bolands

Up the Dubs....

Streetview

Niall McAuley I see the missing Lions head is back in place.

If that's a Ford Corsair outside Walden's and it's 1964, then that car is brand-new - they were launched the previous year. I can't make out what's inside the showroom, but it's probably another Corsair.

I remember TV aerials everywhere.

Read more about this image on the John Oxley Library blog blogs.slq.qld.gov.au/jol/?p=10357

The Boland’s Centre has direct associations with Michael Boland and his family, who built it and managed it for many years. Michael Boland was an early and important entrepreneur who established a large, long-lived commercial empire in Cairns and became one of the community's leading citizens. The Boland’s Centre is a rare surviving Far North Queensland example of a large, pre-World War I department store. Department stores were established in Brisbane and the main provincial centres of Queensland, including Cairns, but the Boland’s Centre is the only example in Far North Queensland. Although remodelled on its lower floors, its facade remains intact, elements of the original ceilings survive, and the top floor, with associated elevator machinery, has remained undeveloped. It is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of large department stores of the pre-World War I period. Its size and ornate detailing reflect the social aspirations and entrepreneurial strategies of the business elite who built such stores, while the surviving internal elements, particularly the undeveloped top floor and elevator, demonstrate the layout, design principles and technology employed. The Boland’s Centre is also associated with work of Edward Gregory Waters, a prominent Cairns architect who designed the building and was responsible for several important structures within the city. The building has aesthetic value due to the height, scale, and the detailing of the facade, which is largely intact. The facade is of cast concrete executed in an ornate style, based an eclectic mix of Classical and other design elements, which projects an imposing, elegant presence on the streetscape. The place has social significance as an iconic landmark due to its size, aesthetic appeal, and longevity within the streetscape of Cairns, and the role it has played in the business life of Far North Queensland. Source: lgaqld.applynow.net.au/jobs/PEAK380-manager-boland-s-centre

Welcome back! Have a Streetview

Niall McAuley Why thank you! Don't mind if I do...

Welcome back Carol, I was thinking of you when I saw the earthquakes in Bologna, I hope you were not too badly rattled in the process? Nice return to the scene and believe me you have been missed. I like this for the curiosities on display, the sign for the Pickwick pen by McNiven and Cameron overhead see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macniven_and_Cameron. There is also the number over the second part of the shot with the number 11-1/2. Just up the road in Dorset Street Upper near the junction with Blessington St was a shop number 123-1/2, I was always amused to see it and when development removed it I thought it a pity they did not retain it. I note that the headlines refer to a "Balkan War" but there did not appear to be a crisis in 1905 but there was one in 1908 and of course there was a little dispute in 1914 that led to a slightly larger dispute. "Bosnian Crisis 1908-09 Each succeeding international crisis from 1905 to 1913 threatened the security of all the powers and thus increased the hostility between the rival camps. If a war broke out in Europe, it would naturally become an international war involving all the powers.#"

Swordscookie Thanks, and no, we'd moved on to Rome by time of second quake! They are beautiful nibs, and you're right, the 11-1/2 is gorgeus, isn't it? Don't think we've come across that in any of our photos yet. I did try some of the headlines that I could make out in our online newspapers for dating purposes but couldn't find any exact matches...

I wonder if the Premier's trenchant speech referenced in the Weekly Freeman is Asquith in Dublin in July 1912?