Five things that happened 100 years ago

1922. Remember it? No, I don't expect you do. It was 100 years ago, after all. What comes to mind when you think of those days? Well? Can't think of anything, eh? Allow me to fill you in, then, on five things that took place exactly one century ago. In no particular order. Let's go.

Branston Pickle is invented

This pickled chutney was named after the village where it was first made, and not only am I a devotee of this product, I used to live in the town of Burton-on-Trent in Staffordshire which is right next to Branston. There's not a lot I can add to this, except you either like it or you don't. Oh, and happy 100th birthday. I salute you!

 

Nosferatu is released

F.W. Murnau's German Expressionist vampire horror film Nosferatu – Eine Symphonie des Grauens was released in March 1922. Perhaps you've seen the above iconic scene showing Count Orlok (he's not named Dracula for some reason), played by Max Schreck, entering a room as the door opens by itself. A clip of this scene appears in the video for "Under Pressure" by Queen & David Bowie. That's actually where I first saw it.

The whole film, silent and in black and white, has an air of unremitting menace, although you never actually see any blood or explicit violence. As Drac—I mean 'Orlok', Schreck does look extremely corpse-like with his frail-looking build and hollow eyes. The film established many vampire film tropes, such as sunlight being able to kill vampires. It was also the first German expressionist film to be shot on location rather than a set.

Murnau died in somewhat bizarre circumstances in California in 1931. His skull was stolen from his grave in 2015. Of his 21 films, only 12 survive in their entirety.

 

William Desmond Taylor is murdered

Taylor was a prominent figure in the early days of Hollywood, acting in 27 films and directing 59. He was murdered in February 1922, a crime that is still unsolved; one of the oldest cold cases. His murder sold more newspapers in the United States than any news item before.

When the police saw Taylor dead in his apartment, he was lying on the floor with a bullet hole in his back, while two studio execs were burning papers in the fireplace and a comedy actress was rummaging through drawers. The servant was washing dishes in the kitchen while various randoms rushed in and out of the place. The police discovered a bunch of pornographic photos, featuring Taylor, and the director's closet was full of womens' lingerie. The murder weapon was never found. There's a lot more to it than I can summarize here, so you can read more about it on your own time – but consider yourself warned!

Vegemite is invented

Okay, I'm cheating a bit by including two popular condiments instead of one. But I would be ostracized from Melbourne and deported from Australia if I didn't mention Vegemite, the Vitamin B spread which was developed here in Melbourne in 1922 and went on sale the following year. Its invention came out of a need to find a use for the yeast extract left over after brewing beer.

It was the first product in Australia to be electronically scanned at a supermarket checkout. In a torturous bit of advertising sloganeering it was known as Parwill from 1928 to 1935, all so the ads could proclaim "Marmite, but Parwill". Because renaming your product in order to make lame puns in reference to its competitor is sooooo worth it.

 

Tutankhamun's tomb is discovered

Led by Egyptologist Howard Carter, the tomb of the legendary pharaoh was discovered in November 1922 as part of an effort to clear the Valley of the Kings down to the bedrock. Found nearly intact, the tomb established the length of Tutakhamun's reign, showed what a complete royal burial entailed, and sparked a surge of interest in ancient Egypt.

Tutankhamun himself became pharaoh at the age of 8 or 9, and died around 1323 BC aged 18 or 19. It is possible that his death was unexpected and his mummy was therefore buried in a tomb intended for someone else. The 5,398 items found in the tomb took Carter ten years to catalogue: it had taken him seven years to find the tomb. Among these items were the famous gold face mask and a solid gold coffin.

For the pharaohs of ancient Egypt, to be remembered was to live forever – hence all those grand monuments. But after young king Tutankamun died there was a concerted effort to remove all traces of him, so he would not achieve immortality. One of the least esteemed pharaohs in life, Carter's discovery of his tomb made him the most famous – where he had lain some 3,300 years, unremembered and unremarkable. But when that tomb was finally found in 1922, Tutankhamun returned to the minds of the living and took his place among the gods once again.

The Terrace, Mooroolbark: Frozen in time

Mooroolbark is a north-eastern suburb of Melbourne which apparently experienced its biggest growth in the 1980s and '90s. It's most known (to an interloper like me at least) for having this weird setup where three roundabouts are squished together. Just look at this abomination:

Seriously, how are you even meant to tackle this?

But that's not the purpose of this post. I came to Mooroolbark to see a shopping centre called The Terrace. Locals all know about it, but I hadn't heard of the place until just over a month ago, when I read on Reddit about it. It's a shopping centre that is not exactly disused or abandoned, but fell out of use years ago, yet continues to keep operating.

After I read the comments about it on Reddit I came across this video by Tim Norman of Stormofilms which was made in May 2019, and which gave me some additional information (and let me see what The Terrace was like in pre-COVID times).

The Terrace was built in 1981, right across the road from Mooroolbark Village (a small row of shops along Brice Avenue), and adjacent to Hookey Park. It opened in 1982, and housed 24 stores such as Treasurway, Replace-A-Film, Microbee (a shop that sold 8-bit computers), and Bojangles Music — very '80s name there — later known as CD Haven.

Here's what The Terrace looks like from the outside. It's got a large car park with 900 spaces, to service commuters using Mooroolbark station across the road, but it's pretty much empty. The surroundings at the front look tidy, with no litter or graffiti, and neatly-trimmed hedges.

That's not to say graffiti has never been a problem at The Terrace — the public toilets inside have been the worst hit over the years. One year they spent $26,000 on cleaning up the toilets alone. Now they keep them locked to keep out vandals and druggies.

You'll notice from that large archway sign that there is a Bendigo Bank on the premises, formerly a Westpac. That sign has covered up many smaller signs which can be seen in Tim Norman's video, which listed each business found inside. Coming up the ramp, you find yourself at the sliding doors of the main entrance.

Unlike most suburban shopping centres, The Terrace has not been refurbished or renovated at all since it was built (with the possible exception of the childcare centre, which seemed tacked-on to the side after the fact). As a result, the interior decor is just as it was back in 1982, with the patterned light-brown lino untouched, as well as the ceilings. The fluorescent-tube lights were on, despite no one being around, and a lot of light actually gets in thanks to the large skylight which you can see above. 

Apparently there are a number of poems written by students stuck to the window of the centre kiosk, which are "post-apocalyptically depressing", according to one Reddit user.

On the right in the above photo is Stay Tuned Electronics, which still has CRT television sets and record players on its shelves. Most of these shops are shuttered up and only 12 of them are open — in fact none of them are currently open because Melbourne is under lockdown.

The Terrace was a busy place once. Then-PM Bob Hawke showed up there in 1987 for some event, but apparently its busiest day was when childrens' TV character Humphrey B. Bear appeared live there. (Poor old Bob. Having to settle for being The Terrace's second-biggest guest star to a man in a sweaty costume made of recycled bathmats.) Anyway, in its heyday The Terrace hosted a number of events, footy players giving handballing lessons to kids, and even a food festival in recent years, even with some of the shops empty.

I am not sure when exactly The Terrace began to decline, but it was probably well on its way by 2017 when its supermarket closed. There was also once a garden centre there. The entrance to it was a large roller door, which you can see on the left in the photo below. Mikayla van Loon reported in the Lilydale Star Mail of July 20, 2021 that Chirnside Park shopping centre, which offered more variety, as well as heating and air-conditioning (which The Terrace apparently doesn't have?), is one of the reasons The Terrace fell behind. A larger shopping centre, Eastland, isn't too far away either.

It seems The Terrace's shop owners couldn't compete with the customers heading over to Chirnside Park, so they either relocated there or closed down.

The next photo is the loading bay for the supermarket, which as you can see was once called KFL. There was a bit of graffiti here, but no more than your typical Melbourne bus stop, really. One tag said "Oops!" which I found rather amusing (though infantile).

Next you see here Terry's Meats, the butcher on the corner. It closed in May 2019, not long after Tim Norman filmed his video. The only reason I'm mentioning it is because of the "2 Dollar" sign you see here — another relic of the past. This isn't the only piece of old signage still visible: if you look closely you can still make out where the "Treasurway" used to be on the front brickwork.

With Melbourne's property market being the way it is, why hasn't this unused retail space been taken over by developers? Why has this shopping centre stood largely untouched since the day it was made? I don't know anything about how strata title works, but from what I understand, Coles supermarkets owns a number of shops in the centre (the Lilydale Star Mail says it is "a couple"), and have prevented any redevelopments from taking place. Otherwise their rivals Woolworths would move in to challenge the supremacy of the Coles across the road from The Terrace.

After the supermarket there (which at the time was an IGA) closed down in May 2017 — a significant loss for the ailing Terrace, as its major drawcard was no longer there — Woolworths made an $11 million bid to redevelop the site, which was then stymied by a competitor. I wonder who that could have been? 

This wasn't the only bid Woolworths has made; in fact they have made several since 2016. But it has been difficult to get everyone on board, since each shop is individually owned. And apparently every time Woolies makes such a bid, the price goes up, so they seem to have got fed up with the idea.

So, as long as Coles holds ownership, no redevelopment can ever take place. And so The Terrace still stands there. And stands there.

But who knows? Right at this moment the Mooroolbark train station is being rebuilt as a result of Victoria's level crossing removal project, so when the new station is built, perhaps the topic of redeveloping The Terrace site will be brought up.

Until then, it will remain frozen in time.

Nothing says solitude

Nothing says solitude

Like

A rare pear

Basking in the

Monday morning

Raspberry sun

 

 

Brunswick

Following on from yesterday's post about the Homecooked Comics Mini-Mart, I thought I'd post a selection of photos from the streets (Sydney Rd and Victoria St, to be precise) of Brunswick. I've lived in Melbourne for 12 years now, and this was the first time I had been to Brunswick. So, what did we find?

Well, firstly and quite surprisingly, the suburb of Brunswick has a 'sister city' relationship with the Greek city of Sparta, and one of Brunswick's streets bears its name. The ancient Spartan king Leonidas is commemorated in statue here. I had to slightly move the floral wreath someone had placed, so I could get the plaque in shot.

Two views of a hand-painted signal box on the street corner – a bit of street art done by primary school kids. You can make out the name 'St. Joseph's' and the initials of what I assume are the contributors.

I like photographing old, faded hand-painted signage, and this 'Nestlé's Chocolate' above a shop is a fine example.

Near the Blyth St intersection, a shop called 'Mary Eats Cake'. I'm sure she does. 

A closeup of a shop front's decorative tiles, and what look like two bullet holes. I'm sure they're not though.

Putting stickers on things is much more preferable to graffiti, kids.

This was in a shop window. Interesting.

More of the same tiles further down the road. Perhaps these shop fronts were all tiled at the same time. 'NO POSTERS' warns a handwritten sticker. Better do as it says.

Last of all, a nice lighting display in a shop selling...I forget now. Perhaps Middle Eastern craft items.

One more thing about Brunswick: for some reason it was the suburb whose name was chosen to be the largest on the fabric design that now graces some of Melbourne's train seats. Why? Us mere mortals shall never know.

Homecooked Comics Mini-Market

Today was the Homecooked Comics Mini-Market for 2017. Whereas last year's event was held at the Town Hall in Northcote, due to issues with that venue, this year's event was scaled down and held instead at the Squishface comics studio (and adjoining studio space) in Victoria Street, Brunswick.

Despite the space constraints, we still had room enough for my books on sale, and those of SCAR, who couldn't attend due to other commitments.

Even though not as many people attended as customers, I still managed to make one sale and one for SCAR as well, which was satisfying.

Thanks to Sarah Howell and Ben Hutchings for hosting us on the day, and Cristian Roux for having a chat. It was great seeing the artwork of all these creators. See you next year! I'll post tomorrow about some sights we saw in Brunswick after the event finished.

Viva La Causeway!

Wandering around the City of Melbourne on this typically balmy autumn evening I noticed a double banger of the street-sign variety. Someone out there really wants you to know that this nondescript alleyway is, in fact, called 'The Causeway'.

I used to live in Perth, for my sins, and over there there's a road called The Causeway, too. It's a road that leads into the city, and has several lanes, or something. It's not a tiny city backstreet for hobos and bums to have a slash in.

But! Be that as it may. This insignificant laneway has been bestowed an unusual honour by the people who erect street signage in the 3000 postcode. Not only does it have its authentic olde-tyme white-on-black rustic sign but also the new, government-approved white-on-blue one, with its new-fangled 'lower case' lettering.

Someone's takin' th' piss, yeh? I can't see why anyone would see fit to have two signs. What, is the old one too illegible? Did they think no one would believe that was the correct name?

All I'm saying is, the people who make the decisions that we all have to live by, are plonkers.

An Early Morning Sight

What is this? When I saw it, early this morning, it freaked me out – that's for sure. I have a good view of Melbourne city from the front steps of my house, and you often see hot-air balloons soaring over the suburbs early on some mornings. This insanely-grinning company mascot however, was a sight I had never before seen.

Still, I had to draw it. Photos don't do it justice.

Sticky Institute Zine Fair II

Oh, happy, happy, joy, joy! Today was Sticky Institute's Zine Fair and for the second year in a row I had a table there (exact same table, too). Last year was not a very enjoyable one, in that I sold bugger-all. Zilch. Nuffink, guv'.

I was rather skeptical about setting myself up for a second session of this annual tedium. But then I began to think about the reasons why I never sold anything last year. It was a zine fair, and primarily I make comics. I hadn't understood the audience of this event. So I actually produced a number of zines by hand, meaning that they were not printed, they were all lettered by hand onto pre-stapled A6-size booklets. I had ten of them. And I sold all except one!

Another customer was kind enough to purchase Airbury Vol. I, so in making ten sales, my sales numbers were up 1000% from last year. And that, dear reader, ain't bad.

To be honest I was beginning to lose the enthusiasm I originally had for producing humour-based illustrative works, since no one seemed to give a damn, and who reads this comic crap, it's all insignificant pablum anyway. But this was a step in the right direction and it increased my confidence once more. It was a pleasure talking with the various people who stopped by my table to talk to me and buy my zines, especially my friend Chris, who was at the table with me for over an hour, and also Steve and Antoinette from SCAR who were once again at the table next to me and keeping a beady eye on how I was doing sales-wise.

So unlike that dismal day in February 2016 I am actually looking forward to doing it all again next year.

One final thing, on the train home I noticed Metro trains have replaced the fabric on the train seats. The old familiar pattern that has been there since before I moved to Melbourne is now gone, and has been replaced with this. But my question is –

How come 'Brunswick' gets to be so big?

Two-In-One Sketch

A double urban sketch today – mostly because they happen to be on a double-page spread in my sketchbook. The top one is a disused hairdressing salon in the outer Adelaide suburb of Kilkenny, and below is the view of Gertrude and Smith Streets on the border of the Melbourne suburbs of Fitzroy and Collingwood. I have to say, for this highly-vaunted 'hipster' locale, the place was almost deserted – on a Saturday evening!

My Old House Is Gone

On this wintry August morning in Melbourne, I was returning from Ashburton when I suddenly decided to go see my old house on Moore Street in the nearby suburb of Ashwood...

...only to find, like lots of old houses in this area, that it had been demolished. And judging from the mud tracks seen here, only very recently. I must admit I was disappointed to see it gone, even though I only lived here for one year.

The view from the rear fence. Nothing left except the wheelie bins...

...except a couple of trees at the back, one of which had fruit. They looked like lemons, except they were smaller and orange. Whatever they were, I helped myself to six of them.

And just to show you what the house looked like, here's a photo of it as it was in April 2005, a couple of days after I moved in. It had an unusual layout; the front door was at the side, unlike all the other houses in that short street.

Inside An Abandoned House

This afternoon, my friend Rob and I were out for a stroll in the Melbourne suburb of Mount Waverley, not far from the train station. We were taking photos for an upcoming photo project when we noticed an abandoned house on Winbourne Street. The wheelie bins were arranged haphazardly at the front, and all the curtains were open, but clearly no one was home – the place was earmarked for demolition.

The first obvious signs of disarray were the awning at the side window that had fallen...

...and a couple of smashed windows had been boarded up. The grass was overgrown, but not by much. Round the back, there was an IGA shopping trolley and a shed.

There was a grassy path leading between this house and the next one. We followed the path, to find that it led to a tiny park, which was surrounded by the back fences of several houses, including the empty one. When coming back up the path to the street, Rob noticed that a sliding door at the side of the house was open. Through the door we could see some green graffiti on the wall behind, a sure sign that something untoward had been going on in there.

Naturally, we entered the house. Ever since one of my TAFE friends had shown me photos he took inside a disused lunatic asylum, I had always wanted to take photos inside an abandoned building. And I had my Sony camera with me – this was my chance!

As we stepped inside into what had been the laundry, we observed this crude graffiti made using lengths of tape and green paint. Year 3, much? The comments scrawled next to this effort say it all. Even peabrains have standards.

  

Just to the left of this, a massive hole had been kicked in the wall. Hey kids – I know this joint is about to be demolished, but they use special equipment for that. Don't waste energy trying to do it yourself. Still, the joke's on them if there's asbestos in there. Also, the hole is in the shape of a car. How amusing.

 

We then entered the front room, where I half expected a hunch-backed dwarf to leap out from behind that alcove to the left. The light fitting had been yanked out of the ceiling. Smashed glass from it was all over the floor. Here too, several attempts had been made to kick holes in the wall, as well as ram through them with a metal rod. Note the little-old-lady colour scheme in this room, with two colours of paint used, separated by a band of wallpaper with a tasteful floral pattern. Very nice.

This white board was obviously busted up, but the floor-to-ceiling mirrors on the sliding wardrobe doors in two bedrooms had surprisingly remained intact. Our vandals may be mindless, but they clearly didn't want 28 years of bad luck.

The other side of the huge hole in the wall. Nice.

All the rooms were empty of furniture – there was only assorted debris that mostly included food containers and remnants of the food contained therein. One bedroom had almonds scattered all over the floor; here in the front room was a container of chocolate ice cream in the corner with a fair bit of the ice cream splattered on the wall. You might be able to make out two cigarette butts in this picture. No beer bottles, bongs or half-smoked joints here – the vandals were probably not even old enough to use the big kids' playground.

The kitchen was surprisingly free of junk. A hole in the wall exposed the bricks, there were burn marks on the lino, and the glass in the oven door had been smashed.

For the glass to fall like that, I guess the door would have had to been open when it was smashed?

And finally, a calling card in what is clearly an 8 year old's handwriting. Too bad, kid – that's the nature of the real estate business. I guess you'll understand when you're an adult and you have teenage kids who think you're a tosser.

I'll spare you any photos and descriptions of what was left in the toilet. Trust me, you don't want to know, okay?