{"product_id":"queenie","title":"Queenie, Melbourne, Australia","description":"\u003cp\u003eScanned and restored from an original historic negative discovered within a damaged collection dating back more than 100 years.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis photograph captures children riding Queenie the elephant at Melbourne Zoo, Melbourne, Victoria, around 1917. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe negative itself showed heavy signs of age, with deterioration and surface damage formed over decades of storage. After carefully cleaning and digitising the original negative at high resolution, the image slowly emerged in detail once again for the first time in generations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs research into the photograph began, the elephant within the image was identified as Queenie, one of Melbourne Zoo’s most famous and tragic animals. Queenie was an Indian elephant taken from the wild and brought to Melbourne Zoo in 1902. For around 40 years, she carried hundreds of children every day around the zoo, eventually giving rides to well over a million visitors throughout her lifetime.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHistorical newspaper reports from the era describe constant crowds surrounding her enclosure, children teasing her, and the repetitive routine she endured for decades. By the 1930s, Queenie had become one of the zoo’s most profitable attractions, generating significant income during a time when many Melbourne families were struggling through the Great Depression.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1944, after years in captivity, Queenie killed her keeper Wilfred Lawson during an incident at the zoo. Witness reports stated that Lawson had tapped or struck her with a stick after she hesitated returning to her enclosure. Newspapers later described Queenie as distressed in the aftermath, reportedly “fretting” following his death.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlthough she was declared dangerous after the incident, many members of the public supported keeping her alive. Queenie remained at Melbourne Zoo for another 10 months before eventually being euthanised in 1945 during wartime food shortages and rising feeding costs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLooking at this photograph today feels very different knowing the story behind it. What once appeared to be a cheerful zoo memory now stands as a haunting glimpse into a very different era of animal captivity and Melbourne history.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMore than a century later, this fragile negative and Queenie’s story, survives through careful preservation and restoration.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNow available as a museum quality fine art print through Lumirra Collective, allowing an authentic piece of Melbourne’s forgotten history to live on once again.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Lumirra Collective","offers":[{"title":"A4 \/ Print Only","offer_id":53846611919214,"sku":null,"price":280.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"A4 \/ Natural","offer_id":53846611951982,"sku":null,"price":420.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"A4 \/ Black","offer_id":53846611984750,"sku":null,"price":420.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"A4 \/ White","offer_id":53846612017518,"sku":null,"price":420.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3 \/ Print Only","offer_id":53846612050286,"sku":null,"price":360.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3 \/ Natural","offer_id":53846612083054,"sku":null,"price":580.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3 \/ Black","offer_id":53846612115822,"sku":null,"price":580.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"A3 \/ White","offer_id":53846612148590,"sku":null,"price":580.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"A2 \/ Print Only","offer_id":53846612181358,"sku":null,"price":520.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"A2 \/ Natural","offer_id":53846612214126,"sku":null,"price":820.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"A2 \/ Black","offer_id":53846612246894,"sku":null,"price":820.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"A2 \/ White","offer_id":53846612279662,"sku":null,"price":820.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"A1 \/ Print Only","offer_id":53846612312430,"sku":null,"price":780.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"A1 \/ Natural","offer_id":53846612345198,"sku":null,"price":1150.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"A1 \/ Black","offer_id":53846612377966,"sku":null,"price":1150.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"A1 \/ White","offer_id":53846612410734,"sku":null,"price":1150.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true},{"title":"A0 \/ Print Only","offer_id":53846612443502,"sku":null,"price":1100.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0907\/3875\/3902\/files\/Queeniewatermark-1.jpg?v=1779846561","url":"https:\/\/lumirracollective.com\/products\/queenie","provider":"Lumirra Collective","version":"1.0","type":"link"}