Reading about the administrivia of everyday life in the recent past makes you realise how different life really was. A minimum wage protected by law did not yet exist, although there was already movement in Australia towards this goal, which would be achieved in 1907. This article in the Argus, Tuesday 22 January 1901, p7, describes efforts to form a laundry workers union in Fitzroy to set prices for laundry services and hence laundry wages.…
Monthly archives: October 2009
shopping in Fitzroy – Largo butcher on Brunswick St
Part of the appeal of living in Fitzroy is having everything I need within walking distance. I value having a great diversity of goods and services available in my immediate vicinity and like to support local businesses by buying from them even though they may not be the cheapest provider in town. For me to continue to enjoy the lifestyle enabled by being surrounded by convenience, I must support local businesses. To further this aim, I’m going to write a series of posts about where to get different ingredients in Fitzroy.…
the exhibitionist
Two works in a doorway on Brunswick St by K.
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lunch at Roundhouse Roti on Gertrude St
I’ve walked past the closed door of Roundhouse Roti on many Saturdays, and have wondered if it would ever reopen. I began to wonder if they were open on weekdays (when I am not around) but not on Saturday when I am. I was very surprised last Saturday therefore to see the door open and smell delicious curry flavours wafting out into the street. I went in to investigate and stayed. My roti channai was the perfect lunch – tender chicken and potato in a curry sauce that was just the right amount to be soaked up by the freshly made roti.…
$10,000 art competition for Fitzroy / North Fitzroy residents closes on 8 November
Since reading a vague story about an art competition open to Fitzroy and North Fitzroy artists I have been chasing more details and finally have the information available to report on it. The following is adapted from copy supplied to me by the competition organisers.
The developers of the ROI apartments on Nicholson St in North Fitzroy invite artists to submit paintings in competition for a $10,000 cash prize known as the ROI Art Prize. The competition is open to any artist residing, or represented by a gallery or dealer, in the Fitzroy or Fitzroy North community.…
serious problems with some of Fitzroy’s bakeries
Fitzroy (note that North Fitzroy is considered a separate area in this data) has seven bakeries (that is, premises where baking occurs, not necessarily where baked goods are sold to the public). They are:
- Fatto a Mano (formerly Gertrude Street Organic Bakery), 228 Gertrude St
- NY Bagels, 113 Rose St
- Licata’s Bakery Bar / Cafe (formerly Pane Provinciale, also known as Itza cafe), 402 Brunswick St
- Smith Bakery, 237 Smith St
- Le Gourmet Cakes, 271 Brunswick St
- Smiths Cakes & Aquilana Pasticceria, 297 Smith St
- Babka bakery cafe, 358 Brunswick St
I have recently received the details for all the hygiene inspections carried out on Fitzroy food service businesses, and I posted some of the common reasons for failing an inspection last week.…
Fitzroy history – car repairs on Johnston St
This 1948 photo show the premises of the Melbourne Auto Wreckers at 71-75 Johnston Street Fitzroy. The address is still a car workshop today. It’s interesting how some industries have remained in Fitzroy’s streets while others have long since moved away.
Courtesy of Fitzroy local history photograph collection / ID: 15220 / photographer: unknown / copyright: expired – image is in the public domain / c1948
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SNAFU theatre Saturday Afternoon Soap Opera starts this Saturday on Brunswick St
A new season of local theatre premieres tomorrow on Brunswick St. SNAFU Theatre presents ‘Saturday Afternoon Soap Opera’ at Mirrors Upstairs (Above ShakShek restaurant), 386 – 388 Brunswick St. For more information see their Facebook page, from where I adapted the copy for this post. Saturday Afternoon Soap Opera is a serialised performance with an ongoing plot that develops over each Saturday from a script devised and improvised by the cast. The first performance is on Saturday 31 October and the last on 5 December.…
Porter’s is pink
Porter’s paints on Gertrude St seems to have abandoned it’s sample wall colours and chosen something else. It’s very pink but I like it!
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