Starting at Exhibit 35 on the map, this is a nationally signficant Tobacco Exhibit, and the largest in Australia. This exhibit shares the remarkable stories, and images of an industry, that created the economy, character, and the prosperity of the Mareeba Shire.
Tobacco made Mareeba, the multiculture town it is today.
The italian immigrants, brought with them, all the things we now love. Spaghetti, cheeses, salamis, garlic, olive oil, pizza, wine, beautiful cuisine, a coffee culture and different lifestyle.
Tobacco brought the community together. The community interacted through Tobacco. Tobacco season was magical!
Every year, when the season started, the town had a purpose. Tobacco brought everyone together. Mothers used to string, and grade to buy christmas presents. Children, used it for pocket money, the School Principal would have to remind children, to stay at school.
Everyone got involved. It ruled our lives!
When the industry stopped, the town lost some of its magic.
Some of the stories remembered by our team, were spoken of fondly and with great humour.
They said, remember, when they needed stringers, the farmers would drive around town calling out, 'stringers, stringers', people would jump on the back of the truck, work, we would be given lunch, and then be dropped back in to town.
Mary, our Museum Curator, remembers starting stringing at age six. Her dad, Fred Stephson, had three different sized stringing stands, and as she grew up, she grew in to the stands. It was like a coming of age celebration, each time you progressed to the larger stand.
They all remember, that the telephone exchange would set the air siren (Exhibit 34) at 8am, to signal people to go to work. However, the main reason, was to check it was working, for the fire brigade. When the curing barns set on fire, the siren would sound, and over half of the town folk, would stop work, and go to watch.
One week, there were ten fires in Dimbulah. Nobody could ever prove, if the fires were deliberately lit or an accident, but it was well known, that if you had a bad batch of tobacco, and your barn burnt down, you would receive insurance.
The women members of our team, recall that their Mothers, told them, not to look up, when the men were stacking the stringing sticks in the barns. You see, it was too hot to wear underpants, and their legs would be spread, to brace themselves at the top of the barn. This was always a surprising and unpleasant discovery.
'Chop chop', was a roughly processed, illegal tobacco, sold by farmers, and just about everyone, because they could make ten times more money. It was hidden, in wells, river banks, under the floor, in caves, everywhere.
It was a huge industry, that had a huge impact on the community, that stopped in Mareeba, in 2004.
It became illegal to grow tobacco in Australia without a licence, and there have been no licensed tobacco growers or manufacturers in Australia since 2006.
A book, titled, 'Smoke and Mirrors', tells the story of the rise and fall of the North Queensland Tobacco Industry, and is dedicated to the thousands of men, women, and children, from every corner of the globe, who worked the tobacco farms, of Far North Queensland, between 1929 to 2004. You can purchase the book from our gift shop.
When you have time, we invite you to listen to the video, shown in the main exhibit.
It was, a fabulous weed!
