Sands and McDougall's Monthly Diary - January 1886

This tiny remnant of the past (at only 10.5 x 6.5cms) provides a fascinating window into life in Melbourne in the 1860's with Sands and McDougall publishing these minute and fragile mini-diaries for each month of the year. Contained therein are very detailed railway timetables for the state, all phases of the moon, sunrise and sunset times as well as departure times for the mail services. Each day has a separate page on which one could carefully write any relevant details and along the bottom of each page is a brief advertisement for items and equipment sold by the company who advertised that they were engravers, printers and lithographers as well as manufacturing stationers. They were selling a "large and varied new stock" including ladies bags, new shapes, leather, plush and seal, photo albums, writing desks, brief and gladstone bags, penholders and books etc. as well as rubber stamps and maths instruments. On Wednesday 6th January 1886, the page confidently proclaims that the P and O Steamer was due. To enhance its charm, each vacant page has impossibly tiny handwritten notes in both pen and pencil mostly in long hand relating to a record of the daily expenses such as cigarettes 1/6, drinks 1/6, poor man 2/6 and postage costs. It is in superb condition with the only fault now being a rusted central staple detaching the middle leaf and the external paper covering.