A peek under the floorboards at the everyday life of a 1960s student at a Wellington school

What a fabulous bit of ephemera, discovered by vandals uncovering floorboards in an Addams Family-looking Victorian school in Wellington, New Zealand (apparently where Peter Jackson filmed part of The Frighteners). Uncovered was the everyday remains of a 1960s student's eating, living and studying habits.

Thank you DARIAN ZAM for posting it to this blog last year - have only just noticed it.

https://longwhitekid.wordpress.com/2013/06/16/the-shelf-life-of-reilly/

Brunswick - a great old milk bar, plus some other locals

I've been traipsing in and around Brunswick a bit of late, and in doing so have stumbled on a few ghost sign finds along the way.

Firstly, a former milk bar in the back streets of Brunswick East:

You can just make out some signs at the top....

What's hiding under there?

Robur Tea!

 

 

And speaking of Robur Tea, last week I revisited the Robur roof near Melville Road, West Brunswick for some more shots. Up close it looks like this:

Notice the other faint ghost signs up the top too:

But when you walk further down the street, the message becomes clearer:

Here's a view from the back, showing another Robur sign:

Around the corner, a few other motley signs:

Bad time of day to take a pic, sorry

Further down Melville Road, there's this:

And in the back streets nearby:

Lastly, a hint of something elaborate on a wall in upper Lygon Street:

RIP to the old Majorca general store in regional Victoria, with its ghost sign

This week the old general store in the former Victorian gold mining town of Majorca (now a ghost town) burnt down. What a shame. One of the few reminders of a past boom time that used to include 250 shops. Here's a pic from the Lost Maryborough Facebook page:

And here's some video of the fire on Facebook, courtesy of local journalist Caleb Cluff:


https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10153364720301913

Great online article in the Star Tribune about local ghost signs from Minneapolis & St Paul, USA

Thanks Sam Roberts for passing this on:

http://www.startribune.com/streetscapes-ghost-signs-reveal-past-almost-imperceptibly/303905901/

Superb old shops in East Malvern

Earlier this week I had an appointment at the Monash University campus in Caulfield. I was early, so parked across the road and went for a walk down and around Waverley Road. The walk started promisingly....

....and then got really good. As in this great old deli/butcher's shop, preserved by the current occupants. They've taken the trouble to build in the old windows (one of which looked like it was hit by a bullet):

And down the road, a brilliant old grocery (was taking the pics into the light, so excuse the poor quality pics):

And as a coda, here's another one across the road:

A few signs from Middle Park and Albert Park

This week I managed to get a few minutes en route from Caulfield back to Footscray...here are a few signs I encountered in Middle Park and Albert Park.

From the Middle Park shops:

Is that a Robur Tea sign?...

Albert Park shops:

 

And up the road:

Carlton beer and Velvet soap...different times, differing priorities...

...and still visible from a way away.