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.
There was a short time in Australia’s European history when two women wielded extraordinary power and influence behind the scenes of the fledgling colony. In early 19th Century Sydney the two women, whose husbands were sworn enemies, would cross paths. These two courageous women came from strikingly different backgrounds, with husbands who held sharply conflicting…
We all have some possessions, collected through the years;Some bring happy memories, others bring the tears.Not many from our childhood, we didn’t bother then,We were far too busy learning and counting up to ten. When maturity came through we started to collect.Some we threw away later, the special ones we kept.And as the years went…
Under the heading “Occupying “canary” room. Nerve Cases are Soothed” the following article was published on 24 March 1919. In the new Red Cross convalescent Docks, Sydney, NSW, the colour cure idea has been introduced by Miss Eadith Walker. This is an experiment in such treatment in Australia, and R. R. de Mestre, a young…
Map of Australia and Water Features, Wilson Park, Lawson Wilson Park at Lawson is across the road from the Lawson pool. Within the Park is a large, much-loved concrete map of Australia, a small bridge and associated water features. The map was constructed in the 1930s at a precise scale of 75 miles to 1…
To our dedicated and hard-working volunteers -Bob, Benson, Pam, Andrew, Lois, John, Kay, Sharon, Lorna, Janice, Alan, Patricio and Jeanette (and Roz and Margo who couldn’t join us for our Christmas luncheon) – we sincerely thank you for helping out at our museum, working behind the scenes, during this difficult year. The work that has…
Before Scottish expatriate James Harrison, then a member of the Victoria Legislative Council and owner of the Geelong Advertiser newspaper, making ice was difficult. In fact, no one had invented a mechanical method to produce ice or refrigerate items. Whenever you use your ice machine to create a delectable cocktail for guests, or crack open…
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