The Stores Memoranda In contrast to the paper scrawlings of today, this reusable metal grocery list dates back to at least the early 1900s, It is inscribed with kitchen staples like bread, butter, milk and tea. Its movable markers next to each item allowed shoppers to flag when they need to restock on certain items….
Following last month’s articles on Farleigh Nettheim, Peter Bryant has sent another snippet of Concord History. One thing that I didn’t mention before is that the small factory producing Watsons Ink occupied the top of Finch Avenue on the corner with Burwood Road. Charlie Watson was a well-known figure from my boyhood days in Concord….
The subdivision of land for housing at the end of the nineteenth century fundamentally changed Concord and its surrounding districts, transforming what was essentially a rural district of orchards, small farms and market gardens into an expanding patchwork of industrial and commercial development with its attendant population growth. As houses, factories and businesses increasingly encroached…
Did you see the gypsies on the road to Mlttagong, or Hordern’s tree on Razorback, when it was growing strong?Did you go in search of old Bea Miles when exams loomed near, to sit with her on the Town Hall steps and brush up on Shakespeare?And did you see old Rosies’ flower stall, as first…
A single man decided life would be more fun if he had a pet. So he went to the pet store and told the owner that he wanted to buy an unusual pet. After some discussion, he finally bought a centipede that came in a little white box that served as the bug’s house. He…
The Hordern business was originally established by a free immigrant from England, Anthony Hordern, in 1823, as a drapery shop. A further large menswear store was later opened in upper George Street. It went on to become Anthony Hordern & Sons with a famous department store in Sydney. One of its advertising slogans was that…
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…
Our member and dedicated guide for the Walker Open Days, Hazel King, was recently awarded an OAM for her service to horticulture and to community history. Over 90 years ago her father came to Australia from England, where he had worked as head gardener on a large estate. He obtained employment, as head gardener, on…
Australians can be an ingenious bunch. Here are some of the best inventions to have come out of the nation. Black box flight recorder: This has helped make commercial air travel the world’s safest form of travel. It was invented by Australian scientist Dr David Warren, who lost his own father to an aircraft tragedy in…
Arnott’s always had a good eye for advertising. There were colourful posters that shops could put in their window, but it was for its tins that Arnott’s was always justly famous. The brightly decorated biscuit containers became synonymous with the company – like the red trucks, they were the public face of the company, they…
Extract from my autobiography (an unfinished project) by Peter Bryant In the 1920s, some of Concord’s large estates like “Yaralla” on the Parramatta River, were subdivided and made available for housing. By 1926, the year my mother and father married, new streets and avenues had been laid out. They ran down to the edge of…
Industrialisation in Europe and North America in the late nineteenth century engendered a wave of populist nationalism across the world. People who had once regarded themselves as having an affinity with a particular region, now thought in terms of their national identity. The idea in popular culture of a set of values that was unique…
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