Eastern Goldfields Amalgamated Tailors & Tailoresses Society Banner

This double-sided banner of the Eastern Goldfields Amalgamated Tailors & Tailoresses Society comes with its original box and top pole. However, the storage box was inadvertently destroyed by the Conservation Department in October 1981.

Design & Unique Features

Believed to be Western Australian-made around 1910, this banner differs from traditional union banners in several key ways. Unlike most banners, it is:

• Made entirely of canvas with leather-bound corners
• Lacking a silk border or loops for the top pole
• Decorated with a simple blue-painted background

The gold scrollwork, along with painted roses, asters, and daisies, frames two work-related scenes.

Historical Significance

The Affiliated Unions of Tailors and Tailoresses were established in Western Australia’s goldfields in 1897.

Front Side:
the front side of the banner shows a rare depiction of working women. This banner is unique because it gives equal prominence to both tailors and tailoresses. It is also one of the very few surviving Australian banners that depicts a working woman rather than an allegorical female figure.

The tailor is shown in the traditional cross-legged position on a cutting table, using shears, a sleeve board, twine, and a tailor’s iron.

The tailoress is seated at a Singer treadle sewing machine, working on a pair of trousers.

The tailoress may represent Miss J. McCullum, who was a delegate for the union at the Trades and Labour Congress in Perth in 1900.

At the centrr of the banner, the registered union label is prominently displayed, signifying official recognition of the union’s legitimacy.

Reverse Side:
The reverse side of the banner is simply decorated with the words:

“Amalgamated Tailors and Tailoresses Society”

Above this, the clasped handshake of a man and a woman is displayed alongside the union’s motto:

“Let Us Pull Together”

This strong visual statement symbolises both union solidarity and recognition of the roles of both men and women in the workplace.