The Great White Fleet's Visit to Australia in Stereo Cards

Stereo cards: a collection of the cards created by the rose Stereograph Company on the occasion of the visit to Australia of the American Fleet, (33, all different). Also, 15 additional stereo view cards of general world interest. (total: 48). On 20 August 1908 well over half a million people turned out in Sydney to watch the arrival of the US Navy's 'Great white Fleet'. For a city of around 600,000 this was no mean achievement. The largest gathering yet seen in Australia, it far exceeded the numbers that had celebrated the foundation of the Commonwealth in 1901. Indeed, the warm reception accorded the crews of the 16 white painted battleships during 'Fleet Week', was generally regarded as the most overwhelming of any of the ports visited during the 14 month and 45,000 mile global circumnavigation. The NSW Government declared two public holidays, business came to a standstill and the unbroken succession of civic events and all pervading carnival spirit encountered in Sydney (followed by Melbourne and Albany) severely tested the endurance of the American sailors.