Woman’s Jacket, 1950

Woman’s Jacket, 1950 2004/23

Adventuress Australian, Elizabeth Gibson wore this jacket on a backpacking holiday around Europe in 1950. Elizabeth was an amateur artist and a trained pilot. Tourism began to flourish in the 1950s with the introduction of longer holidays and shorter working hours but this was still a major adventure for a young woman in 1950. Patches The souvenir patches that cover this canvas jacket trace journeys across Europe and Australia. Embroidered patches emerged as souvenirs after World War I. Hiking became a fashionable pastime in Germany and people began sewing patches from popular trails and resort towns on their jackets. Souvenir patches are now widely available at tourist destinations across the world. Backpacking By 1950, Europe had a well-established network of youth hostels catering to backpackers when Elizabeth Gibson set off travelling in her jacket. The first youth hostel was founded in 1912 by German schoolteacher Richard Schirrmann. Richard aimed to provide a meeting place for young people from all nations and encourage peace and understanding. Association Amongst the patches for European towns and cities on this jacket is one for the Australian Women Pilots’ Association. This association was formed in 1950 with the intention of encouraging women to obtain pilots licences and promote careers for women in the aviation sector. Elizabeth Gibson, this jacket’s owner, joined the association in the 1960s.