Vintage Melbourne - when is this?

Midge

Midge

Super Moderator
Staff member
Here's the wonderful Melbourne souvenir scarf I picked up yesterday. I was just wondering if there was any way of finding out from around when it is? It's made in Japan, so my first guess would have been 1950s or 1960s.
I looked up the Arts Centre, the round building must be Hamer Hall which apparently only opened in 1982... and the State Theatre with the spire in 84. So might this have been an artist's impression, as these were a long way in planning it seems? The cars in the Parliament House picture look older...
Maybe the middle image with the skyline could be a clue? Not a lot of skyscrapers there yet.

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Karin
 
Hi Karin,

You can see pics of the Arts Centre spire as Gayle mentioned: it was built between '73 and '84. The bridge is the Westgate: it was completed in '78. The big, squarish buildings in the centre picture are on Flinders Street opposite the Yarra River are the Gas and Fuel corporation: built in '67 and mercifully demolished in the '90s. You might have been to Federation Square, which was built on the site and the home of ACMI, Ian Potter centre for art and SBS and other Arts buildings.

As you say, they could have portrayed buildings that weren't finished yet but on the available evidence, I think your scarf is late '70s to early '80s.
 
Thanks for your help Nicole! Been a bit boarded up with things the last few days and couldn't look back in here. I did check out the Arts Cenre website but then was a bit lost. Ok - so I was way off in my dating, but I still think it's a great scarf! I remember Federation Square well, and I had thought "now did I see that big block or not" - of course I couldn't have :hysterical:. I looked through my Melbourne photos yesterday, whilst I was making a photo calendar for a friend. I really hope I can make it back next May - keeping my fingers crossed my boss will let me off for long enough. A colleague from our reservations team is moving to Melbourne soon - she had taken 3 months off unpaid with another colleague to travel to Australia earlier this year, and liked Melbourne so much she decided to quit her job, get a visa and see what life in Down Under is like!

Karin
 
Karin,

Please come and see me again when you're here: I'd love to show you my city Deco salon.

I'm not surprised your colleague liked the city so much: I had a similar reaction when I came here in 1998. After two weeks I rang my Sydney flatmate and gave notice - then packed up everything and moved down. I've been here fifteen years now, longer than I've ever lived anywhere although my shop keeps me stable. I probably would have moved back to the UK or even Paris if I wasn't committed here in the short to medium term. It's definitely my favourite Aus city although I miss the incredible Sydney Harbour - I used to live in a Deco flat in North Sydney and every morning I'd wake to the scene of the bridge, opera house and ferries slicing through the blue water. Bliss.
 
Thanks! The trade show is in Cairns - which has all of the industry scratching their heads, as their convention centre isn't big enough... there's a pre-show familiarisation trip that starts in Brisbane that I put as one of my options - the other one being one to the QLD outback. I'll have to wait til they confirm either one of them to me. I hope to make a detour down south on the way back. I hear Qantas didn't renew the contract to sponsor the flights, so who knows which way around I'll fly anyway! A stop in Auckland before going to Australia is in the planning too. Well, it can't get anymore crazy than the way I flew this year :hysterical:.

Karin
 
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