A SPECIAL two-month Wedding Dress Display will be open from this weekend at the State Coal Mine featuring wedding dresses and memorabilia from local mining families.
From the opening of the State Coal Mine in 1909 right through to when the mine finally closed in 1968 some of our local families’ happiest moments have been captured in a display of vintage bridal wear dating back to the turn of last century.
Located in a delightfully restored railway carriage near the underground entrance to the State Coal Mine the wedding dress exhibition has been carefully collected and curated by Friends of the State Coal Mine.
Among the items featured are Anteena Dorothy Anthony’s wedding dress when she married Leo O’Connor in 1937, Margaret Ruth White’s wedding dress when she married George Parker in 1958, Joyce Lorraine White’s bridal ensemble when she married Kevin (Jim) Donovan in 1952, Lorraine Rose Maurey’s wedding dress and ribbons when she married Hindrikus Andrianus in 1964, and Phylis Mary McKenzie’s wedding dress and satin horseshoe when she married Reginald Wilson in 1959.
Reg Wilson worked in the mine from 1950 until it closed in 1968.
The vintage bridal wear and wedding day memorabilia will be on display for two months between 1am and 2pm on Saturday and Sunday at the State Coal Mine in Wonthaggi.
