The Collection
The Surrey Hills Heritage Collection
The Surrey Hills Heritage Collection is a significant collection, which includes photos, documents, memorabilia, advertisements and ephemera relating to the history of Surrey Hills and Mont Albert.
This collection has now been transferred to the Surrey Hills Historical Society.
Surrey Hills Historical Society Inc
The Society now has its own separate website. For information about the Surrey Hills Historical Society and the Surrey Hills Heritage Collection, please visit surreyhillshistoricalsociety.org.au
A very young looking Henry Jamieson outside his shop at 149 Union Road, which in 2015 is the site of Union Tree Thai Café.
Photographer – Ken T Hall
Mr Arthur Metzenthen’s confectionery shop, 126 Union Road, 1933
“As a family we lived behind and above the actual shop, enjoying a large backyard, ideal for playing cricket, from 1927-1942. Arthur ‘Metz’ as he was always known by, is behind the counter, ice-cream cone in hand ready to serve ice-cream. The certificates, behind the jars of sweets, were awarded to him for Professionally Dressed Window Displays when Empire Day was celebrated – [it was] dressed by chocolate manufacturers. I know that Cadbury’s was one. You will also notice an advertisement for Peters ‘Fuzz’, [it was] yellow in colour and a slightly different texture from ice-cream. It was not one of Peters’ success stories but was a favourite for many years. Arthur and Elsie made their own flavoured ice blocks until the advent of the icy pole. A range of flavourings for his well-known spiders and malted milk drinks can be seen in front of the mirror. You will also notice a hot water urn for making tea and coffee, also an advertisement for Guests biscuits – a few tins on the shelf. These were served, using brown china crockery on glass topped tables (out of the picture on left side).
Other items of interest are paper bags, peanuts, snowballs and large clocks of chocolate, scales and the cash register known as a ‘till’. A ‘halfpenny’ and ‘penny’ trays were kept in the glass display cabinet next to the refrigerator and were the children’s favourite way to spend their pocket money …”
Peters Ice-Cream was founded by Frederick Augustus Bolles Peters (1866-1937) and dates back to 1907. Peters was an American, who initially lost money in Australia, but spurred on by homesickness and craving ice-cream (which was not readily available here), he leased two rooms in an ice factory in Paddington, Sydney and set up Peters’ American Delicacy Co. Ltd on 27 August 1907. He set up a factory in Victoria in 1927.