Posts Tagged ‘Australian Made’

Ned Kelly - Photo © wendishness. All rights reserved

We have had a number of bushrangers during the short history of Australia (since white settlement) but none have stirred Australians more than Ned Kelly and the “Kelly Gang”. Love him or hate him, there seems to be no middle ground when it comes to opinions of our most infamous bushranger.

Who is Edward ‘Ned’ Kelly?

Ned was the eldest son of John Kelly (ex-convict who was transported from Ireland) and Ellen Quinn (a free immigrant from Ireland). There is much debate over when he was actually born as there are no records of his Catholic Baptism but evidence suggests that it’s likely to have been sometime between late 1854 and June 1855.

When Ned’s father died in 1866, Ned was 11 years old and was the eldest child of 7 children at the time. His mother moved with the children to be nearer to family and get on with their lives as best as they could in those tough times.

Bushranger beginnings?

When Ned was 16 years old, a well known bushranger, Harry Power (who had escaped from prison at the time) came along and asked Ned to join him as his offsider. Needing the money to help his mother he went along. It’s most likely that during his time with Harry Power that he learnt a lot of his bush-skills.

His time with Power was short-lived with him being arrested and Power eventually being caught. When Power was brought in, it was made to look as though Ned was the informer but in fact it was Ned’s uncle who had turned him in.

From his release there were various charges against Ned Kelly and at one time during the lead up to the Kelly Gang, Ned was sentenced to hard labour for 3 years.

Trouble with the Law

In 1878 there was an incident with a Constable Fitzpatrick while attempting to arrest Dan Kelly. Ned and Dan decided it would be better for everyone if they got out of the way and went out in the bush to hide out.

Warrants were issued for their arrest for “attempted murder” of Constable Fitzpatrick with a £100 reward. Their mother was arrested and sentenced to 3 years in gaol with hard labour for attempted murder of Constable Fitzpatrick.

Read more on Ned Kelly on Friday here.

One of the products we’re proudest to carry on Australian Native T-Shirts is the range of pewter figurines and belt buckles made by Aradon Pewter.

Being an Australian owned and operated family business, we’re proud to support another business that offers 100% Australian made products and it’s also run by a family, just like ours! We find that Aradon really care about the product they make and the quality is excellent.

Aboriginal Cooking Goanna Small Figurine

One of the pewter series offered by Aradon is the Australian Heritage range and it features scenes from the past and present including stockmen, shearers, Aboriginal figurines, swagmen and other country icons including Ned Kelly – our most famous outlaw! If you’re looking for Australian bush icons, the heritage range is the place to browse.

Small Pewter Swagman Figurine

And of course we couldn’t miss the huge range of pewter Australian animal figurines – they go so well with our Aussie animal t-shirts and gifts! Both small and large figurines are made with the largest being just 10cm or so in size, the detail around the animals is amazing.

Australian Koala Walking - Small Pewter Figure

Many animals are covered including Aussie reptiles like the goanna and crocodile, birds like the cockatoo and kookaburra, unique natives like the kangaroo, koala, echidna and platypus and so much more – check out our full range of Australian animal pewter figurines here.

Waltzing Matilda Pewter Buckle

Another range of course is the wide range of hand finished pewter belt buckles from Aradon. Unlike a lot of the poor imitations, these buckles are actually made in Australia from pewter and the quality cannot be matched by imports that only claim to be pewter. Aradon produce Australian buckles, country designs, sporting/rodeo buckles and motorcycle logo buckles - all fully licensed.

So if you’re looking to buy Australian, be sure to browse the range of pewter figurines and buckles by Aradon Pewter!

Dreamtime Lagoon Aboriginal Spaghetti Strap Top

Meet our new Aboriginal art design on fitted ladies cotton/lycra spaghetti strap singlets – Dreamtime Lagoon!

This 100% Australian made top comes from Aussie label Arlunya designs by Wild Planet. It’s tie dyed light, mid and dark blue tones with each top being slightly different. The design appears on the top in silver inks and really stands out from the garment. Various Aboriginal art symbols have been incorporated into the design including wonderful representations of various marine animals like the fish near the top of the design.

The Dreamtime Lagoon design is also available on a ladies fitted t-shirt and they come in sizes 8 through to size 16 in a stretchy lycra cotton mix. The entire Arlunya designs range is entirely Australian made and make high quality gifts from Australia.

A great way to support Australian workers and the economy is of course to buy Australian made products!

We offer a wonderful range of Austalian made t-shirts in our store from Wild Planet T-Shirts and Arlunya Designs. The quality of the Australian made product is exceptional and the designs are original. The 100% cotton t-shirts feature really unique wildlife designs and Aboriginal art on single colour and tie dye t-shirts. 

T-Shirts from Wild Planet T-Shirts and Arlunya Designs make wonderful high quality gifts from Australia for both children and adults and your purchase of them supports the Australian economy.

(Aussie Slang Translation: Clobber means Clothing)