I sat up the other night until 1am fascinated by Mawson eating his sled dogs - although, I suppose some might say that might be more an interest in the macarbe than history?
We are also members of the Victorian Heritage Society, which means I can tour all the old buildings I love for free.
I don't join local historical societies though, for the same reason I don't join local camera clubs.
Old people. Or middle-aged men thrusting their Nikons about like phallic symbols. Ugh.
Although I appreciate old people and find their stories interesting and stuff, I don't want to hang with them and be buddies.
And yes, i'm aware how that makes me sound, and I suppose karma will get me when i'm old(er!) and want to talk about my ulcerated boil and no-one will talk to me. Ok.
Back on track:
So every now and then I google my house, my area, stuff. Local history is always fun as you can find things on daily walks and visualise what was and see what now is.
But recently, I was surprised to learn we had a Hoyts cinema in town! It had never come up in any other history searches before and information was hard to find.
It was beautiful:
So the cinema opened in 1928 and closed on New Year's Day 1984.
I can't help but wonder what film they ended with?
And if someone could make out that movie poster in the foyer, i'd be ever so grateful. These pics were taken in August 1948 ( if that helps for movie identification ) by a photographer named Lyle Fowler and I sourced them from the National Library of Victoria.
And I wonder why the building had to be completely demolished?
I didn't arrive in Melbourne until 1991, but i'm assuming if you close on New Year's Day, it was with a fair bit of fanfare ( and perhaps some protest ? )
But gee, now we've got a brand new real estate office, and by golly it's sure to become a future architectural landmark for sure! Just look at it!:
Oh yeah.
