From an 1885 Annual Report to pins, badges, crockery and stationery, this display showcases some of the Balmain Hospital heritage collection.
 

First manufactured in 1907, this Dictaphone wax cylinder dictation machine allowed a user to record their speech into wax tape placed over a turning drum cylinder. The mouthpiece would be removed and replaced with stethoscope styled earphones for playback. Each tape could hold up to 1500 words and could be reused up to 200 times by shaving the surface of the tape off.

Doctors could dictate observations, diagnoses, and treatment plans for later transcription by administrative staff, freeing them from time-consuming administrative work.

In 1900 the Australian Trained Nurses Association formally recognised the Balmain Cottage Hospital as a nurse training school. Students were required to attend Royal Prince Alfred Hospital for lectures until they were transferred to Balmain in 1914. The first graduate of Balmain Hospital was Martha Pender in 1905. In 1946 the Board accepted the notion the men could be trained as nurses, with Alan Beddie the first male graduate in 1952.

… an advertisement was placed seeking the service of a nurse. They received 18 applications and Miss E. Gisborne was appointed Matron of the Balmain Cottage Hospital on a stipend of £60 a year all found. She took up duty on the 25th June 1885.

– Extract from Centenary Speech, 1985

Nursing pins have a long history that dates to the 12th century crusades with the Maltese Cross adopted by crusaders symbolising their service to Christianity. In the 1880s hospitals began recognising nursing achievements through pinning programs. This Balmain Hospital pin is based on the cottage building relief found at the top front of the hospital and was made in celebration of the 100-year hospital centenary. Healthcare pins are no longer solely for nurses but are more widely created and given to staff in honour of a significant event.
 

Balmain Hospital commenced operations as the Balmain Cottage Hospital in 1885, then was renamed the Balmain and District Hospital in 1908 after extensive redevelopment. The annual report outlines the functions and activities of the Hospital over the financial year. The report includes operational and financial performance and achievements of all departments. Balmain Hospital Annual Reports were published from 1885 until the hospital was absorbed into the Central Sydney Area Health Service in 1993 when a larger document was published covering all hospitals within the district.

That considering the rapid increase of population in this borough and its large and important manufacturing industries, the time has now arrived when a "Cottage Hospital" is imperatively needed to provide for the frequent accidents that occur and the proper treatment of serious cases of illness that must arise in such a thickly populated area.

– Balmain Cottage Hospital Second Annual Report, 1885