My apologies for such a long delay in replying to you. I had to put this blog on the back burner over the last couple of years with too much else going on.

But wow, that is really cool to hear that your grandfather delivered ice via a horse and cart (excuse the pun!). I believe there was an ice works in the area. Would love to know more about that.

Yes you can still buy ice in Bondi…but you have to roll up to a petrol station and purchase it there…and it probably costs a lot more than anywhere else!

Thanks for joining the banter!

bondimermaid 🙂

I recall al the places you have mentioned so I think we must be around the same age. And I was also a Dover girl.

Thanks for contributing here. Apologies for this very late reply. Have been juggling way too much in the last few months.

I really miss the Gelato Bar….and so many other things. It’s really a VERY different place now.

bondimermaid 🙂

Am just catching up on your comments here. Apologies I’ve not been on top of checking into the blog this last year…re too much been going on with pandemic and other projects…one special Bondi project, will share more soon.

Funny that Colin Cool remembers you too….living in Bondi was such a ‘small world’ thing.

As for Ya Habibi’s…my other half and I announced our engagement at a dinner there with friends – in the 1990s!

Re your ‘ramble’ above….I LOVE all the rich history you’ve shared there, thank you…I remember Cliff Pime very well, because that was our local petrol station…my dad was loyal to Cliff, and I called him “Uncle Cliff!”

Have you seen Curlewis Street recently?

bondimermaid 🙂

I did some repairs myself but major jobs were fixed by Cliff Pime who had the Mercury Service Station opposite the shop in Curlerwiss St. Mr Axell also did some repairs at his ‘Broadway Garage’ on the corner of Birriga Rd and O’sullivan Rd.

Robi Fekete who was an apprentice to Mr Axell took over the Broadway Garage from the latter, worked his entire life in the one place and retired a few years ago – the garage is now owned by Paul Stewart who runs the place under his own name and I still have some service done there.

(I eventually had 2 shops in Curlewis St – firstly on the right end of the building and later on the corner of Wellington St when the people who ran a Deli there decided to close up. I later moved my business to Bondi Rd (opposite Penkiville St – that latter shop had been an electrical store before my arrival – I joined with a guy named Jack Stein Who had a Hi-Fi store in the city to sell audio gear alongside my reconditioned refrigerators and washing machines etc, but the Hi-Fi gear didn’t take off …. well we tried.

There was another electrical shop in Bondi Rd for a while – I think it was called ‘Swindells Radio’, another one in Hall St and Sheldon’s Of Bondi – electrical and homeware / crockery, gifts and Driving School etc. in Curlewiss St near Gould St – Vic Sheldon moved the business started by his parents in the 1950’s, into a larger shop a few doors up and then to Old South Hd Rd, Rose Bay and eventually closed up about 30? years ago. His wife still lives in Diamond Bay.

I also remember some other electrical shops in the Bondi / Junction area including Virginia Radio, Fiala Electric (Arnold Fiala) and Electro Centre run by Mr Fiala and his former partner Mr Philips from the 1950’s I think – all these businesses were in Oxford St Bondi Junction. There were others too and a few hardware stores. There was a few electrical shops around ‘Six Ways’ Bondi Beach – ‘Six Ways Electrical’ (Nathan Rosenfeld) in Glenayre Ave and another one next to Carmel Cakes in O’Brien St John Hans Last – these 2 closed in Bondi around 1963 and joined to form Advance Electrical at 220 William St Kings Cross – now a gift and book shop.

Other electrical shops were Gardiner and Richardson in Glenayre Ave – I think they specialised also in servicing XRay equipment and another one in Hall St between Jaques Ave and Campbell Pde between Kremers Fabrics and the milk bar on the corner. A Mr. Cohne had a menswear shop at that bottom end of Hall St and there was another men’s shop run by Bill McNiece opposite the Post Office. As I write this I recall more and more businesses including the Post Office Pharmacy on the corner of Jaques Ave and Hall St, and the old hardware store on the corner of Gould St – started about 1935 I was told. Trevor Franke had a refrigeration shop on Cambell Pde and later moved to a sop on the corner of Hall, Gould St and Gould Lane – it was previously a butchers shop and later rebuilt for the ANZ bank, then rebuilt again with apartments above – the bank returned following reconstruction but has now closed so the place is vacant, as is Westpac, St George and the Commonwealth banks – the latter moved to a smaller premise on Campbell Pde a few years ago – I wonder how long it will remain?

So Hall St once had around 3 hardware stores, 2-3 shoe shops, 2 menswear shops etc, etc – now all gone – what have I forgotten?

Back to my van and the radio – The 2 way was linked to a private investigator friend – Richard Fitzgerald – who ran a telephone answering service for me before mobile phones were readily available and I helped him on his jobs using my van – so I also became licensed as a Private Inquiry Agent, sub-licensed to Richard Fitzgerald.

I wrote ‘readily available’ but most people would not be aware that car phones linked to the telephone system were first available in Sydney from 1948 – run by the PMG (Government PostMaster General which ran postal and ‘phone services as a monopoly – however, this service was not automatic dialing – had to be used via an operator + very, very expensive to buy and run and very rare – only 200 in Sydney and similar in Melbourne – long waiting list.

The first Automatic car only system run by the government became available in 1980-81 and cost $6000.00 to buy – a briefcase-size main unit in the car boot + a drivers handset – for around $1000.00 PA to rent + around $1000,00 for ‘connection’ + very expensive call costs – there were only 6000 available in Sydney and similar in Melbourne – it was a cellular system but only around 5 cells for the whole city – the local aerial was on the tower at the corner of Birrel St and Council St, the next one being at Pitt St in the city and then for the western suburbs in Homebush Bay. Compare that system to today’s system – antennas every few blocks + cheap, tiny hand-held mobile ‘phones for under a hundred dollars and low-cost calls!

That’s enough for one ramble through time – Cheers all, Stuart

(Next door to my shop in Curlewiss St was a Butcher shop (Mr Kosh) which later became a doctors surgery – recently the shop was demolished and during excavations on the site the house next door partially collapsed.)