UNION BANNER, Eastern Goldfields Bakers

Double-sided banner of the "EASTERN GOLDFIELDS / OPERATIVE BAKERS / Industrial Union of Workers". Complete with packing box and top pole. Donation arranged by Mr D. Spence. 10 Elizabeth St Kalgoorlie. Packing box inadvertently destroyed by Conservation Department October 1981. "Made by Kalgoorlie artist W.F. Ramage in 1911. The illustration on the front is on a bakery on the goldfields (or a representative example typical of bakeries at that period) Incorporated in this decoration are two women, demonstrating the pervasive influence of Crane's `Angel of Freedom'. The angel is a late nineteenth century symbol of working class emancipation and faith in a better future. Ramage's women, depicted in the pre-Raphaelite style, are holding shells overflowing with water - a rich symbol of plenty on the goldfields. Between the women are the three `8's which are the uniquely Australian symbol of the eight hour movement. The movement had varying measures of success from the 1850s. The canvas painted banner is surrounded with a silk border in the traditional manner of banner-making. On the reverse of the banner is an illustration of a wheat harvest. On either side of the harvest cameo are bakers, presumably officials of the union in 1911. In one hand the bakers are holding ears of wheat and flowers. Their other hands are held aloft, jointly holding a loaf of bread and surrounded with the motto `United We Stand, Divided We Fall', which is the traditional slogan of working class solidarity."

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