Samuel's Blog

The Old Postmaster General

November 19th, 2005 at 07:41pm

A discussion about the ABC radio transmitter building in Canberra over on John B1_B5’s site and how the building still bears the Postmaster General’s mark reminded me of some matchbox cars I have which also bear the Postmaster General’s mark.

For those that aren’t aware, the Postmaster General’s Department (or PMG) was a government department responsible for the postal service, the telephone service, and apparently the ABC broadcasts among other things. The PMG was broken up into the companies now known as Telstra and Australia Post in 1975. A company called “Broadcast Australia” is now responsible for the operation of Canberra’s ABC radio transmitters, and pretty much the entire ABC and SBS networks, among others.

Anyway, the matchbox cars that I was thinking of are some I bought from the post office a while back, the first one is a 1927 Model T Ford PMG van.

The large P.M.G is a shiny gold colour, but the flash of the camera made it show up as a brownish colour. You can also see on the “door” of the vehicle “PMG 282”

Next up is a postie bike showing the letters “PMG” and the numbers “692”.

And finally, the last vehicle in the collection doesn’t bear the PMG mark, but it is an interesting vehicle none the less. It is an Australia Post bright yellow Express Post van, which in this case is in the form of a Ford Transit from year unknown.

These vehicles show an evolution of postal transport and the postal system in Australia, which in itself is rather fascinating.

Samuel

Entry Filed under: Samuel's Editorials

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