Adelaide Time Capsule

From the city to the sea, the hills to the festivals, enjoy the sights of Adelaide! Explore some of our Adelaide collection highlights including historical footage, classic photographs, feature films and more.

Adelaide: Life in Australia

The festival city, where horses roam free at the beach. Wait, what!?

Adelaide Advances

Made by The National Film Board 1954, this film captures the delightful city of Adelaide, capital of South Australia.

Sir David Attenborough in Festival in Adelaide (1962)

Still from Festival in Adelaide (1962), of British broadcaster and naturalist, Sir David Attenborough patting a koala at Adelaide zoo.

Festival In Adelaide

Festival In Adelaide is a record of the the 1962 Adelaide Festival of the Arts, where thousands of visitors flocked to see everything jazz performances to a floating ballet on the lake. Sir Malcolm

From the Tropics to the Snow

From, From the Tropics to the Snow (1962), the still captures a group of ballet dancers in pink and white tutus, dancing in a park in central Adelaide.

Australian Colour Diary: South Australia – Wealth of the State on Show in Adelaide

From wood chopping, to shearing and even a kid's apple packing championship see the attractions from the 1963 Royal Adelaide Show!

Fighting the Flames (AKA The Metropolitan Fire Brigade: Adelaide)

A horsedrawn fire brigade unit drives along King William Street in Adelaide, watched by people from the sides of the street.

Fighting the Flames: Rescue Demonstration

This clip shows members of the South Australian Fire Brigade at their Wakefield Street headquarters in Adelaide demonstrating rescue and resuscitation techniques for the camera.

Around Australia. Lifeline to Adelaide

Made by The Commonwealth Film Unit 1962, the lifeline referred to in the title of this film is the seventy-two inch steel pipe line which carries water fifty miles from Mannum on the Murray to the

Doc Neeson on arriving in Australia in 1960

In this clip, Bernard “Doc” Neeson talks about arriving in Australia for the first time in 1960, and the contrast between Adelaide and the home he had left behind.

Goodwin's Music Warehouse

Goodwin’s Music Warehouse, 59 Gouger St in Adelaide, offered a range not only of various types of 'Phonos’ but also pianos, player pianos, discs and player rolls.

Libby Kosmala - Paralympic history by Don Worley

Adelaide Paralympic legend Libby Kosmala in action in the 1970s-80s.

Paralympic history by Don Worley - Atmosphere

Behind-the-scenes at Paralympic events in the 1970s-80s. These are highlights from the collection of Paralympic films shot by Adelaide dentist and amateur filmmaker Don Worley.