th anniversary.

Pictures produced by the City of Sydney council show the city around the time of its inauguration, with rubbish and horse manure piling up on streets, dead animals blocking drains, and rats and butchers’ offal washing up on the shore.

Bondi Beach – now a much-admired icon of the eastern suburbs – was described in 1913 as ‘filthy, with vegetable debris, straw, animal refuse, bagging, articles of clothing, matting, baskets, tins, and bottles being cast up from the sea’, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

The incredible relics will be displayed to the public in an exhibition marking 175 years since the election of the first Sydney council. 

 

Pictured is a pile of rubbish collected from Sydney’s streets by ‘block boys’ – who had the unenviable task of cleaning mountains of horse manure – before it was ready to be dumped out at sea

‘Gully flushers’ removed thousands of dead birds, dogs, cats, goats and rats by flooding blocked drains and dumping the animals in the ocean – only for the carcasses wash up on the beaches

The incredible images will be displayed to the public in an exhibition marking 175 years since the election of the first Sydney council

The earliest film footage of Sydney has also been produced, showing a burlesque roller-skater at Prince Alfred Park in 1896.

Another video shows the incredible growth of the Sydney skyline, as more and more skyscrapers pop up alongside the harbour. 

Some of the dirty jobs undertaken in the city more than 100 years ago include ‘block boys’, who had the unenviable task of cleaning mountains of horse manure from the streets, all while avoiding busy traffic.

 Dumping rubbish in the sea continued until 1932, when protests against the practice meant it could no longer be justified

 Dumping rubbish in the sea continued until 1932, when protests against the practice meant it could no longer be justified

Pictured is the first map of the city of Sydney in 1842, showing the fledgling area before its massive development over the next 175 years

Sydney’s city streets were full of thousands of horses passing through each day, leaving behind manure which had to be cleaned up

‘Gully flushers’ removed thousands of dead birds, dogs, cats, goats and rats by flooding blocked drains and dumping the animals in the ocean – only for the carcasses to wash up on the beaches.

Dumping rubbish in the sea continued until 1932, when protests against the practice meant it could no longer be justified.

Historian Dr Lisa Murray said gas lamps illuminated the city at night, but they would be turned off during a full moon.

Chimneys sent thick plumes of smoke into the sky, slaughterhouses and fat burners meant the Sydney was constantly enveloped by a pungent stench

Chimneys sent thick plumes of smoke into the sky, slaughterhouses and fat burners meant the Sydney was constantly enveloped by a pungent stench.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said current residents can learn a lot from the city’s history. 

An exhibition, Our City: 175 Years in 175 Objects, will be held at the Sydney Town Hall from October 27 to November 12 to mark the anniversary.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said current residents can learn a lot from the city’s history

An exhibition, Our City: 175 Years in 175 Objects, will be held at the Sydney Town Hall from October 27 to November 12 to mark the anniversary

 

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