The image, from a postcard dating to the first 10 years of the 20th century, is an evocative glimpse into a business that has long been linked to Martin Place (then Moore Street).
Martin Place had long been a bustling hive of activity, full of people going about their daily work. This bustling activity made it a perfect place for flower sellers to ply their trade, attracting passersby and many impulse sales. Yet most flower sellers did not start off in Martin Place at all, being forced off other, busier streets to make room for ever increasing traffic. Martin Place was the ideal place for flower sellers to congregate though, setting themselves up near the steps of the General Post Office and pouncing on people hurrying to mail their letters.
The earliest Martin Place flower sellers began to set up stalls in the 19th century, but it was during the 20th century that Sydney’s most iconic flower seller plied her trade. Rosie Shaw had once had high hopes of a career in opera, coming to Sydney from London in 1927 to seek fame and fortune in the land Dame Nellie Melba had called home. Rosie’s dreams never came to pass, but she grew to the status of a Sydney icon none the less. In 1931 she first set up shop on Martin Place, plying her customers not just with flowers, but with snatches of opera and tall tales of her history of a ballerina and singer. Rosie soon became very popular and increasingly influential, using her iconic status to act as one of the earliest defenders of gay men in Sydney. She sold flowers for 40 years, finally packing up her stall in 1971.
In December 1916 William Graham Eyles, a former alderman of Drummoyne, was sentenced to death in Sydney’s Central Criminal Court for the murder of his wife, Ellen, who was found hanging by a strap from a bedpost in her house in Courland Street, Five Dock. There were signs of a struggle with numerous bruises on…
The Barrier Miner (Broken Hill) published the following article on Wednesday, 7th January, 1953. Sydney-Early on Christmas morning an intruder entered the kitchen of the Dame Eadith Walker Hospital, Concord. The intruder put into a hospital patients’ Christmas sack: a dressed turkey, a dressed fowl, two dressed rabbits, a leg of mutton, thirty-two mutton chops,…
Australian theatre has a long and distinguished history. It is a history which was influenced by both the United States and Britain. British born entrepreneurs were the fathers of Australian theatre. Despite the shadow of the two great powers, Australian theatre had it’s own peculiar characteristics. It grew to be a unique institution for a…
The boat shed at the bottom of Hilly Street, looking towards Green Point, taken from the top of Montgomery’s Palace Hotel c1920s. The Mortlake-Putney Punt now crosses the Parramatta River from this spot. Nearby is a small beach, known as Fairmile Cove, where naval boats were assembled during World War II. In the middle distance…
As a tribute to the 20th Anniversary of the Sydney Olympic Games our museum had planned a special display. Unfortunately, COVID-19 intervened and we had to postpone it. However, with things improving and the upcoming Tokyo Games we will now go ahead as planned in July. Our guest speaker for July will be Kerrie Quee,…
Make it idiot proof, and someone will make a better idiot.He who laughs last thinks slowest!Consciousness: that annoying time between naps.When there’s a will, I want to be in it.Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.Every morning is the dawn of a new error…There cannot be a crisis today; my schedule is already full.Car…
