The Hordern Tree

 

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 it sold “anything from a needle to an anchor”. The crest on their coat of arms was a budding tree with the motto: “While I live I’ll grow”. It appeared above all the store’s window fittings and on all its stationery.

A Port Jackson fig tree located on a ridge on the south side of the Razorback range near Camden, bore a striking resemblance to the tree pictured in the trade emblem. In the 1920s Anthony Hordern arranged with the land owners at the Razorback to erect a hoarding sign alongside it, bearing the store motto.

Anthony Hordern & Sons

Anthony Hordern was the founding member of the Hordern family in Australia and the business remained in family hands for a century. A substantial six-storey building was opened by them in 1905, called The Palace Emporium, the main entrance being completely fitted out in imported Italian marble.

The store was located on a block bounded by George, Liverpool, Pitt and Goulburn Streets in the south end of the CBD, on what was a small hill called Brickfield Hill. It was also one of the largest mail order businesses in Australia.

It was once the largest department store in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With 52 acres (21 hectares) of retail space, Anthony Hordern’s was also once the largest department store in the world.

It was controversially demolished during 1986 to make way for the World Square development.

 

Similar Posts

  • Useful Items

    We remain a society fascinated by gadgetry.  The industrial revolution ensured that our ancestors were similarly attracted to wondrous objects which promised to make life easier, and, at times, more profitable.   We might say that all useful objects are not gadgets and all gadgets are not necessarily useful objects.   Knives for picking the stones out…

  • History of Homebush Bay

    When Europeans arrived in 1788 Homebush Bay consisted of extensive tidal wetlands and thick bush. The area was first known as ‘The Flats’, and was recorded by Captain John Hunter within ten days of the arrival of the First Fleet. Although reports of the time commented on the Aboriginal people living in the area, there…

  • Beer & Water

    THE Sydney Sun reports . . . . . . that the city council has placed a bubbling water fountain outside the main entrance to a large local brewery. Whether this is a hint on the part of the city council for the brewery employees to get on the ‘water- wagon’ is not known, but…

  • From Our Collection

    Stereoscopes and Stereographs Were the Original Virtual Reality The shocking power of immersing oneself in another world was all the buzz once before—about 150 years ago.  Virtual reality has been with us for a long time. The earliest stereoscope has been attributed to Sir Charles Wheatstone as well as to David Brewster. Both worked in…

  • Mortlake

    Sydney is made up of many fascinating suburbs and areas, many of which are such a normal part of Sydneysiders lives that they spare little thought for the history of these areas, let alone for the names they go by.  Today most are simply residential suburbs, home to countless families.  Mortlake is just one such…

  • Cabarita Road Houses

    Cabarita Road has been variously referred to as Cabarita Park Road or Cabarita Point Road. It has had several spellings including “Cabareta” as well as  “Cabaritta”. By whatever name it has remained one of the districts most significant thoroughfares and been witness to the changing character of the locality and more broadly of the city…

Add your first comment to this post