Vintage Melbourne

 Definitely time for a 'Now & Then'. This is from an article by Carolyn Webb of The Age.

"History buff's vintage Melbourne Instagram site is a hit"

"Today it’s known for its street art, but 50 years ago, Hosier Lane, off Flinders Street, was part of Melbourne’s thriving clothing district.

A sign in a 1972 photo of the bare-walled lane advertises the business of Bernard Rothschild, who sells underwear, knitwear, children's wear and hosiery.

Swipe right on the photo on the Instagram page Old Vintage Melbourne, and you'll see the same view in recent years. The walls are covered in art, with a sign indicating a recent focus of the precinct: a bar called Misty.

Melbourne lawyer Chris Macheras started Old Vintage Melbourne six months ago and it has taken off, with 28,000 followers.

"It's insane," says Mr Macheras, but he is happy it's helping connect Melburnians with their history.

One comment on the Hosier Lane post states: "Wow the graffiti is so ugly ... 1972 looks much better."

But another says: "I’m loving the graffiti. The laneways are so cool."

Someone called Yael Rothschild says that "the Rothschild sign was my father-in-law’s warehouse" and that he passed away just two years ago, aged 95.

"He worked so hard. He was a great man. We have this photo framed."

One of Mr Macheras' favourite historic shots is from about 1906: a Mr and Mrs Laycock pose for a photo outside their shop in Middle Park, with ads for The Age and Cadbury chocolates.

Mr Macheras was relieved to find the building still exists, although it is no longer a shop. A modern verandah has been added and its door has moved.

He learns something new with every post.

A circa 1870s photo of Melbourne GPO, by Charles Nettleton, shows the building with two storeys, not today's three, and a much shorter, more squat clock tower than the one added later.

Mr Macheras said that during the gold rush, large sections were often added to such buildings as Victoria’s wealth and population grew.

 

Right:  The Fish Market on the corner of Swanston & Flinders streets c1895, later becoming the site of the Flinders Street Railway Station (2020 Photo supplied by Chris Macheras) 

His Instagram efforts aren't all about buildings.

When he posted a 1981 photo by Rennie Ellis of a Greek family in Prahran cooking a lamb on the spit, a woman commented, "Wow this is a great photo of me and my family. We are still a very close family and we still celebrate every Christmas and Easter together."

Mr Macheras' own family has run a hairdressing salon at 216 Tyler Street, Preston, since the early 1970s. But the shop dates from the 1930s and he would love to see old photos of it.

The Old Vintage Melbourne Instagram project started in June, when Mr Macheras had more free time as a result of not having to commute from Preston to the city for work.

He discovered vivid digital photos on websites such as that of the State Library of Victoria and started digitally restoring a few.

Mr Macheras says he is allowed to use old photos for non-commercial purposes, where no copyright restrictions apply, provided credit is given.

He hopes to write an Old Vintage Melbourne book, incorporating people's stories. It has, he says, been good for his mental health to have this creative outlet."

I couldn't copy the cool way The Age article did the swipe across the photos, so go to the original article and try it for yourself.

And check out the Old Vintage Melbourne Instagram site for more old photos and Now & Thens. Here are a few of my favourites.

This has been a great exercise for during the changes wrought by COVID, a positive. Thanks Chris, and thanks too to the State Library's photo pool.

Buying a book

Twisted Sifter has a number of photographs of the beautiful Buenos Aires ‘El Ateno Grand Splendid’ bookshop inside a 100-year-old theatre. 

Situated at 1860 Santa Fe Avenue in Barrio Norte, Buenos Aires, you will find one of the most stunning bookstores in the world. El Ateneo Grand Splendid is one of the best known bookshops in Argentina. 

Designed by the architects Peró and Torres Armengol, with ceiling frescoes painted by Nazareno Orlandi and support columns sculpted by Troiano Troiani, the grand theatre first opened in May 1919 with a seating capacity of 1,050. In the late 1920s it was converted into a movie theatre, and then retrofitted into a flagship bookshop during 2000.

According to a recent study by the World Cities Culture Forum, Buenos Aires has more bookshops per inhabitant than any other city in the world – roughly 1 bookshop per 3,937 inhabitants (Melbourne is well back at 1 per 12,945. It does fare better with the number of public libraries – Buenos Aires has one library for 35,680 inhabitants, while Melbourne has one for every 29,213 – so maybe Melbournians just prefer to borrow rather than buy!).

Once upon a children's book

The 'Once upon a time: a world of children’s picture book art' exhibition opens on Friday 21st March and runs till Sunday 31st August, in the Cowen Gallery of the State Library of Victoria in Swanston Street Melbourne.

from 'The hidden forest' by Jeannie Baker

May Gibbs' gumnut babies

Let your imagination run wild in this free exhibition celebrating the world of children’s picture book art. See classic characters like Blinky Bill and the Magic Pudding, as well as fun favourites including Miffy, Grandma Poss and Old Tom. You’ll also see aliens and fairies, tigers and bears, cranky cats, playful pups and a dinosaur who does the dishes!

 Look at original drawings, dummy books and videos about the artworks to discover the magic behind creating illustrated stories, then create your own story with our free activity booklet.

The State Library is now the custodian of Dromkeen Children’s Literature Collection which was previously at the Oldmeadows’Dromkeen Homestead at Riddells Creek. 

The collection consists of approximately 7500 original artworks and illustrations from prepublication material of many of Australia’s best-loved children’s books. The collection also includes a historical book collection, six bronze sculptures of picture book characters and the Dromkeen archive.

The prepublication artworks include early drafts of classics like Ron Brooks’ “John Brown, Rose and the Midnight cat”, before John Brown became an Old English sheepdog.

There are the rare copies of stories, such as the original “The Bunyip of Berkeley’s Creek” by Jenny Wagner, the story and illustrations had successfully passed through all the editing and publishing stages when a young child pointed out that the male wallaby had a young joey in a pouch. Successive editions changed the ‘his’ to a ‘her’!

The original 'Bunyip of Berkeleys Creek'

With the State Library, the Dromkeen Collection continues to foster a love of books & reading, and to support literacy among young people.

Argus bomb site

While I was in Melbourne waiting for the train, I had time to check out the abandoned Argus building.

The Argus was Melbourne's first newspaper, an amalgamation of a number of early colonial papers including the Port Phillip Patriot and the Melbourne Advertiser.
Its readership filled a compromise between the more conservative 'Age' and the sensationalism of 'The Sun'.

The Argus newspaper was established in 1846, and with its partner The Australiasian (est 1864), was housed in the Argus building on the corner of Elizabeth and La Trobe Streets, from 1926 (the foundation stone was laid in 1924).

It closed in 1957 when sold to Keith Murdoch’s 'Herald & Weekly Times', and the building was later purchased by the Stamoulis family.

The building is an 8 storey stripped classical combination of neo-classical Beaux Arts style with Chicagoesque and Moderne influences, complete with a regal classical tower. La Trobe University purchased it for $8 million in 2004, and apparently spent $34+ million gutting the building. The building had lead-paint and was riddled with asbestos. They then sold it for $15 million in 2010 to the Melbourne Institute of Technology. MIT intend to convert the site into an educational facility.

Now a large portion of the roof and several sections of floors are missing. There is exposed reo and rusty iron beams. Water has damaged parts. Melbourne City Lord Mayor Robert Doyle declared it one of Melbourne’s “bomb sites” -said it was a building of ''historic significance, but it is deteriorating as we look at it and I want to give them the strong message that we will not tolerate the tactic of allowing a building to deteriorate to a point where you can't do anything with it''.
The building is classified by the National Trust and is on the Victorian Heritage Register.

 The Argus building is hosting the Melbourne Music Week a 9 day program of events. MMW with the Melbourne City Council have a short-term lease for a festival site of performance, dining, learning and socialising with bands, DJs, film screenings, vintage clothing stall and more.

Unfortunately most of The Argus building remains off limits, the two lower floors have been renovated to allow 400 people upstairs and 800 people downstairs in the temporary concert hall, which will host both local and international acts.

"Be free"

Here's a short YouTube video of the site and MMW, which shows the bare building and gives a better idea of its dimensions.

Picture book art

I know Australia has the best illustrators of childrens books, and this exhibition showcases that fact.

The State Library of Victoria has Look! the art of Australian picture books today

Children - and adults alike - will be delighted and inspired with the Look exhibition. It celebrates the illustrations and stories revealed in the picture books of today. The exhibition has original artworks, sketches and drawings from more than 40 Australian illustrators on display, including some of my favourites - Graeme Base, Jeannie Baker, Stephen Michael King, Robert Ingpen, John Nicholsdon, and Anne Spudvilas.

There are also activities to do at the exhibition: a drawing competition, storytimes, little tables of felt figures to play with & create, videos, workshops, and tours.

Collage in Jeannie Baker's "Window", superbly crafted into this bay window

Another Jeannie Baker work, from "Hidden forest", this lightbox has real kelp, sand etc., giving you the full 3-D experience.

The exhibition is in the Keith Murdoch Gallery at the State Library, and runs till 29th May.

True Blue

Related to the Titanic theme, I saw James Cameron’s Avatar in 3D in the IMAX theatre too. Conceived 14 years ago and over 4 years in the making, Avatar breaks new ground in delivering a fully immersive, emotional story and reinvents the movie-going experience. I have Avatar on DVD, but had wanted to see it on the big screen, so when IMAX brought it back I decided to go. It is definitely the way to view the movie, as IMAX have digitally re-mastered it with unparalleled crystal clear images, laser-aligned digital sound quality, and maximised field of view - the most immersive movie experience. I could see how the CGI technology has only just evolved to do this justice.
It is live action with new generation special effects - a spectacular new world beyond our imagination, where a reluctant hero embarks on a journey of redemption, discovery and unexpected love - an epic action adventure fantasy.

Seen through the eyes of Jake Scully (Sam Worthington) a former Marine now confined to a wheelchair, who is recruited to the human outpost on the planet Pandora where a ruthless mining corporation is extracting a rare mineral that can solve Earth’s energy crisis. Due to the planet’s toxic atmosphere, they have created a program where humans have their consciousness linked to an avatar – a genetically engineered remotely-controlled biological hybrid.
Jake’s mission is to infiltrate the native Na'vi population, after Neytiri saves Jake’s life he is taken into the clan and gradually learns to respect the Na'vi’s relationship with the planet. Ultimately Jake leads a heroic battle to save an alien civilisation he comes to call home.
While the story may be predictable, you can forget all that as you become engrossed with the visual feast. While I admired Sam’s acting, it is the special effects which are the stars of the film – the floating islands are the best, closely followed by the luminescent plants – great, great effects.

Down with the Titanic

Still with my trip to Melbourne, I got to go and see Titanic : the Artefact Exhibition at the Museum before it closes next week (with the huge crowds & difficulties in getting a ticket, they could extend the season for quite some time).

The tour was very busy, lining up, looking at exhibits over others' shoulders, waiting for the procession to move on.

Here is my boarding pass, given to each exhibition visitor. At the end of the tour you check the lists of passengers & crew to find if your character survived the sinking. I was Miss Bridget McDermott an Irish immigrant in 3rd Class (a third-class ticket on Titanic cost $40, approximately $900 in today’s currency), travelling to visit her cousin in St Louis. The night before sailing Bridget gave a few coins to a wanderer who told her she was going on a long journey 'There will be a tragedy but you will be saved' he said. Bridget was saved from the Titanic.

The story for those living in a cave for over 100 years - On April 15, 1912, Titanic, the world’s largest ship, sank after colliding with an iceberg, claiming more than 1,500 lives, and becoming one of the world’s greatest maritime disasters, and the best known.

The Exhibition showcases more than 280 artefacts retrieved from Titanic’s debris field, offering a poignant look at this legendary ship and its passengers and crew. The Exhibition has created stories through artefacts and re-creations of the ship’s interior.

The exhibition journeys through the life of Titanic, from construction and life on board, to its ill-fated voyage, tragic sinking and the amazing efforts to recover artefacts.

RMS Titanic, Inc. is the company permitted by law to recover objects from the wreck, it has conducted 7 research and recovery expeditions rescuing more than 5,500 artefacts. Artefacts on display, include the D-Deck door, a large hull section, a cherub statue, portholes, china and glass-ware, currency and passenger’s personal effects.

There is a full-size re-creation of the ship’s Grand Staircase. There is a mystery concerning the loss of the entire Staircase from the relatively intact bow section. James Cameron explored the bottom of the stairwell, and no traces of the heavy oak handrails or the wrought-iron balustrades remained. When the Titanic film-set was flooded the entire staircase dislodged - did this also happen to the real staircase and did it float to the surface?

I didn't read all the display boards as the press of people was too great, but did read all the cards on all the artefacts - utterly amazing - one that they could find tiny objects like cuff links and childrens' marbles, and second that some fragile items like paper bank-notes, and linen jackets could survive decades underwater virtually intact.

The re-creation of the First Class hallway & staircase, the Passengers' Verandah Cafe, and the Third Class accommodation were awesome. But strangely it was walking down the carpet of the re-creation of the First Class Hallway which made the biggest impression on me - all those white painted doors with their number plates.

Finally at the end you come to the ubiquitous photo sales and gift shop, and I was intending to pass straight through the commericalism, until I saw the teddies. And I immediately remembered the kids book Polar : the Titanic bear by Daisy Corning Stone Spedden.

Daisy and her husband were a wealthy couple with a passion for travel. With their young son Douglas, they sailed on the Titanic. On the night of the disaster Polar the stuffed bear was tucked under Douglas' arm as the Speddens were lowered into a lifeboat. After the rescue Polar was left behind till a sailor found him and returned him to Douglas.

Three years after the sinking, 9-year-old Douglas was killed in a car accident. No one knows what then happened to Polar.

"Under the clocks"

While I was in Melbourne, I attended a talk by author Jenny Davies on her book "Beyond the Facade : Flinders Street, more than just a railway station".
Jenny is truly passionate about her subject and has undertaken heaps of research and now possesses a wealth of information and stories about the building.

Some of the tales she told included -

• trains and passenger services continued through the building operation
• it is built on the site of the Fish Market
• there was no foundation stone or official opening of the station building
• the building included a creche, gymansium, ballroom and library
• the bullet hole in the Hatter's was reputedly fired by gangster Squizzy Taylor
• the builder was sacked which then led to a Royal Commission
• the painted facade is over a brick and cement render construction
• the clock faces in the tower are 12 feet across
• the Banana Alley Vaults were built in conjunction with the Viaduct linking Flinders Street to Spencer Street stations
  

Who's who in the zoo?

I was in Melbourne for most of last week, and thought I'd take some time out to visit the Melbourne Zoo. The zoo is one of Australia's oldest, opening back in 1862 on the same Royal Park site.

I hadn't been there for many years, in fact these first 2 images are from slides back in the 60s when the extended family spent the day there.

Things have certainly changed - I couldn't find the elephant ride (above), and the wire cages are long gone, (these brick & bar cages were built back in the 1890s) though they have kept one similar old exhibit cage from 1928 to show visitors how much zoos have evolved and changed their policies on keeping, caring and showing animals.

The other major change I noticed was the fun park rides - the miniature train, the pony rides, and merry-go-rounds are no more. The only reminder of the Fun Fair is the magnificent 19th century English-made merry-go-round, a much-loved feature of the zoo .

The merry-go-round (below) or as they're calling it -the carousel, is now wrapped in plastic, due to its heritage state. It is on the Heritage Register as a significant part of Victoria’s history, it recently underwent a major restoration to restore it to its original glory.




Touring the grounds early in the morning, I came across the western lowland gorillas just after they'd been fed. It was interesting to see them gather a variety of fruit and veg in their hands to eat later and to stop the others from getting it first. They were keen on the rhubarb.

'Trail of the Elephants', is the new complex for the Asian Elephant exhibits which opened in 2003, and is still being added to. I liked this modern/ancient-looking wall.

It was a pleasant morning, but with The Butterfly House set at 28 degrees the humidity moved you on quickly.

The Zoo's philosophy is to divide it into ‘bioclimatic zones’, where animals that share a common native habitats are grouped with or near each other. So the giraffes, zebras and ostriches are in an African savanah habitat.

Grey Ghosts

I was in Melbourne on Monday, and pointed out we’d just driven past a Grey Ghost, in this case a Council parking inspector/officer. And I mentioned the story behind this WebUrbanist post - Banksy vs. The Gray Ghost in New Orleans and how we were currently in the city which had painted over a Banksy artwork.

In 2008 the renowned British satirical street artist Banksy visited New Orleans leaving behind his particular brand of social and political commentary on Hurricane Katrina, its effects on New Orleans and issues in American culture.


Fred Radtke (The Gray Ghost) has made it his mission to erase every bit of graffiti in New Orleans with his paint roller in hand. The anti-street-art crusader passed quietly through each neighborhood, obliterating all traces of spray paint with his own signature splotches of gray – hence his nickname.


Some locals celebrated his dedication to keeping New Orleans clean, while others decried his assault against free expression.



The Gray Ghost himself became the subject of some of Banksy’s New Orleans work, depicted as a bent figure blotting out colur on the city’s walls. Where Banksy painted over huge swaths of Radtke’s gray paint, Radtke came back and painted over many of Banksy’s works of art.

Not all of the Banksy obliteration came courtesy of the Gray Ghost.

A man was actually photographed in the process of painting over ‘Boy on Life Preserver’.

Regardless of who covered them, all the New Orleans Banksy art is now gone except ‘Rain Girl’, thanks to its protective plexiglass.

In April the Melbourne City Council sent the cleaners into Hosier Lane on clean up the lane, but the over exuberant employees accidentally obliterated the Banksy stencil of a parachuting rat, unaware that it was a valuable piece of street art.

RHSVs facade

I had a meeting in Melbourne on Thursday (well two actually) and the second one was at the Royal Historical Society of Victoria. The Society which began in 1909 is housed in the former headquarters of the Australian Army Medical Corps. Built on the corner of William & A'Beckett Streets it is an art deco building - even the air ventilation grills have an art deco curve to them. Our meeting was held upstairs in the Sergeants Mess.

The Society who promote & preserve the history of Victoria, are currently holding a display on "Beyond the facade" the book on the history of the Flinders Street Railway Station.

Melbourne's shrine

This large coffee-table type book is quite a tome on the history of the building of, and life of Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance. Dedicated in 1934 to honour the Victorian soldiers of the First World War. This massive granite monument is the largest state war memorial in Australia.

These photos are from when I went to a Local Studies meeting at the Shrine.

The Greek classical inspired northern tympanum, carved by sculptor Paul Montford

The view towards the Melbourne city skyline from the entrance door.
The approach from St Kilda Road was designed to frame the memorial.

The forecourt, and eternal flame. The flame & World War 2 monument were later additions, it was Queen Elizabeth II who dedicated the forecourt and first lit the flame.

The Western courtyard, deep in symbolism. The natural imagery and garden landscape suggest a return to peace.

An olive tree stands at the centre of a decked and shingled walkway, an allusion to the beach at Anzac Cove. The star shape is only apparent when seen from above.

Taken from under the Lone Pine, looking towards the new Entrance and Visitors Centre, which manages to blend into the older structure, being set into the mound of the Domain. It also opened up access through the Crypt to the Sanctuary above.