Christmas card from 'The Sanitary Man'
Object No. 2002/118/1
In the days before the sewer was connected to homes, the sanitary carter and his team would call weekly in the early hours of the morning to pick up the full pan of nightsoil from the backyard dunny and replace it with a clean one. It was an unpleasant job and householders usually showed their appreciation by leaving tips or gifts of beer at Christmas time. But just so they wouldn't forget, it was customary for the Sanitary Man to leave a specially printed Christmas card reminding them to be generous. This 'dunny card' is typical. It carries a long piece of doggerel wishing the householder 'A Merry Christmas' and 'A Prosperous New Year' with a reminder that 'We are the Pilgrims of the Night, And the Rovers of the Day, We clean your "Mansions" cheerily, And never miss a day'. The bite comes in the verse that goes 'Our nightly toil is hard to bear, With odour from the pans, Yet Christmas time it gives us cheer, For tips will come to hand'. This humorous piece of ephemera complements the wide range of material in the Powerhouse collection related to sanitation and sewerage.
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Summary
Object Statement
Christmas card, 'With compliments of the season' from 'The Sanitary Man', cardboard, maker unknown, probably Australia, c. 1950
Physical Description
Christmas card, 'With compliments of the season' from 'The Sanitary Man', cardboard, maker unknown, [Australia], c. 1950. A small, rectangular christmas card in portrait format, made of purple-coloured cardboard and printed in black. The front of the card features text within a black line border and is headed 'With the Compliments of the Season' and features a lengthy poem from 'The Sanitary Man' with a final message wishing the householder 'A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year'.
DIMENSIONS
Height
115 mm
Width
73 mm
PRODUCTION
Notes
There is no clue as to where this card was made, but it can be assumed that it is Australian. It was customary for sanitary carters to have Christmas cards like this specially printed. There is no clue to the date of manufacturer of this card. It could have been made in the 1950s but may be older.
HISTORY
Notes
The card was purchased by the donor at a 'collectibles' market in NSW in 2000 and there is no other information about it. Transcript of poem With the Compliments of the Season Swiftly the old year is fleeting And Christmas is drawing near "A Merry Christmas is our greeting, And "A Proserperous New Year" We are the Pilgrims of the Night And the Rovers of the Day, We clean your "Mansions" cheerily, And never miss a day. Our mission is for health and strength, So please remember that The nightman is your friend indeed, A happy little chap. Our nightly toil is hard to bear, With odour from the pans, Yet Christmas time it gives us cheer, For tips will come to hand. And now that it is Christmas time, We thought that we would drop a line, And wish you all a good old time, For the sake of Auld Lang Syne The SANITARY MAN. A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year
SOURCE
Credit Line
Gift of Martha Sear, 2002
Acquisition Date
20 September 2002
Copyright for the above image is held by the Powerhouse and may be subject to third-party copyright restrictions. Please submit an Image Licensing Enquiry for information regarding reproduction, copyright and fees. Text is released under Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivative licence.
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