An al fresco Bush Picture Theatre Once Nestled Quietly among the Orchards and Produce Gardens of North Ryde

Posted on by E Curb Nottus
Cinema, Leisure activities, Local history, Regional History

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THE street names around Macquarie University in the northwest of Sydney have an unambiguously militaristic ring to them. Many, many bear the names of historical battles, wars and military campaigns. In particular the battles of two 19th century wars, the Crimean War and the Napoleonic Wars, figure heavily in the street configurations – there’s Balaclava Road, Waterloo Road, Talavera Road, Vimiera Road, Taranto Road, Busaco Road (actually misspelt as the correct spelling of the Peninsula War battle is “Bussaco”), Trafalgar Place, Nile Close and Crimea Road itself. Then there’s Culloden Road, Abuklea Road, Libya Place and Agincourt Road on the Marsfield side, and Khartoum Road, all from various other wars involving the British and English imperialists. Khartoum also lent its name to a very atypical cinema that existed in the North Ryde area long before the university, tech industry or shopping centre came along. The part of North Ryde, which is now called Macquarie Park, was largely green-belt bushland before the 1960s, punctuated by pockets of agriculture, Italian market gardens, citrus orchards and farms, plus an incongruously-placed greyhound racing track on the site of the future university campus. At the time the area which backs onto the Lane Cove National Park had not been developed commercially and its attractive natural surrounds drew the Northwood Group of artists to it who painted the orchards, market gardens, farms and waterways.

Nestled in among all of these market gardens and bushland was the Khartoum Open-Air Theatre, North Ryde’s first licensed cinema. Located on the corner of Khartoum and Waterloo Roads and carved out of a former orchard, it looked like the type of run-down picture house you’d encounter in a country town rather than in Sydney suburbia. The less than majestic Khartoum, held its first public screenings in early 1938. Debut feature for the theatre on opening night was Cecil B DeMille’s The Plainsman.

≜ ‘The Plainsman’ (1936)

The picture theatre’s knock-up construction from timber and corrugated iron earned it an affectionate (and not inaccurate) nickname from locals, “The Shack”. Roselands “Theatre Beautiful” it was not! The entrance section and projection booth were made of timber. “Open-air” really meant open-air with an obvious lack of shelter. The structure had a partial roof but most of the seating was exposed to the elements – the covered (padded) seats cost the princely sum of 1/6d while the uncovered (and less comfortable wooden) seats went for 1/-.

≜ Khartoum Theatre, an undisguisedly rudimentary open-air cinema absolutely devoid of any “bells and whistles” 

The theatre’s owner was one Mr N Johnstone and was later partnered by Jack Peckman who doubled as projectionist. The Khartoum functioned as a two-man operation. At intermission or between double features the theatre would regularly provide an unorthodox form of entertainment for the patrons, wood chopping contests (in keeping with the bush ambience?). On wintry nights, if heating was needed, fires were started in 44-gallon drums (wonder if anyone alerted the local fire brigade?) (‘Khartoum Theatre’, www.cinematreasures.org)

Despite its primitive and seemingly incommodious facilities the Khartoum maintained a steady patronage from locals even after the North Ryde Skyline Drive-In, just one block away, opened in 1956. The greater threat however, not only to the Khartoum but to cinemas everywhere, was the arrival of television. (‘Cinemas of the 20s and 30s’, City of Ryde, www.ryde.nsw.gov.au/).

North Ryde Drive-In (photo: David Kilderry/ Drive-Ins Downunder)

“The Shack” managed to keep going at North Ryde—longer than many of the other, conventional cinemas, in the Ryde district—until 1966 when it closed down, bringing an end to 28 years of big screen entertainment in the former orchard. The Wild One with Marlon Brando was the feature chosen for the final screening on closing night in 1966 (‘Sydney’s lost cinemas: Ten of the best which enchanted audience before biting the dust’, Brian Kelly, The Daily Telegraph, 07-Sep-2016, www.dailytelegraph.com.au).

Khartoum Theatre, North Ryde, 1938-1966, one screen, 480 seats

The Rise and Fall of the Greek-Australian Milk Bar: American Dreams with an Hellenic Touch

Posted on by Wolfgang Childerglas
Cinema, Commerce & Business, Inter-ethnic relations, Local history, Memorabilia, Popular Culture, Retailing history

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Anyone who grew up in the golden age of milk bars in Australia, from the 1940s to the 1960s, will have a memory of or an association with these erstwhile hubs of suburban and small town social life…for many of that vintage it’d be hanging out inside with friends, indulging in their favourite flavoured milkshake, ice cream or other sweet tooth delight. My own fond recollection is of salivating over chocolate malt sundaes with nuts and taking turns at playing (or tilting) the pinball machine in the back corner of the shop. This treat was an exhilarating antidote to the aftertaste of having spent the preceding six hours toiling away in school confinement.

B&W 4d Milk Bar with mechanical cow & Red Cross-like symbol

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They were such an integral institution during my salad days that I was under the assumption that milk bars had been around forever. In fact they only surfaced in Australia for the first time in the early years of the Depression. The first bonifidé milk bar is generally considered to be the Black and White 4d. Milk Bar which opened its doors at 24 Martin Place, Sydney, in 1932𝕒, it’s conception was the idea of a Greek migrant to the Antipodes, Joachim Tavlaridis, who had Anglicised his name to Mick Adams. Mick had visited the US and had drew on the American diner/soda parlour concept that was flourishing in the US for his inspiration (including American menus, ice creams and chocolate). The distinguishing feature of the Black and White Milk Bar was its singular purpose, it exclusively sold just sodas and milkshakes (in the iconic silver-coloured metal milkshake cups with actual fruit in the shake). Mick was an early entrepreneur in the field, later adding Wollongong, Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane shops to his milk bar “empire”. (‘1932: Australia’s first milk bar’, Australian Food Timeline, www.australianfoodtimeline.com). Mick Adams and other Greek-Australian small businessmen like him were the pioneers of the milk bar trade in Australia…typically the shops operating as open-all-hours family businesses, cf. postwar migrant Italians in the vanguard of delicatessen culture in Australia𝕓.

Golden Star Milk Bar, Perth (Photo source: M. Coufos)

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Greek cafes with a large dollop of Hollywood glitz
The Greek owner-operators in Australia added glamour to their milk bars by infusing the decor with an vibrant American feel…gleaming chrome, neon illumination, plush leather chairs, mirrors, curvilinear Art Deco interiors, soda fountain pumps, snazzy uniforms, American jukeboxes. These early Greek milk bars (and cafés)𝕔 were purveyors of American dreams along with confectionery and sugary flavoured chilled beverages. Macquarie University history academic Leonard Janiszewski describes the agency of the early milk bars as “a kind of Trojan horse for the Americanisation of Australian culture” (‘The story of Australia’s Greek cafes and milk bars’, ABC Radio, Conversations (broadcast 02 May 2016). The milk bar caught on like wildfire—by 1937 there were around 4,000 in Australia, with names like “Olympia”, “The Orion” and “The Paragon”—as they did across the Tasman in New Zealand where the milk bar is known as “the Dairy”.

Milk bars passé
By the 1970s the heyday of the Australian milk bar was well and truly past its use-by-date. Faced with an inability to compete with supermarket chains and multinational-owned petrol stations plus high rents, milk bar closures (together with that of the community corner store) became an increasingly common sight. 7-Eleven-style convenience stores started to pop up everywhere across suburbia to fill the void (‘Remembering the Milk Bar, Australia’s Vanishing Neighbourhood Staple’, Matthew Sedacca, Saveur, 18 January 2018, www.saveur.com).

Olympia, tea and milkshakes (Source: Daily Mail Australia)

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One Greek milk bar that did manage to defy extinction for much longer than most was the Olympia Milk Bar in the inner-Sydney suburb of Stanmore. Taken over by the Fotiou brothers in 1959, the Olympia under surviving brother Nick achieved a kind of local iconic status in recent years for its anachronistic novelty…open late, and always dimly lit, ancient chocolate bar wrappers plastered all over, a yesteryear-looking shop locked in a time warp. The Olympia somehow survived to 2018, until the Council decided to close down the dilapidated milk bar.

Postscript: Green plaque fiasco
Attempts since 2017 to commemorate the Black and White Milk Bar as “the world’s first modern milk bar” with a green plaque have met with a roadblock. The plan had been to place the plaque on the original site of the proto-milk bar in Martin Place, Sydney, now the ANZ Tower. The spanner in the works has been the overseas corporate owner of the building who has steadfastly refused to allow the plaque to be mounted on the structure. The matter remains deadlocked with the City of Sydney Council unable to find an alternate, close-by location acceptable to Mr Adams’ relatives (“‘Disrespect’: Frustration grows over plaque for world’s first modern milk bar in Sydney”, Adriana Simos, Greek Herald, 05-Oct-22, www.greekherald.com.au).

Green plaque in limbo!

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𝕒 a staggering 5,000 customers fronted up on the opening day!
𝕓 Mick’s concept of a modern milk bar was later replicated overseas in various places within the Commonwealth and Europe
𝕔 the nouns “café” and “milk bar” seem to be interchangeable in describing these Greek-Australian run establishments

London’s Worshipful World of Liverymen

Posted on by E Curb Nottus
Commerce & Business, Local history, Town planning

One of London’s most colourful traditions which continues to the present day is the veritable institution of livery companies, the city’s ancient and modern trade associations. The liverya⃞ companies (LC) are Medieval in origin, established in the 12th century by groups of tradesmen, craftsmen and merchants with similar skills and interests. Like the guilds before them they functioned as kinds of trade unions in an embryonic state before the establishment of unionised labour associations.


Boundary lines of the “Square Mile”

Photo: London Toolkit
Traditionally, the core role of the LCs has been to maintain standards and regulate prices in the various industries. The LCs fostered apprenticeships upon completion of which the apprentice became a “freeman” with licence to operate within the city walls (until the 18th century you couldn’t ply your trade within the city unless you were a freeman). An increasingly important auxiliary role of LCs has seen them engage in benevolent and charitable activities aimed at livery members and their families who have fallen on hard times (‘The History of London Livery Companies’, Black Taxi Tour London, 12-Feb-2020, www.blacktaxitourlondon.com).

How one becomes a Livery freeman
There are two pathways to LC membership: serving a term of seven-plus years as an apprentice to a LC “master”; and patrimony, membership passed down from a parent who holds the status of freeman at the time of the child’s birth. There is in addition the entity of honorary freeman, mostly granted to celebrities and politicians by LCs…honorary Company members include Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher and Stephen Fry.

Guiding the flock over the Bridge (Source: Metro UK)
With club membership comes privilege
A freeman is by definition a “Freeman of the City of London”, which carries certain privileges, one is the right to stand for election as aldermen or sheriff and if they get that far, even lord mayor. Another popular office open to freemen is ale conner, an elected official who gets to test the quality of new ales (somebody has to do it!). Another quirky privilege for freemen historically was the right to drive a flock of sheep over London Bridge without having to pay a toll. Recently some LCs—specifically the Worshipful Company of Woolmen—have revived this sheep herding exercise across the Thames. A key feature of livery activities is the ceremonial. LC membership affords an excellent opportunity to engage regularly in cosplay. All manner of Liverymen like to don ceremonial robes and march in processions like the Lord Mayor’s Show with no pomp or spectacle spared. Liverymen also indulge in other traditions such as pancake races and the Loving Cup ceremony (‘The traditions of the City of London and its Livery Companies’, CityandLivery, 27-Apr-2018, www.cityandlivery.blogspot.com).

Lord mayors from all walks of life
The office of Lord Mayorb⃞, the annually elected administrative boss of the fabled “Square Mile”, the City of London, has been filled by freemen from the broadest cross-section of vocational backgrounds. Recent lord mayors have been merchant tailors, solicitors, haberdashers, shipwrights, grocers and musicians.

Order of Precedence
As the number of LCs grew a hierarchy of companies evolved with each company designated the prefix “Worshipful Company of ________” and an “Order of Precedence“ established, headed by the Great Twelve Livery Companies – they are in order, Mercers, Grocers, Drapers, Fishmongers, Goldsmiths, Merchant Taylors, Skinners, Haberdashers, Salters and Ironmongers (due to a historic disputation over their place in the seniority, #6 and #7 swap places in the pecking order every 12 months!). The Great Twelve were determined on the basis that they were “the most powerful and influential companies controlling all sorts of aspects of daily life and trade” in the city at the time the sequence was settled (Inspiring City, 27-Jul-2013, www.inspiringcity.co).

Crest of Worshipful Company of Bowyers
The monumental changes in fashion and technology since the LC were in it’s infancy has led to many historic trades, crafts and professions withering away. Others haven’t disappeared entirely, like the Worshipful Company of Bowyers (AKA Longbowstring-makers), but their fundamental raison d’être has shifted markedly…despite the disappearance of the long-bow as a weapon used in war and hunting, the weapon retains a more limited usage today in the sport of target archery. Accordingly the Bowyers Co’s primary focus these days is on charitable workc⃞. In 2010 the LCs of London made benevolent gifts to the sum of nearly £42 million, the majority for education and welfare (‘British Institution: Livery Companies’, Matthew Engel, Financial Times, 22-Dec-2022, www.ghostarchive.org).

A lot of the LCs are still identified by their historic name…the famous black taxi cabs ubiquitous in the city fall within the purview of the quaintly named Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers which harks back to the horse-and-cart era. Likewise, the Worshipful Company of Scriveners represents London’s qualified notaries public. Professional practitioners of calligraphy, heraldry and genealogy also come under its ambit. The Worshipful Company of Carmen once represented the drivers of produce carts (carters), now obsolete, so like many in its modern form it devotes it’s energies and finances solely to charitable and ceremonial pursuits.

Tallow Chandlers Co dining hall (Source: tallowchandlers.org)
The Livery Halls
At the present time there are some 110 livery companiesd⃞, 39 of which possess their own premises and some of these have very lucrative property portfolios. Many LCs share with others, eg, the Master Mariners Co’s “hall“, appropriately enough a historical ship HQS Wellington moored in the Thames, is also a venue used by the Scriveners Co. One of the longest functioning livery halls is that of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries in Blackfriars, parts of its building dates to the 13th century.

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a⃞ the word livery originally described the form of dress worn by retainers of noblemen and by extension was attributed to the specific attire for different trades or crafts

b⃞ not to be confused with the political office of mayor of London (Boris Johnson’s previous gig before Westminster beckoned) whose jurisdiction, Greater London (GLA), is much larger

c⃞ in 1371 London’s arrow-makers split off from the Bow-makers to establish their own distinct LC, the Worshipful Company of Fletchers

d⃞ with several other groups awaiting approval of their LC membership

The Victorian Spectator Sport of Pedestrianism

Posted on by Wolfgang Childerglas
Local history, Social History, Society & Culture, Sports history

“Pedestrian”, just a fancy word for walker, you say? Its certainly got nothing to do with the vocational activity we euphemistically call “street walker”, a very different kind of “pedestrian”. As we understand the term today, It’s hard to imagine that pedestrian with the suffix -ism added was the name of a highly popular and seriously competitive sporting pastime 150 years ago.

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Like golf, outdoor tennis, association football and the rugby codes, pedestrianism, a historical name for organised, competitive walking, has its origins in Britain Something of its sort was around in the 1600s but the activity reached a fuller expression in the 18th century, becoming a regular fixture at regional fairs along with horse racing and running.

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Image: Victorian-era.org

One such instance of pedestrian racing involving the exchange of money was within the purview of upper class gentlemen making carriage journeys between English cities and towns. Wagers would be laid by groups of gentlemen on their travels as to which of their footmen can beat the others to the intended destination, going on foot in advance of their masters’ carriages.

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Foster Powell (Poster published by C. Johnson n.d.)

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Fore-walkers of the ultra-marathon
By the late 18th century we start to learn the names of individuals like Foster Powell who devote all of their time and energy to great feats of walking endurance for monetary reward. Powell, the star of long distancing walking in his day (flourished 1760s–1790s) is considered the first leading exponent of the activity, prefiguring the rise of the professional ultra-marathoners in the late 20th century. Powell’s greatest accomplishment was a 640km distance walk—London/York/London—in five days and 18 hours in 1792, the fourth and final time he had attempted and completed the feat [‘Foster Powell, the Great Pedestrian’, Andrew Green, gwalter, 26-Jun-2020, www.gwalter.com].

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Often leading pedestrians would go head-to-head in wagered races (Image: US Lib. of Congress)

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Multi-day walking
Later in the 19th century the British enthusiasm for pedestrianism spread overseas to Canada, the US and Australia. In the last quarter of the century Six-day races including for women pedestrians were very popular both in the US and the UK, attracting up to 70,000 paying visitors during the event. The leading exponents included George Littlewood (the Sheffield Flyer) whose 1888 world record for the six days—623 miles, 1,320 yards—remained unbeaten for 96 years! In America serious money could be made…Edward Payton Weston won a $10,000 prize in 1867 for completing a walk of 1,828 km in 30 days (Portland, Maine to Chicago). Powell didn’t achieve the hoped-for riches from his marathon walking, he died in an impoverished state, but many others that followed him found that success in the activity could pay handsomely. Captain Robert Barclay Allardice in 1809 earned himself the sobriquet the “celebrated pedestrian as well as a purse of 1,000 guineas for walking 1,000 miles in 1,000 hours, an amazing test of (strength), stamina and sleep denial” [‘Captain Robert Barclay-Allardyce’, www.nationalgalleries.org]. For Allardice’s numerous extraordinary exploits on the road, the title of “father of modern race-walking” has been ascribed to him.

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Pedestrianism was exceedingly popular in post-bellum USA, drawing great crowds of paying spectators (Image: Alamy/BBC)

Professional pedestrianism in the Victorian era was not confined to males, the most famous and successful woman pedestrian was probably Londoner Ada Anderson. Her accomplishments, particularly the breaking of Capt Allardice’s “1000 in 1000” record prompted the Leeds Times to dub her “Champion Lady Walker of the World” in 1878. Anderson whose preparation included training in severe sleep deprivation, after dominating UK pedestrianism, found great acclaim on the American walking circuit.

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Source: 7 News

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Curbing the proclivity for “speed walking”
As pedestrianism became codified, the “fair heel and toe” rule was established for races. This meant that “the toe of one foot could not leave the ground before the heel of the other foot touched down”𝖆, however in practice “rules were customary and changed with competition” and walkers got away with jogging and trotting in races. [Pedestrianism’, Wikipedia, http://en.m.wikipedia.org]. The controversy over what constitutes legal walking has continued to dog the modern sport of race-walking to the present with disqualification of athletes in Olympic 20,000 and 50,000 km road events for “lifting” still a common occurrence.

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Olympic final (men), 3500m Walk, 1908

By the 1890s the Victorians’ vogue for pedestrianism had given way to cycling and other organised team sports. The 1800s activity of competitive walking for monetary gain morphed into the amateur sport of race-walking which found a permanent home in the Summer Olympics in the 1908 London Games. The IAAF/World Athletics organises a series of elite walking events for both men and women including the Olympics and world championships.

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Johnny Day with Nimblefoot 1870 Melb Cup (Image: Herbert James Woodhouse)

Footnote: Prodigy day walker nonpareil
It was not unusual for competitive walkers in the 19th century to turn their hand to other pursuits, some took up cycling, even a few like Ada Anderson ventured into the theatre. In the case of Australian walking wiz-kid Master Johnny Day, he transitioned from wonder boy pedestrian to Melbourne Cup-winning jockey in 1870𝖇. Day by age 10 had won a remarkable 101 walking contests (never beaten) and was hailed as world champion juvenile walker, before pursuing a career as an apprentice jockey in his teens [‘Master Johnny Day, Australian Champion Pedestrian’, National Portrait Gallery, www.portrait.gov.au].

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𝖆 as well as keeping one foot on the ground at all time walkers were required to ensure that their leading leg remained straight until passed by the trailing leg

𝖇 the premier race on the Australasian racing calendar