Need help: glass gas lit street signs
I have some red flashed, etched glass street signs.
My research so far suggests these are gas lit Mosman street signs from the 1880’s / 1890’s. They were probably in use up until 1920.
Can anyone provide further information about these, or does anyone have a photo showing these in use?
Please contact Amanda on info [at] mosmanstreetsigns.com.au.
|
Does anyone remember Whittle's hardware store?
Terry Brown – from Sussex, England – emailed to ask if anyone remembers Whittle’s hardware store. Terry worked at this shop run by Mr Whittle and his son and really enjoyed his time there.
Drop us a line or register to add your story or picture to the site!
|
Desperately Seeking Doreen
We received this email from Steve in the UK.
I run a website devoted to the history of Marks & Co the shop made famous in the book by Helene Hanff. More details at www.84charingcrossroad.co.uk
I am trying to trace a former member of the shop staff who had emigrated to Australia in the 1950’s.
She was living in the Mosman area in the early 1980s and was invited to attend the Australian premiere of the play of 84 Charing Cross Road at the Marian Street Theatre. The actress Elaine Lee remembers her being introduced to the cast. Her name was Doreen (Maiden name possibly Wellsbury, Wellsberry or even Wells) – her character in the play is named Megan Wells.
Someone must have been aware of Doreen’s association with the shop/play and someone must have issued the invitation. If anyone is able to assist me in my quest or knows of any other person or organisation that may be able to help I’d be pleased to hear from them.
Many thanks – steve [at] maggs.co.uk
Can you help?
|
Word from the Blocks
Murray Block, who contributed a story about Awaba Street, is interviewed in The Mosman Daily this week.
MURRAY Block believes that everyone has a story to tell – and a duty to tell it before they die. “We have lost so many characters in this area whose stories have died with them,’‘ Mr Block said. “As an antique dealer, I often saw photographs in people’s places and wondered what would happen to them. My wife and I don’t have children and I wondered what would become of our memories.’‘
Read the full article at The Mosman Daily.
|
Launching the website
The wraps come off this week. We’re ready to make any improvements based on your feedback. (Email us anytime.)
You may be interested to know how the website was built.
We chose Textpattern, an open-source publishing tool, to power the project. Textpattern holds all content in a database, allowing for automatic archiving and cross-referencing. It outputs this content in clean accessible XHTML.
We commissioned freelance developer Michael Manfre to write the plugins to enable community log ins and submissions. Users are presented with simple forms to add their stories and photos, and given 7 days to edit their work, before it is sent to the moderation queue. A Librarian then publishes the story to the site.
Michael’s excellent work is now available to others who use the Textpattern system. We liked the fact that an ‘open source’ memory bank for Mosman was driven by ‘open source’ software.
The website’s design and deployment was handled inhouse at Mosman Library, led by Local Studies Librarian Ms Donna Braye and Mosman Council’s Internet Coordinator. The logo is by Kasia Froncek and the icons are courtesy Mark James.
|