Laurie Shipp – a childhood in North Melbourne in the depression years

The following article is based on memoirs that Laurie Shipp completed in 2011. He died in April 2020.

Laurie was born in 1929, the year that Wall Street crashed and set off a worldwide depression. By 1932, the height of the depression, Australia’s unemployment rate was 32 per cent. But Laurie was fortunate that his father, a senior postman and caretaker of Errol Street Post Office, had a secure job and spacious accommodation above his workplace. 

Laurie appears to have enjoyed a childhood with few constraints. He was friends with Jock McPherson, the caretaker of the adjacent Town Hall, who allowed him access to its many rooms and corridors. He used the large hall to successfully try out his first model aeroplane, a small wire and fabric construction driven by a rubber band.

He felt great trepidation when he climbed to the top of the clock tower, having to negotiate steep stairs and ladders in the dimly lit, dusty structure through a series of levels. He aimed to time his climb to avoid the scary, deafening chime of the striking clock. The clockwork was a point of wonder to his young eyes, with huge gears slowly rotating, and levers poised for their next move. The culmination, of course, was to emerge through the trapdoor on to the platform at the top of tower where a superb view unfolded.

He did not have to climb the tower to gain a magnificent view because the windows of his apartment gave a sweeping view from Mount Macedon to Fishermans Bend. It also took in the Flemington Racecourse. Although he could only have been five in 1934, he recalled having an excellent view of Scott and Black landing at Flemington Racecourse after winning the MacRobertson Air Race from England to Australia to celebrate Victoria’s Centenary. The brilliant red aircraft was clearly visible from his front windows as it came in to land.

Laurie was able to access the roof of the building through a high window in the unit passageway that left him free to roam the roofs of the buildings between Queensberry and Raglan streets. He spent many hours on the roof watching the activities at Fishermans Bend government aircraft factory where, during the Second World War, American aircraft were being assembled and tested before operation in the Pacific.

The Town Hall held one of the two large movie theatres in the vicinity. The second was the Loco in Victoria St. A third theatre, the Imperial Palace in Errol St, was destroyed by fire in 1930 and never reopened. Saturday matinees were a feature of Laurie’s week, but on hot days the theatre doors remained open, and he was able to view many free films. 

Laurie recalled that the projection box was a cantilevered shack attached to the inside rear wall of the main hall, with access by a ladder fixed to the wall. Entry was through a trap door in the floor. One night the projectionist fell ill, but with no assistance available, he was forced to keep climbing up and down the ladder in between the showing of slides that were a precursor to the first film. Laurie was called on to help. To give himself time to recover, the projectionist placed fresh slides in the slide transport of the projector every few minutes, and instructed Laurie to count slowly to 30 and keep moving the slide transport from side to side. He could just reach the slide transport by standing on the tips of his toes.

One of the features of life in North Melbourne in the ‘30s was Friday night shopping. A gala atmosphere pervaded Errol St as all shops remained open with lights blazing for the crowds of people moving up and down. Laurie can clearly remember “an old Chinaman” carrying cans of dim sims on each end of a long pole as part of the scene, stopping now and again to sell a few.

One of Errol St’s main attractions was Fitzgerald’s Department Store, and buses used to run regularly from the North Melbourne Railway Station as well as from the General Post Office in central Melbourne. Laurie remembers it as huge, busy, and interesting, particularly at Christmas time when Father Christmas was in attendance. He spent hours watching the little containers on cables being shot off by the salespeople to carry money up to the cashiers on the mezzanine floor and sliding back down the cables again carrying the sales dockets and change.

The family shopped at the Victoria Market with the old family wicker pram (minus hood) and came home with fruit, vegetables, freshly roasted peanuts and, if finances allowed, a live chicken and/or crayfish.

The next-door Mechanics Institute (now the North Melbourne Library) was often used for various functions. During the depression years this provided warmth and shelter for those who could not afford to heat their homes, and it also provided entertainment in the way of billiards. Laurie complained that the noise of the play would often keep him awake at night.

Laurie played football for North Melbourne from 1949 to 1951 and later three seasons for Yallourn in the Latrobe Valley Football League where he worked for many years as an engineer. Although he lived elsewhere, he maintained a close contact with North Melbourne for the rest of his life.

Felicity Jack

Felicity has been a member of the Hotham History Project since it began in 1995.  You can join through the website: hothamhistoryproject.org.au

The Hotham History Project is interested in the stories of the people and places of North and West Melbourne. We are keen to involve people in our activities and meet regularly for walks and talks. We maintain a website that is full of historical interest •