‘In Real Life’ exhibition co-curator Lucie Shawcross with the original Safe and Sound baby capsule. Photo: James Coleman.
Is it a splade or a spork?
You know the culinary implement – the one that’s shaped like a spoon but with prongs like a fork? And depending on who you talk to, it has a different name.
But after a visit to the new exhibition that’s just opened at the National Archives of Australia (NAA) building in Canberra, we can confirm it’s a ‘Splayd’.
That’s not us talking – that’s what the original patent document by its Sydney inventor, William McArthur, reads.
“Splayds. All-in-one combination knife, fork, and spoon. Gracefully fashioned,” reads the description on the accompanying box set.
The original design drawings for the Splayd. Photo: James Coleman.
Every time someone wants to produce or even just market an item in Australia, they submit an application to Intellectual Property (IP) Australia, within the Department of Industry, Science and Resources.
Depending on the type of application – whether it’s a patent or registered design or trademark – no one else can copy and market your idea for between five and 20 years. Renewals are available too.
Over time, all these pages of documents, designs and drawings wind up in the NAA, safely tucked away in vaults.
But for the In Real Life exhibition, which opened to the public this week, the NAA has unlocked many of these vaults and put the greatest of Australia’s inventions on show, including those that didn’t make it.
“See life-changing inventions, iconic designs and household brand names with original design drawings and trademarks from the national archival collection alongside their real-life counterparts,” the description reads.
Co-curator Lucie Shawcross says it all started with a perfume bottle.
“The lead curator for this project managed to get her hands on some of these beautiful old design volumes with drawings throughout, and in one of them, she saw a drawing for a Coty Purser perfume bottle, and she thought it was lovely and something she’d like to see in real life,” Shawcross explains.
“So she went online, and managed to track one down – and that’s one of the first objects you see when you enter the exhibition … It was kind of the genesis of the exhibition – this idea of bringing our records to life.”
What followed was a “fascinating” trawl through more records to find other examples.
Who wouldn’t want a combination lamp, alarm clock and kettle? Photo: James Coleman.
Some designs never saw the light of day, like a bulletproof fence by Irish-born Myra Juliet Farrell (who claims she came up with most of her inventions while asleep), or diving equipment by Japanese immigrant Jiro Muramats, who died in an internment camp in Victoria during World War II before he could renew his patent.
Another, which never made it beyond the paper, was a patent for a combined table lamp, alarm clock and electric kettle.
But others are now commonplace. Like the dual-flush toilet. Or the chirp of the pedestrian crossing light. Or the Hills Hoist. Or the Splayd.
Even Aerogard was, in fact, designed here in Canberra by CSIRO’s Dr Douglas Waterhouse, before his hard work was handed to the commercial company of the same name (it turns out the Federal Government of the day wasn’t in the business of selling its ideas).
There are some relatively new ones too, like plastic stools inspired by Ned Kelly’s helmet by Australia’s leading furniture manufacturer Sebel.
“We have hundreds of these documents that you would dream of looking through,” Shawcross says.
As an exhibition of records, it’s quite word-heavy, but the NAA has gone to great effort to include activities for all ages – such as a corner where you can design your own creations and pin them to the wall (if you’re brave) – to videos that recount the story of the first ute and the … Mailbag clasp?
“This is one of my favourites,” Shawcross says.
“Lousia Lawson (Henry Lawson’s mum) invented a mailbag clasp because someone heckled her at a meeting and said women have never been inventors and shouldn’t be in politics … so she invented this mailbag clasp in response. It doesn’t exist anymore, so we can’t have it in the exhibition, but we can tell her story through multimedia.”
The Ned Kelly stool by Sebel. Photo: James Coleman.
The exhibition is open daily until 17 May 2026, before it goes on a national tour. But early reactions are already in – and good.
“Just having conversations with people – everyone wants to tell of their experience with their Hills Hoist in their grandparents’ backyard … or others who didn’t realise that the press button [at pedestrian crossings] was an Australian invention,” Shawcross says.
“We really wanted this exhibition to be something a lot of people could relate to, but also where they could find a story they didn’t know about.”
Visit the NAA website for more information about In Real Life. Entry is free.
