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National Film and Sound Archive
National Film and Sound Archive
National Film and Sound Archive

A Visit to Ernest Hillier’s Factory: Chocolate packing (c.1926)

1926

A Visit to Ernest Hillier’s Factory: Chocolate packing (c.1926)

1926

  • NFSA IDYNQ71593
  • TypeFilm
  • MediumMoving Image
  • FormDocumentary
  • Year1926

This documentary details the delicate work and attention to detail required when producing handmade chocolates and sweets for Australian consumers.

In the chocolate packing department, lines of women wearing protective smocks and hairnets, hand select and carefully pack individual chocolates into boxes.

One woman passes boxes of chocolates to another, who then makes a final inspection before folding over the outer paper and fitting the embossed lid on the boxes. The lid has the Ernest Hillier signature on the front. A range of box sizes and shapes corresponds to the different packages available.

Summary by Poppy De Souza

This documentary details the delicate work and attention to detail required when producing handmade chocolates and sweets for Australian consumers.

In the chocolate packing department, lines of women wearing protective smocks and hairnets, hand select and carefully pack individual chocolates into boxes.

One woman passes boxes of chocolates to another, who then makes a final inspection before folding over the outer paper and fitting the embossed lid on the boxes. The lid has the Ernest Hillier signature on the front. A range of box sizes and shapes corresponds to the different packages available.

Summary by Poppy De Souza

Decades
  • The camera is set up in a fixed position with different angles (close-ups and medium shots) taken to build an overall sense of the work in the factory and the precise care taken to ensuring the confectionary is of the highest standards.

    The division of labour along gender lines was accepted as the norm at the time and can also be seen in the 1932 film A Day in a Biscuit Factory.

    Notes by Poppy De Souza

Decades
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  • Food industry

  • 1920s

  • Retail industry

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