Glimpses of Old Melbourne: Richmond Industrial Zones

Richmond Melbourne - industries old and newer. Photos from 2013-2014 to be reposted and years up to 2020 to be posted in July.

Those photographed and some of the first on this blog in 2013 were VitaNut Spread (now apartments) cnr Church and Balmain; Alexanders Clothing (now CBA and some small shops) cnr Church and Bridge; Marathon Sportswear ( rebuild has removed sign) beside railway parallel to Swan, Rich-SouthYarra Burnley and Tyre Centre above shops, north east corner of Swan and Lennox. To lead in to these signs I have a sign which used to be on an old grain store advertisement. Posting it here to focus briefly on the signwriter. It was done by Setford Bros who had a long standing business in Richmond. Most of sign now obscured by the wall of a carpark to recently built apartments called Cubo, just down Coppin from Bridge Rd.

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Walters Motor Vans off Elizabeth St Richmond near Hoddle and Victoria - photo 2013

Tyre Centre Swan/Lennox Cnr 2018

Longer View to North East

                           

Hersch's Tailors Lennox St Richmond near Richmond Terrace

Having lived in Tanner St not far from this tailor's store it has been, and to some extent still is a window to the past. Found some photos from 2013 when more was in the window. It also has its street number in the door by way of wrought iron and attractive typeface.

Alex Barfoot Surgical Footwear

Alex Barfoot Shoes (continued) - Progress of Research

Got some great assistance by Local History person at East Melbourne Library. Seems this shoe company was in the Little Collins St vicinity from at least 1948 to 1974 per Sands& Mc Dougall. There were also newspaper advertisements for Barfoot, one of which is shown below and sourced from Trove. This is from 1947

Sands & McDougall entry for 1947 (1974 entry was the same except for address change to 29 Ridgeway Place in 1974)

Shakespeare Hotel Exhibition St Melbourne

Shakespeare Hotel Exhibition St Melbourne City

Currently researching the origins of this hotel
and note the cost of a room at 3 pence per night way back compared to $17 per day for early bird
parking around 2013.

Malcolm Reid Furnishings Bourke St Melbourne

Malcolm Reid Furnishings Bourke St City

Davis Music House Russell St Melbourne

Davis Music House Russell St Melbourne

             

Alex Barfoot Shoe Repairs, in Little Collins St near Spring

This is a wonderful sign that catches the eye due to its colour and unusual subject matter. It is quite near the famous and exclusive Melbourne Club which itself has a long history. As yet I know little about Alex Barfoot and his company but I am researching it.

Industrial Traces - Melbourne Inner Suburbs

Industrial Traces-general background theme commenced September 2015 

 INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL RESEARCH re Faded Signs was planned and started for this site in 2015 and also for my part in Melbourne Ghost Signs Facebook page.

Working on grouping of my signs/historical interests by area and related businesses/communities. Some examples of "industrial and retailing critical mass groupings" from 19&20th centuries Melbourne are:


1. Abbotsford - Tanning, Brick making Leather and Wool, Breweries and Food Production around Victoria Street Abbotsford between Burnley and Church streets- backing on to Yarra river. Key reference: Collingwood Historical Society Walk

2. Richmond - Heavy equipment production, matches, food, shoes, clothing and textiles, yeast, breweries, church organs, metal fabrication. Key Reference: Hard Yakka, Richmond Historical Society etc.,

3. Collingwood and Fitzroy - Textiles, Wool Products conversion, Confectionery, large scale merchandising and distribution of clothes and furniture

4. Hawthorn - Brick-making, Home Preserving Bottling Kits, Department Store, Carriage production

5. Prahran and Surrounds - Biscuit, Cakes and Bread manufacture and distribution

Some of the well known company and brand names I intend to focus on are MacRobertsons, Foy and Gibson, Phoenix Biscuits, Pelaco, Alexanders, Rosella, Bryant and May, Maples, Moran&Cato ----- the list is almost endless but the aim is to demonstrate how the social fabric of the times was heavily influenced by the companies that employed and sometimes housed people.


I have started with Richmond today and have some Abbotsford places to follow. They are shown in Pages listed top right and I also have a link there to Guildford Lane in Melbourne City.

New Page and Direction - Industrial Traces

Ghost signs related to specific areas around Melbourne, which were once hives of industry and the people engaged in disappearing trades, are becoming a big focus for me.  There is now an area of my blog devoted to this as of September 2015 - on the right hand corner of the menu block.

Area 1: Guildford Lane area of central Melbourne - once vibrant engineering, printing and automotive precinct, now well preserved and blended with cafes, galleries and lots of thoughtful artwork inserted here and there on certain walls.

Bakery sign in Hawthorn near corner of Burwood Rd and Camberwell Rd

Mystery Sign for Baker using unadulterated ingredients

I have taken many photos of this sign from when it was first uncovered to now "recovered". Discussion with the Hawthorn Historical Society has sparked my interest in the wealth of interesting signs and buildings in the block from Auburn to Burwood to Camberwell Roads, then back down Burwood to Glenferrie and up to Barkers Rd. I plan to do a Hawthorn feature for a while to foster discussion with the Hawthorn Society on this Blog and on the HHS Facebook page. A few shots of the baker's sign follows. "Unadulterated Prize Bread " is the key marketing phrase and the signwriter is GE Constable but the baker is hard to read. Any ideas?

Progress as at 24 April 2015

Ah, now thanks to the Hawthorn Historical Society, their Facebook page provides quite a few historical markers for this site, including the baker's name of George Bird and they have found some of his advertising. Looking to find out a bit about the life of  George Bird and how he managed his business.

Bakery in 2014 before apartments

Cash Grocer near Auburn/Burwood Rds

George Fincham Pipe Organ Builder, Stawell St Richmond

Entrance off Stawell Street Richmond

The sign is near Office Works Richmond car park and seen or unseen by hundreds of people every day. Its a sign of a firm that had been in existence from 1862-2006, a remarkable period of time. George Fincham the founder was a master pipe organ builder and his work has been in many famous Melbourne icons.  Stawell St sign below. Fincham started in Bridge Rd premises and at one time had adjacent buildings, including this one, that fronted Bridge Rd as well. 

Fincham is believed to have manufactured over 200 organs including those at the Exhibition Building; Freemason's Hall; St Kilda Town Hall and a number of prominent churches including Baptist Church, Collins Street; Independent Church, Collins Street; Scots Church, Collins Street; Wesley Church; St Francis' Church, Elizabeth Street; St Peter's Church, Albert Street, East Melbourne; and St Patrick's Cathedral, Albert Street, East Melbourne.

Source: Victoria Heritage Building Database

Mc Nivens Ice Cream Cones and Drinking Straws

I started with a faded sign in Highett St Richmond near the Gleadell Fresh Food market. I have photographed it a number of times over a 7-8 year period and it has been hard to see for a while as a newish building is up close and partially covering it. The big news is that the web contains a huge amount of info on this product which seems to have been a much loved product originating from NZ, presumably made under licence in Australia. 

Reference is the web site McNiven Cones| longwhitekid at https://longwhitekid.wordpress.com/category/mcniven-cones/

Richmond sign below

Signs of --Bakeries of Prahran, Armadale, South Yarra

I have recently discovered that  around 50 years from1930 until 1980, these suburbs had a wealth of major bakeries - bread, biscuits and crumpets in a relatively small area. The companies involved were Table Talk Biscuits, Golden Crumpets, Gawiths Bread, Sutherlands Bakers and Capitol Bakery. Signs for Table Talk have been captured and a Capitol Bakery raised cement sign was seen at corner Toorak and Chapel street a short time ago.

Table Talk factory around 2009 from Prahran Station
Now a new warehouse living development

The Golden Crust Bread Company began in Armadale, in 1915. In 1927 it opened a self-raising flour and macaroni factory in Oxford Street, South Yarra. In my memory, crumpets became their best seller.

The Stockdale family had a long association with baking and began operations in Punt Road Prahran in 1860. The Gawith Bros came to Australia in 1927 and entered the baking industry themselves after the failure of their father's business, also in that field. In the 1930s they purchased premises and steadily built the company up, in competition with Stockdales. By 1955 they had developed bulk manufacture of sliced bread and the whole industry gained a big boost. The firm was eventually sold to Sunnicrust.

Reference: Based on A History of Prahran, Vol 2, 1925-1980 by Sally Wilde

Monopole Cigars Sign 413- 415 Swan Street Richmond

Background story derived  from City of Yarra Heritage Gaps Study by Lovell and Chen 2012

Nos 413-415 Swan Street, Richmond is a Victorian two storey brick terrace pair of shops and combined residences. The ground floor shopfronts have been modified, but the rendered first floor facades are intact, with no. 413 remaining unpainted save for the c.1920s 'Monopole Magnum Cigars' sign, which adds distinction.

Nos 413-415 Swan Street is of local historical significance, as a pair of two storey brick shops and combined residences constructed for carpenter, J Wood in 1892. This was just after the period of commercial development consolidation in Swan Street, and unusually during the severe economic Depression of the early 1890s. The buildings were subsequently occupied by a range of retailers and commercial operations, typical for a main street of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

LW Alexander, Chaff and Grain Merchants, Preston

Found by my wife when on a shopping expedition in Preston at corner of Plenty road and  Murray road. Unremarkable sign but clearly old and bound to have a good personal and community story behind it. More research required!

Rosella headquarters in Richmond

Signs Fading Fast!!

These signs are in Balmain Street Cremorne, off Church Street near the Yarra and Alexandra Parade. The photos below were taken in about 2012 when the signs were fading significantly but there is now a marked deterioration. Makes you think more about the effects of pollution and climate change on signage. On the one hand there is a love of the faded sign as artefacts of a bygone time but do we want them to disappear altogether? I suspect not.

I have strong memories of Rosella products when growing up, especially tomato sauce (ketchup). Rosella started in a Carlton back yard in 1895 with rosella jam. It grew into a large exporter of a wide range of related products by 1920. 

Profits grew rapidly from 1919 to 1928 and products expanded to include tomato sauce, chutney, canned spaghetti, pork and beans, soup, olives, olive oil and peanut butter. The company was sold to Unilever in 1963, then declined through the 1980's but has revived as an Australian owned company under Sabrands in recent times.

Australian Knitting Mills area Richmond

This is an area rich with signage near Richmond station in Melbourne. It is enclosed by Tanner Street, Punt Road and some small streets leading through the station to Swan Street, the heart of the Richmond Station and Lennox Street, and Dimmeys department store. It has been a close community over the years and was a firmly working class area for a long period. Many cottages still exist.Residents of Melbourne can easily view the Australian Knitting Mills and related firms such as Slonim and Henry Bucks, Mens Outfitters. Much of the area can be see from on high at the Richmond Train Station and then down at the street level going through the station to the platforms or around the back streets searching for a great hand crafted  coffee.

See below for some information about Australian Knitting Mills and other companies in the area.

In August of 1899, Thomas Murray and Co established a small knitting mill in Richmond. Mr F. F. Robinson joined the firm in 1902 and it was incorporated as Thomas Murray and Co Pty Ltd soon after. To keep up with production demands, the mill grew to three times its original size in a few short years. In 1908 the manufacture of Golden Fleece woollen underwear begun and the factory extended its production to include bathing suits. In 1910 and was renamed the Australian Knitting Mills Ltd. The AKM complex was at the centre of the Stewart-Tanner streets industrial  area from 1912 when the supply for World War One uniforms provided an opportunity for its expansion. The complex had another major building addition in 1922-5, the same time that the 'Golden Fleece' and 'Kookaburra' brands were established.

At this point I'm unsure how J Slonim fits in but there was a range of products going through the area including underwear, hosiery and lingerie. J Slonim is apparently still a going concern in hosiery and lingerie and J Slonim Pty Ltd., was listed as trading in brassieres, girdles and allied lines in a Manufacturers directory in 2011, domiciled at Stewart St Richmond. The Henry Bucks building was also in Stewart Street near the AKM building shown here and was well known in the city of Melbourne also, as Mens Outfitters at the high end. Henry Bucks was from Yorkshire and started a business in clothing in 1890 in Melbourne. In 2014 it remains a family run firm and has a strong presence in Victoria, SA and NSW plus overseas links.

Link to a selection of my store of photos

GlimpsesofOldMelbPhotoAlbum 

Perdriau Rubber Products

Perdriau Rubber Company Ghost signs in Commercial Rd Armadale and Malvern Rd East Malvern

Over about five years I have found two excellent signs that reveal a long heritage in rubber products and signage in Australia. The signs have been related to car tyres but a publication has reminded me that rubber use extends to personal items such as waterproof clothing.

Sign from Commercial Rd Armadale

Cnr Tooronga and Malvern Rds East Malvern

Full wording is " Perdriau Balloon Tyres". Garage is heritage listed but sign is fading fast. I'll post pictures taken more than 5 years ago to show the contrast.

Henry Perdriau (1845-1935), rubber merchant and manufacturer, was born on 6 December 1845 at Balmain, Sydney. His family was English and of French Hugenot origin. His father arrived in Australia in the 1830's and was prominent in steam boat traffic around Sydney Harbour.  Henry worked his father's company but had also become involved in importing and cutting up bulk rubber for railway-carriage buffers.   By 1888 Perdriau & Co. had agencies for many large English, German and American rubber firms and a large intercolonial trade for rubber goods for mechanical, agricultural, surgical, mining and general purposes.  Perdriau Rubber Co. Ltd was formed on 16 April 1904 and Henry as chairman. In 1928-35, after the company amalgamated with the Dunlop Rubber Co. of Australasia Ltd, he was a director of Dunlop-Perdriau Rubber Co. Ltd.

Source: Australian Dictionary of Biography, Article by GP Walsh on Henry Perdrieu

Lovely Fashion Mackintoshes by Perdriau

Early Work 2007-08: Stirling Dairy Portsea Sign

Early 20th Century Public Transport Corporation Advertising

Source: Victorian Government Image Library