Trinder’s Produce Store/Frontier Signs/Mixed Business/Nothing – Hurstville, NSW
Along the long and lonely Kimberley Road, Hurstville sit numerous husks of shops. A quick search on the amazing Trove reveals that today’s entry on Past Lives was once ‘Trinder’s Produce Store’, and was used as a voting location from 1930 to 1948.
Image from Sydney Morning Herald, 24 Oct 1930/Trove.
Built in 1926, no evidence remains of Trinder’s Produce Store. The shopfronts appear to have been out of business for years.
The awning reads ‘Frontier Signs’, but the sign itself has been fractured.
Oddly, there’s a very faint but still visible company name beneath Frontier Signs. It’s hard to read, but it certainly doesn’t say ‘Frontier Signs’. You’d think a sign company letting something like that happen would be like Dulux selling paint in Berger cans.
Vanessa’s Milk Bar/For Lease – Belfield, NSW
Milk bars have taken on a kind of mythical quality, especially with the late Gen-Y set. In death, they’re trendy and retro in ways they could never have been in life. They’re kind of like Michael Jackson in that way – now that he’s gone, everyone remembers how cool and trendsetting he once was, but they forget (intentionally or not) the creepy stuff. Years of film and TV showing our favourite characters hanging out in cafes and burger joints have inspired many youngsters to want to find their own hangout joints, but as the milk bars die off all that’s left are the pubs.
There’s a fine line too between milk bars and charcoal chicken shops. Most charcoal places you’d find today don’t do milkshakes, or are doing some kind of Portuguese style cooking to set themselves apart from the regular charcoal style. Problem is, the charcoals are now in the minority.
Oh, and for anyone still wondering: Vanessa’s Milk Bar was run by a cranky old Greek guy named George (never call him Vanessa), who would rouse at you if you stared at his exhaustive lolly assortment for too long. C’mon, George, you knew we had to look. I wonder how he reacted during the open inspections?
Gottlieb Electronics/All Electro Sales and Wholesaler/Unknown – Belmore, NSW
It’s hard to imagine now, but there was once a time where pinball was so popular that Gottlieb Amusements had an Australian subsidiary. It closed down sometime after 1995, which is in keeping with the decline of the pinball industry itself.
Google indicates a company called Sibercom (or Sybercom) operated out of this address for a time, so this must be where they built all the Terminators. There’s scant evidence to indicate what might be operating out of the building now, and the sign outside gives few clues:
Ask for us by name.
Presumably, this is where bored hipsters worked in a time before JB Hifi.
Corner shop/nothing – Belmore, NSW
Great, the time machine worked.
Quick! It’s 1953 and I’ve forgotten my kid’s birthday! Where will I be able to get her a…gift…maybe something…I dunno, popular…at the last minute?!
Yung thugz take note, this is how graffiti tags looked a hundred years ago.
Thank goodness! Call off the search!
The Keg/Vaby’s/Bonfire Brazilian Grill – Beverly Hills, NSW
On the corner adjacent to the Four Seasons Chinese Restaurant is the new Bonfire Brazilian Grill, but even during its recent past as Vaby’s Mediterranean Grill, the restaurant has never shaken its original name – the Keg. The boom in rooftop advertising in the area must have coincided with the opening of Kingsford Smith Airport’s third runway.
EXTINGUISHED UPDATE: As of late 2012, the fire is OUT. The Bonfire Grill has left the building, but it won’t be long until someone else gets in there and tries to make a go of another restaurant. Good luck…
ROCKY UPDATE: Aaaaand it’s Pancakes on the Rocks. Although in this case it’s a bit more like Pancakes 20km south-west of the Rocks.
Past/Lives of the Near Future 