Saturday, April 2, 2011

Snapshots, Adelaide

A photo I took last October. I didn't have much else to do in Adelaide than walk around the city for hours on end, which suited me just fine. I wandered down lots of small streets and found some lovely little buildings. This small shop is on Compton St, just near the Central Markets.

I was struck by this shop and it had a reassuring small blue plaque. The plaque reads
This small building was originally built as a house by Edward Moore in 1817. A shopfront was added by the next owner, baker Matthew Madge, in 1898-99. Bert Edwards, one of Adelaide's most colourful and notable citizens, opened a tea room here in 1913. It was immensely popular, particularly on Friday nights when the rear of the shop was used for playing the then illegal game of two-up.
I think I like that last use the best. And I am guessing that at some point it had something to do with the Metropolitan Saw Works, though that sounds like a very big thing for such a small shop.



2 comments:

  1. It seems like the City of Churches didn't have total control over the citizens' behaviour :) Not that two-up was so immoral, but I suppose it was made illegal for a reason. Possibly because the police knew where the two-up schools were and took bribes to not close them down!

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  2. That shop front looks adorable - I love a bit of history in places you wouldn't necessarily expect to find it.

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