Arts & Culture
2 November, 2026
New exhibition a step back in time
It seems like only yesterday, but a trip to the Berrima District Museum will remind you that life in the 1970s was different.
It seems like only yesterday, but a trip to the Berrima District Museum will remind you that life in the 1970s was different.
Very different.
It was a decade of rotary dial phones, vinyl records, Tupperware and questionable fashion.
The ties were wide, the jeans were flared, and the platform shoes were high.
You could pick up 1kg of topside steak from Woolworths for $1.65, whole chickens for $1.99 and two litres of Berri orange juice for 79c.
People were driving Holden Kingswoods and Monaros, Ford Falcons and Datsun 180Bs.
You could snap up a new home in Bowral on a large block of land near the swimming pool for $29,950 or a two-bedroom home in Mittagong for just $22,000.
If only we all knew back then what we know now.
The Berrima District Museum’s 1970s exhibition opened recently and marks the museum’s 50th anniversary.
Operated by the Berrima District Historical and Family History Society, the museum opened to the public in December 1976 and was officially opened the following year.
The original building – a cottage relocated from Moss Vale – has been extended a number of times over the years to house a growing collection.
The museum is particularly well known for the light it shines on German citizens interned at Berrima Gaol during the First World War.
Last week, the Historical and Family History Society hosted a special function to celebrate the volunteers who make it possible for the museum to open its doors every week.
It also provided an opportunity to acknowledge outgoing museum manager John Schweers, who will be retiring at the society’s annual general meeting later this month after more than 10 years in the role.
He told The Southern Wire that he would continue on as a volunteer.
President of the society Stuart Handley described the museum as a “jewel” in the Southern Highlands and said it would continue on for another 50 years “because of the commitment of the people within it”.
He said the best thing about the society was that “we’re all volunteers and everyone gives willingly”.
Roster secretary Vanessa Dalgleish said the museum depended on volunteers to open its doors to the public every Friday to Sunday.
Mrs Dalgleish said the 1970s exhibition in the museum’s Williams Gallery was a fitting tribute to the people who had the vision 50 years ago to find a permanent space for the society’s collection.
· The Berrima District Museum is located on the corner of Market Place and Bryan Street in Berrima and is open 10am-3pm Friday to Sunday.
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