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2005/203/2 Portable food and drink cooler with box, 'Esky', metal / plastic / rubber / cardboard, made by Malley's, used by Barbara Partridge, Australia, 1966-1969. Click to enlarge.
  • Image 1 of 1, 2005/203/2 Portable food and drink cooler with box, 'Esky', metal / plastic / rubber / cardboard, made by Malley's, used by Barbara Partridge, Australia, 1966-1969. Click to enlarge

Esky by Malley's

In 1961 Malley's registered the trade name Esky for its insulated metal food and drink container. Since then the term has become the generic name for such items. The Esky is an Australian innovation and a national symbol, signifying the outdoor-living and beer-drinking culture of the 'land of the long weekend'. The Esky can be used to illustrate Australians' increased leisure time and, thanks to the private motor car, increased mobility in the 1950s and 1960s, and the need to keep food and …

Parts of this object

2005/203/2-1 Portable food and drink cooler, 'Esky', metal / plastic / rubber, made by Malley's, used by Barbara Partridge, Australia, 1966-1969
Drink and food cooler 'Esky' by Malley's
1966-1969
2005/203/2-2 Box and paper inserts, for portable food and drink cooler, 'Esky', cardboard, made by Malley's, used by Barbara Partridge, Australia, 1966-1969
Box for Esky
1966-1969

Summary

Object No.

2005/203/2

Object Statement

Portable food and drink cooler with box, 'Esky', metal / plastic / rubber / cardboard, made by Malley's, used by Barbara Partridge, Australia, 1966-1969

Physical Description

The Esky is in the traditional rectangular shaped cold storage container with the outer surface clad in a brown metal material. The interior of the Esky is lined with metal. Blue/grey rubber seal around perimeter at top. Black plastic screw-in plug at bottom for draining Esky. There is a white plastic tray inside. A transfer on both sides of the esky says 'Malley's Esky Portable Cooler'. It has a metal brace that secures the lid by locking into the lid's carry handle. The lid is white painted metal and is lined with galvanised metal, it has a metal carry handle and some surface rust.

The brown cardboard box is the Esky's original packaging. It has an illustration on all sides of a red Esky, and a smiling child dressed as an Eskimo, along with the musical slogan 'Take the party with you' and the words 'Malleys New Look Esky. Smooth, sleek, streamlined'. The newspaper lining the box is dated January 1970, indicating not the date of purchase but the time when the Partridge family moved to Sydney. Box made by Alliance Cartons Pty Ltd, Revesby and Bankstown.

Short URL

https://ma.as/354260

Source

Credit Line

Gift of Lachlann Partridge, 2005

Acquisition Date

26 September 2005

Cite this Object

Harvard

Esky by Malley's 2022, Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, accessed 28 March 2023, <https://ma.as/354260>

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://ma.as/354260 |title=Esky by Malley's |author=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences |access-date=28 March 2023 |publisher=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, Australia}}

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