The history in front of Morrison's budget

When Treasurer Scott Morrison delivers the federal budget on Tuesday night he will be standing in front of 90 year old dispatch boxes.

Budget day marks the 90th anniversary of the opening of parliament on a chilly May 9, 1927.

Speaker Tony Smith told parliament the ornately decorated rosewood boxes were a personal gift from King George V.

"Twenty-two Australian prime ministers and twenty-seven leaders of the opposition have addressed the House of Representatives from these despatch boxes," he said.

"But while those who use them as a lectern come and go ... the despatch boxes endure to serve as a reminder of the ongoing link between the House of Representatives and the House of Commons."

Last week Speaker Smith unveiled the 14-carat gold key a nervous Duke of York used to open what is now known as Old Parliament House - or the Museum of Australian Democracy.

It will be on display at a new exhibition marking the anniversary.

The original crowd of 15,000 who came out to see the royals in 1927 was much lower than expected leaving organisers well over-catered in their spread of meat pies, turtle soup and something called Canberra pudding, which later had to be buried at the Queanbeyan tip.