Family heritage
The Rose Stereograph Company
From George Rose’s stereoscopic photographs in 1880 to postcards and souvenirs sold across Australia, and the Cutts family who carried the business through the twentieth century.
This page is about the historical Rose Stereograph Company. Rose Agencies is a separate business, established by Stephen Cutts in 2019.
George Rose and the beginnings (1880)
The Rose Stereograph Company was founded by photographer George Rose in 1880. It began with stereoscopic photographs: paired images viewed through a stereoscope to create an impression of depth. These recorded people, places and events.1
As tastes changed, the business moved into photographic postcards. Its views of towns, landscapes and tourist destinations became part of Australia’s travel and souvenir trade. Rose photographs and postcards are now held in historical collections, recording places as they once were.1
Herbert “Bert” Cutts and the family connection
Herbert Cutts became involved with George Rose in the early twentieth century, which began the Cutts family’s connection with the business. A specialist postcard history records the sale of the business to employees Herbert Cutts and Edward Gilbert in 1931, and Gilbert’s later sale of his interest in about 1940.2
Under the Cutts family, photography, postcard production and travelling sales continued, connecting pictures of Australian places with the shops that served visitors to those places.
Neil Cutts: from photography to souvenirs
Neil Cutts was born in 1936 and started working with his father, Bert, at fifteen, photographing Australia and travelling to towns, tourist destinations and local retailers.
In Neil’s time the company grew into a tourism-souvenir wholesaler. Postcards stayed central, alongside spoons, magnets, tea towels and other souvenirs.3 Neil attended trade fairs in Shanghai and Hong Kong to select products for the Australian market, building supplier relationships that shaped later ranges. He worked until around 1998 and died in 2005.
Stephen and Jeffery
Stephen Cutts joined full-time in 1979 after years of part-time help, and worked as a sales representative, photographer, general manager and director. Museum records credit his photography on Rose postcards.4 After Neil retired, Stephen and his brother Jeffery Cutts carried the business on together: Stephen leading sales, photography and management, Jeffery running operations.
The collection today
The Rose Stereograph wholesale business has since closed. In 2021 the ABC reported on the historical Rose photographic collection being offered for auction, naming Stephen and Jeffery Cutts as its custodians.5
Rose Agencies
Stephen established Rose Agencies in 2019. It is a separate, present-day sales agency. It doesn’t trade on the 1880 company’s history, but it carries forward the experience Stephen gained there in photography, souvenirs, sourcing and selling to Australian retailers. Read Stephen’s story.
Footnotes
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Eltham District Historical Society, Victorian Collections: Rose Stereograph Company ↩ ↩2
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Greg Ray, Photo Time Tunnel, 16 July 2021: The Rose Stereograph Company, a snapshot ↩
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Victorian Collections: Ballarat postcard crediting Neil and Stephen Cutts ↩
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ABC News, 18 June 2021: significant collection of Australian photographs for sale ↩
Photos
From the Rose archive
Photographs, postcards and records from the Rose Stereograph Company and the Cutts family.
The Rose Series, P.1273The Twelve Apostles, Port Campbell
Public record
Where to find Rose photographs on public record
Rose stereographs and postcards are held in major Australian collections. These are some of the places you can see originals online.
Museums Victoria, public domain Museums Victoria
Holds original Rose stereographs of the 1901 Federation celebrations and royal visit, published by George Rose, Melbourne, along with views of everyday life and major events.
Royal party leaving the Exhibition Building, 1901 (opens Museums Victoria in a new tab)Chinese procession and Queen’s Arch, 1901 (opens Museums Victoria in a new tab)
Pictured: a Rose view of the 1901 Sydney celebrations, Museums Victoria, public domain Powerhouse Museum
Holds Rose Stereograph Company views of the 1901 royal visit to Sydney, including the review of troops in Centennial Park and the Commonwealth procession.
The Arrival of the Duke at the Review (opens Powerhouse Museum in a new tab)Commonwealth procession (opens Powerhouse Museum in a new tab)
Pictured: Museums Victoria’s copy of the same view, public domain National Portrait Gallery
Its collection includes the Rose Stereograph Company’s 1911 view of the Great Suffragette Demonstration in London, showing Vida Goldstein with Margaret Fisher and Emily McGowen.
Great Suffragette Demonstration in London (opens National Portrait Gallery in a new tab)Museums Victoria copy (opens National Portrait Gallery in a new tab)
Pictured: Rose Series P.13585, Charing Cross, Bendigo Victorian Collections
Brings together Rose Series postcards held by local museums and historical societies across Victoria, including the Melbourne Tram Museum and Kew Historical Society, and Rose postcards of Ballarat credited to Neil and Stephen Cutts.
Ballarat postcard by Neil and Stephen Cutts (opens Victorian Collections in a new tab)Ballarat postcard by Stephen Cutts (opens Victorian Collections in a new tab)Search Rose Series items (opens Victorian Collections in a new tab)
Pictured: Rose Series souvenir folder, Warrnambool Monash Public Library Service
History Monash’s local history collection, published on Victorian Collections, records the people and places of Melbourne’s south-east.
View the collection (opens Monash Public Library Service in a new tab)