The record for this image of the Black Cat cafe on Brunswick St does not specify an accurate creation date, so can anyone identify it based on the interior? According to Museum Victoria, it holds a collection of over 250 items related to the history of the Black Cat, which opened in 1982, closed in 2001, and reopened soon after. It continues to be a popular cafe and bar today.
Courtesy of SLV / ID: H2009.52/224 / photographer: Phillip Rogers / copyright: used under the fair dealings provisions of the Copyright Act 1968 / c1970-1996
I emailed the Museum on 22 August asking if items from the Black Cat collection have been digitised and if any of it is accessible. I have not received a response. Typical inept government bureaucracy.
It was with some bemusement therefore to see the Museum tweeting about my previous post about the history of the butcher’s shop on Brunswick St that is now Largo, which used images from their collection.
Having a social media strategy does not compensate for failing to acknowledge and respond to correspondence. What’s the point of trying to engage with your audience when you ignore them when they try to engage with you?
25 September 2010 at 2:46 pm
I like that image. It almost looks like the same flooring, only faded now. Museums are painful to deal with almost anywhere, I had some ridiculous back and forth with the V&A in London over images I wanted to publish, often a month between emails. Others are much better, the British Museum is making an effort to put its collection online where it can be freely downloaded and freely used for almost any not-for-profit publishing.
I haven’t really had dealings with the Melbourne Museum but it does not surprise me that they seem to have no strategy in place for dealing with people who want to view their collection not on ready display.
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9 February 2011 at 11:19 pm
After living in Fitzroy for around ten years during the nineties, I frequented The Black Cat most mornings for my sabatitical coffee to cure a post eve hangover. The scene in the front door is very familiar. The decor to is familar. The date is not but I would say late eighties to early nineties. The cafe had changed hands by the late nineties and alcohol was served with more frequency. I still remember the classic picture of James Brown and cute staff hanging from the walls. Long live The Black Cats soy banana smoothie circa 1993….
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21 June 2011 at 7:20 am
Saw ‘Essendon Airport’ upstairs in ’81 or ’82. Good memories.
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