Glorious Days: Australia 1913 celebrated a time of tremendous optimism, when Australians saw their new nation as progressive and free to make its own future in the world.
1913 was a 'hinge year', when people embraced the modern world of automobiles, aeroplanes, rollerskating and cinema, although attitudes and prejudices from the past persisted.
Glorious Days was on show at the National Museum of Australia from 7 March to 13 October 2013.
Sport and leisure
Explore swimming, roller skating, football and other popular pursuits.
Nation building
Celebrate milestones such as the naming of the national capital and Australia's first banknote.
Social laboratory
Discover advances in scientific research and the rights of women and workers.
First peoples
Learn about Indigenous peoples through collections acquired by ethnographers and amateurs.
Defending Australia
Explore the arrival of a navy for a new nation, and the citizen army.
Music and films
Hear Nellie Melba, Florence Austral, Peter Dawson and popular artists.
Australasian empire
Discover Douglas Mawson's Antarctic expedition and Australians in Papua.
Australian style
See works from artists including Hans Heysen, Norman Lindsay and Ethel Carrick Fox.
Glorious Days: Australia 1913
- Last updated: 8 October 2013
- 10 programs
The year 1913 was one of great optimism for Australians. Hear about sport and celebrity, women in white Australia, the new navy, the arts and exploration in Antarctica.
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