Ghost signs in other languages

 

The multicultural nature of the city of Moreland is evident everywhere, as is the rapid rate of change sweeping across this city. But to have all of this evident in a 50 metre stretch of road is surely remarkable.

The first tram of the day

 

Yesterday I was out and about even before the first number 96 came trundling up Nicholson Street from the depot. I was parked alongside a church hall, having claimed prime spot for the political banner I was tasked to set up.  Yesterday was federal election day and the culmination of months of campaigning and preparation.

I needn’t have been out quite so early. Only in the hotly contested seat of Melbourne were the political volunteers out as early as possible to get the plum spots on the school fences, the church hall gates and even the trees and bushes. Many people slept in their cars to guard their posters. It was, as it turns out, worth the effort.

However, Wills was not a battleground. The other parties turned up just an hour before the gates opened to the voters. They were a bit surprised to see me, but there was fence space enough for all.

One compensation for my early morning vigil was watching the first trams, and seeing the early morning sunshine on this beautiful Art Deco building on the opposite street corner.

 

Is ghost sign spotting a crime?

I don’t think a phalanx of police on horseback will come charging down Sydney Road to prevent me photographing ghost signs. No, that is not what I mean.

“Was sind das fuer Zeiten, wo ein Gespraech ueber Baeume fast ein Verbrechen ist weil es ein Schweigen ueber so viele Untaten einschliesst.” (Bertolt Brecht, An die Nachgeborenen)

( What times are these, when a conversation about trees is almost a crime, as it implies silence about so many horrors! )

The shirt on your back

Vintage shirts at Phillips Shirts Melbourne

One of the many things I love about Brunswick is the heritage of the Clothing and Textile industry. Like many other people, I grieve the loss of this sector. It is great that there are some local revivals of this tradition, such as the Olive Grove Studios and Otto and Spike. But as far as I know, there is little public documentation or celebration of the history of the garment manufacture industry in Brunswick.

Another ghost sign

“What are you looking at? Is there something wrong?” asked the lady. I suppose I cut a strange figure, standing in a laneway peering into the mid-distance. I explained I was trying to decipher the lettering above the side doorway to the factory. I could make out COO but was struggling with the other letters. “Oh that was Sidney Cooke Fasteners” she said, blithely. “And before that it was a woodshed. Now it is a dry cleaning factory.” And in the future it will be a massive apartment complex, I thought.

“My parents live just here, have done for the past sixty years and so we know. Yes, it used to be a wood yard.”

Winter solstice

“Ich geh mit meiner Laterne, und meine Laterne mit mir..”

This lovely children’s song is traditionally sung at the lantern parade on St Martin’s Day in Germany. In the dark November evening, children clutching their school made lanterns walk along narrow cobbled streets behind a man riding a white horse. He represents the fourth century figure Martin of Tours, the Roman soldier who became a convert to Christianity and reluctantly became a bishop after his whereabouts were betrayed by the loud cackling of geese. Tonight I was reminded of this custom when Brunswick South Primary School held a Winter Solstice festival.

Sydney Road Fabric Shops

 

A few months ago I did a little stroll along Sydney Road with an old friend. Whilst I thought she would like the bookshops and the mediterranean food, I did not realise she would be enthused by the row of fabric shops which extends from the Glenlyon to Albion Street corners. She bought several lengths of fabric and I have not caught up with her since to see whether they have become beautiful garments.