Figure 1.--
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Figure 1.-- |
John Martins was the big major department store mostly in Adelaide, but all over Australia until David Jones acquired it in the late 1980s and stripped it of the famous John Martin's Christmas Parade'(around since 1933). They changed the sihns on all of the stores in 1999. The beautiful old world six story building was totally torn down in 1995 or there abouts and replaced with a newer modern "Dogbox' building which is David Jones and sells exclusive boys and other family fashions for women, girls, and men just as John Martins did. An Australian reader believes that "Johnnies" did it better with good old fashion mano y mano personalized service". This store is really a modern store selling everything a store like Macy's do in the United States. Harris-Scarfe is another Adelaide icon and has been around just as long as the former John Martin's department stores. They sell boys clothes and of good quality too.
Australia, like Britain had coop stores. A British reader in Australia writes, "I have recollections of Mum buying my
school uniforms through a co-op in the UK. You could also buy your food and groceries through there as well, but obviously a different
department. It was only recently here in Adelaide that a School uniform Co-op has just closed down, maybe in the last 5 or 6 years. Their demise came about from most of the private schools taking on board the stocking and selling of their own uniforms. This particular shop offered uniforms much cheaper than the department stores because it was run by a group of parents who became frustrated at the high prices of school uniforms. They managed to cover pretty well most of the private schools as well as the generic uniforms (grey trousers/shorts, all coloured shirts etc) for the state schools."
Harris-Scarfe is another Adelaide icon and has been around just as long as the former John Martin's department stores. They sell boys clothes and of good quality too.
David Jones is really a modern store selling everything a store like Macy's do in the United States.
John Martins was the big major department store mostly in Adelaide, but all over Australia until David Jones acquired it in the late 1980s and stripped it of the famous John Martin's Christmas Parade'(around since 1933). They changed the sihns on all of the stores in 1999. The beautiful old world six story building was totally torn down in 1995 or there abouts and replaced with a newer modern "Dogbox' building which is David Jones and sells exclusive boys and other family fashions for women, girls, and men just as John Martins did. An Australian reader believes that "Johnnies" did it better with good old fashion mano y mano personalized service". An Australian reader tells us that my grandmother helped select my first school uniform whilst shopping in Johnnies to get some idea's of what a smart dressed little tacker should wear and dressed to the nines too. Once with her idea for what her boy grand children should wear she would talk to her daughters to accertain what the little boys were to be resplendered and a short trip to Prests or Eudunda Farmer's Department Stores would result in me being put into a toffee boy prep school grey short trousers uniform. Of course this included a blue peaked cap too. I remember walking around Mary Ellen street shopping till we dropped getting junior (me) outfitted in his preppy attire which of course this junior hated at first. There were also short pants suits, short sets, long leg toffeeboy white shorts with matching kneesock as well as more shorts for playa nd summer. There were better quality shorts for church as well as footy shorts. Then it was off to the barbers for a really bare look short back and sides haor cut. I remember getting black shoes and kneesocks for my school uniform. Nanna once spotted a mannican boy looked good to her eyes and next thing I'm wearing the mannican's outfit which was a light blue short sleeved shirt, white shorts, and white kneesocks with a blue and white polkadot tie and tennis shoes and scottish looking jacket with those cross straps braces to keep up my shorts. I was about 5 years old at the time."
The only Australian store we know of at this time is Paterson, Laing & Bruce Ltd. We do not know a great deal about the store, but have an advertisement from 1938. The store was located on York Street in Sydney.
Am Australian reader writes, "We received news in 2003 of the death of one of Australia's icons. His name is R.M.Williams. He started an empire in men's clothing (later with women's clothing) back in the 1930s. I do believe there are branches in America, so you may have heard of him. I have included a couple of photo's for you to look at, and the story from the paper that ran the article (The Advertiser). He was born in 1910 and died in 2003 at the age of 93. This then puts the photograph taken of him at 15 years old, at 1925. It's interesting to note that all the apprentices in the photograph are all wearing short trouser suits bar one. I wonder how many boys today would wear such an outfit at 15 years old, especially when you have left school and have started work?"
The two stores in Port Pirie were in buildings about two and three stories in height but old and wonderful in design.
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