Now vs Then – Learning the Trade

By Judd Vesey

The Gold Coast Historical Museum holds a plethora of different exhibits showcasing our history. I searched the Museum to look for what will be my first blog on one of our exhibits. In the corner of the Elliot Building, I found a book titled “Ward & Lock’s Industrial Self-Instructor.”

It struck my eye as there doesn’t seem to be a date this book was written or published. From my research online, the best I could find was circa 1900. The firm was not named “Ward, Lock, and Co.” Until 1897, which gives the earliest date of publish. If anyone has some more knowledge, please comment below!

If you look at the front page, the variety of subjects to learn is quite diverse, and each subject is difficult to approach. It appears this book was created to show the many different trades that were popular in the industrialised world.

A book was worth its weight in gold 100 years ago, but now, books are optional. Books take space, cost more money than buying it on your iPad, and can fall apart over time. In 2025, you can look in a school classroom and struggle to find a book. We now use laptops and portable devices to get every piece of information or knowledge we could need. Online tutorials through videos now make learning any subject a lot easier than it used to be. Whether this makes us smarter as we can learn more, or dumber as we need to think less to learn skills. Hopefully AI does not take away any of our critical thinking as we evolve as a society in the next 50-years.

If you would like to come and see more of what it was like to live and work in the changing world, come visit the Gold Coast Historical Museum! If you have experienced having to learn without the internet then with, comment below.