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Benjamin Fuller operated many companies (one of them being Brennan & Fuller Circuit") presenting first-class vaudeville, revue, pantomime, melodrama, operetta, and film. At the height of his career, he had 40 separate companies. He, and to a lesser extent his brother John, was the important entrepreneur of John Fuller and Sons. He was its general manager from 1901 onwards and came to Sydney in 1912 taking over the Brennan Vaudeville Circuit. The Depression in 1929 impacted the theatrical business and the two brothers split Fullers' Theatres Ltd in 1934. In 1941 they went into partnership with Garnet H. Carroll forming after the war the Carroll-Fuller Theatres. The Fullers owned many theatres and had eclectic tastes in entertainment which included showing movies from 1922. Source: catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/346367

(1906-1912) Between 1906 and 1911 James Brennan (Brennan’s Vaudeville Entertainers) operated a circuit comprising Sydney (National Amphitheatre) and Melbourne (Gaiety Theatre). He began sending companies to other interstate capitals in 1911, and the following year floated the business as a public company (Brennan’s Amphitheatres Ltd). He over-reached his financial reserves in 1912, however, after building a new Melbourne theatre, and was forced soon afterwards to sell his interest in the company to the Fullers. The circuit operated as Brennan-Fuller until 1915, by which time its former owner’s name was dropped. Source: ozvta.com/organisations-a-l/

The Lathouras brothers—Jim, Jack, Mick, and Mark—opened the Café Royal and the Elite Café on the main street of Bundaberg in 1920. At that time, the Londy family’s Blue Bird Café and Harry Lewis’s Marble Café also traded in Bourbong Street. Greek shopkeeping was a widespread phenomenon. Greek cafés of the period were elegant shops with silky oak furniture, marble bars and mirrored back bars, monogrammed crockery, and gleaming soda fountains. Lathouras Bros sold icy-cold fruit drinks, sodas, and ice cream sundaes. In addition, they specialized in making confectionery for sale through both shops—rocky road, jellies, coconut rough, and a nougat and marshmallow creation called a Rocket—and Jim sold homemade ice cream from a horse-drawn cart. Beginning with light refreshments, the menu at the Royal and the Elite soon expanded to include roasts, mixed grills, fish dinners, steaks and the like. Everything was freshly made. If some Greek migrants spent a lifetime behind a counter in a country café, many of their descendants gravitated to Brisbane. Greek café stories now reside with people like Goldie Lathouras, whose father Mick came to Australia at the age of ten and ran the Elite Café until his death in 1957. Goldie vividly recalls the Easter eggs her father created. An enormous sugar egg had pride of place in the front window in the weeks leading up to Easter. It had a wristwatch on top—ladies’ one year, gents’ the next—and was raffled to raise money for the ambulance service. Mick also made personalized chocolate eggs and sugar eggs with the name of the lucky recipient on top. These eggs contained lollies, a toy, a watch, a necklace, or some other treat supplied by the customer. Source: greekcafesinbrisbane.wordpress.com/2018/02/18/lathouras-b... Under Goldie’s influence, the Lathouras family has been active throughout this project in documenting the Lathouras Bros story. On their behalf, Goldie lodged a significant collection of café artefacts with the John Oxley Library. Crockery emblazoned with café logos, silver teapots and coffeepots, docket books and photographs, sundae dishes and lolly packets help to tell the story of the Café Royal and the Elite Café. Along with an illustrated booklet, which was written by Goldie and designed by fourth-generation Lathourases, Theo and Melissa, these precious objects tell the story of the Lathouras family, who had cafés in the main street of Bundaberg from the early 1920s to the late 1970s.

How it Started The RNA has a rich history stemming back to 1875 when a group of colonists joined together to encourage the development of Queensland’s primary industries. Leading members of the colonial society formed the first RNA Council, under the presidency of Governor Sir William Cairns, with most of the 35 members pastoralists and merchants. The RNA Council immediately committed itself to organising the very first exhibition for Brisbane - from calling for tenders for the initial building to meeting with the Premier of Queensland to establish a public holiday on opening day. The result was the Intercolonial Exhibition of 1876 - the largest event to be held in the state up to that point. The RNA, along with the exhibition, continued to expand and grow in popularity, and in 1921, the association was granted the prefix ‘Royal’ under warrant from His Majesty King George V. Since then, the shortened name ‘Ekka’ has replaced ‘Exhibition’ in the Queensland vernacular. Since 1876 the Ekka has continued to grow in popularity and size, remaining one of the most anticipated yearly events. It has been held annually at the Brisbane Showgrounds since its inception except for four instances – in 1919 at the height of the Spanish influenza epidemic, in 1942 during World War II when the grounds were used as a staging depot for troops and most recently in 2020 and 2021 due to the worldwide coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Source: www.ekka.com.au/media/6493/ekka-media-kit-history.pdf