Christopher Bennett

Memoir Reflections

Chris Bennett

Fitzroy: A Rare View

This is an ordinary picture. But to a kid like me who grew up in Fitzroy during the 1950s and 1960s it means much more.

Before I took this photo in 2013 the area where the cars are parked was once an automotive garage. As kids we would climb on top of the roof for fun on Sundays, when it was closed. We played cricket in the lane way beside the lot, using an old wooden crate as a wicket, a hand made bat and a tennis ball.

The building with graffiti (‘are rebel’) was Mr O’Brien’s milk bar and my mate and his family lived behind the shop. I’d visit my mate’s place to watch shows like the American western, Bonanza, on his black and white television set. During the summer we’d also meet at the top of the lane to start our journey to the yabby ponds in Carlton.

A few years ago a four story apartment building was built on the lot which now obscures the view of my 2013 photo.

Note: The former Mr O’Briens (‘rebel’ graffiti’) building is on the corner of Argyle Street and Brunswick Street in Fitzroy.

Fitzroy Library – the Old Days

This was the Fitzroy library entrance as I knew it in the 1950s and 1960s . It is now located around the corner in Moor street.

The library, part of the Town Hall building, was a place I visited frequently when I was a kid. The huge doors felt like I was on the set of an ancient Roman sword fighting picture. I remember one of the doors opened during opening hours, leading to a passage way and into the library room itself.

Those were the days of stamped library slips glued to the back of a book noting the day it was to be returned when borrowed, There were narrow wooden trays, which would slide in and out. Each tray contained alphabetically listed details of a book, typed on a system card, revealing where it was located in the library.

The old library felt like a second home and I would spend a lot of time reading and wandering around staring at the ‘old books’ stacked in shelves against the walls.

Footnote: In the bottom left hand side of this photo I took recently are the belongings of a homeless person. Somethings never change – there were homeless people sleeping in doorways back in the old days.

Fitzroy Tagging

Formerly Fitzroy Post Office – corner of Brunswick and Johnston Streets

Fitzroy hasn’t escaped tagging and graffiti which is on many external surfaces around the suburb.

When I grew up in Fitzroy in the 1950s and 1960s, I don’t remember seeing any tagging or graffiti, but now when I walk around it’s everywhere – on walls, windows, and on the ground.

I took this photo recently and to me the top half represents an element of the new Fitzroy and the bottom half the old Fitzroy.

I suppose I have the option of photo shopping out the tag, but good luck trying to get rid of it permanently in real life.

Nick’s and Eve’s Shops

In this photo are two of my favourite shops of the 1960s, in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy (between Argyle and Kerr Streets).

On the left was Nick’s milk bar where I shopped for my parents and bought lollies, drinks and ice creams almost on a daily basis. The next two buildings were Eve’s haberdashery and toy shops. I always looked into the toy store window and dreamed of the toys I wanted and couldn’t afford.

My sister worked for Eve as a teenager for several years. Eve later moved down the street to a single building next to Frank Dempsey’s butcher shop.

I miss those shops and although Nick and Eve are no longer there, the happy memories of those times are still etched in my mind.


Fitzroy Characters

This fellow was walking along Brunswick Street towards Alexander Parade, in Fitzroy the other day and I couldn’t resist taking his photo.

I’d loved to have developed my current interest in street photography as a kid back in the 1950s and 1960s because there were a few memorable characters.

Some I remember include Dot the pram lady, Jim the Drunk, Rags the dog, and the bottle-o’s

The only images I have of those characters are in my mind and will never be forgotten.

What characters do you remember?