Royal Easter Show Flashback: 1995

This week, The Royal Easter Show was to have commenced at Sydney Olympic Park, but will not proceed in 2020 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The last time a Royal Easter Show did not proceed was in 1919 due to a global pandemic of Spanish Flu.

Despite its cancellation, I will proceed with my annual posting of the Easter Show as it was 25 years ago. This year, the focus is on 1995. However, the coverage by newspapers was disappointing even with their preview guides. Normally they would give you great information about the Easter Show as it happens each year (including statistics on attendance etc), but this was one year of disappointment.

Above: Easter Show advertisements focused on a certain theme each day with a highlights schedule included.

Source: Royal Agricultural Society of NSW. 1995. "Untitled" (Advertisement). The Daily Telegraph Mirror, April 8:  15. 

Dates: April 7 - April 18, 1995

Admission & Transport:

Admission Prices:

Adults - $13

Children - $7

Concession - $10

Showlink tickets were available combining a return rail fare with show entry. Free shuttle buses also ferried showgoers from the city to connect with CBD rail and bus services. 

There was an opening day special of $7 entry ($8 for Showlink tickets).

Had the Easter Show proceeded as planned in 2020, it would have cost $43.50 for adults if purchased at the gate, $27.50 for Children and $28 for concession. However, discounts were to be applied if purchased online or at a Woolworths Supermarket. Public transport was also included. For an adult, assume it will cost around $10-$15 for transport to and from Sydney Olympic Park. Tourism operators were also selling tickets.

Highlights

• Exhibition of the Countrylink X2000 tilt train which was used for a trial period on the Sydney-Canberra XPT service. . 
• The Yellow Brick Road walk - $6 bought a calico bag that would be filled up with food items from different exhibitors.
• Batman spectacular each evening
• David Russell Stunt Riding (Main Arena)

Source: Countrylink. 1995. "Catch the train of tomorrow at today's Royal Easter Show" (Advertisement). The Daily Telegraph Mirror, April 5: 4 (Royal Easter Show Supplement)

Showbags

Showbags were on sale from $2 through to $10.  Had the show gone ahead in 2020, 355 showbags would have been on offer (down from 358 in 2019). 

Below is an assortment of Showbag advertisements which was one element not overlooked by the newspapers. This was your ultimate guide to what was available. Fortunately, these days, we can inspect show bags online several weeks before the show begins and see featured items. Advertising of showbags in the preview guide has been scaled back as a result in recent years.

Coca Cola

Mega Bags - Compared with 1994, they went for a smaller commercial in the preview guide.

Candy World - I am of the view that their showbags were better back in the 1990s than now. Check out the Pepsi duffle bag for $8.50 (up $1.50 from 1994)

Triple M Showbag

Nestle kept it simple.

Source: Nestle. 1995. "Nestle: The King of Showbags". The Daily Telegraph, April x: xx. 

Bensons however didn't list the contents of their bags in their advertisement.

Property Advert of the Week: Mornington, Bondi (1971)

The unit complex at 3 Campbell Street, Bondi is very noticeable on the landscape at the southern end of Bondi Beach. $35 000 bought you an apartment with "million dollar views" which certainly lives up to it five decades later.

Source: Home Units Pty. Ltd. 1971. "South Bondi headland:" (Advertisement). The Daily Telegraph, January 2: 27.

1995: David Jones abandons Antiques

Older readers might remember when it was possible to buy antiques at David Jones. In 1995, they made a decision to pull out of the antiques business. The reason was due to customer preferences but also changes to tax laws.

Source: Lamont, M. 1995. "Antiques are now becoming a thing of the past for David Jones". The Sydney Morning Herald, April 7: 5.

The article refers to "target marketing" where department stores focus on providing products that consumers would expect out of a department store. In the 1990's the focus was on fashion, entertainment and homewares. 

In the past decade, the focus has narrowed further with a greater focus on fashion. This has come at the expense of other departments, which have either shrunk or been eliminated altogether. Could this be one factor contributing to their difficulty to compete with other speciality stores and online retailers?

Property Advert of the Week: Tralee Estate, Old Toongabbie (1969)

Below is a Stocks and Holdings Advertisement from 1969 promoting house and land packages in the Tralee Estate at Old Toongabbie.

Source: Stocks and Holdings Projects. 1969. "From $1000 and the key is yours" (Advertisement). The Daily Telegraph, June 21: 29.

1962: Double Decker Carriages

Sydney's Tulloch carriages were the first double decker carriages to operate in 1964 on the rail network. They could also be integrated with the "red rattler" carriages.

A train comprising of only double decker carriages was still a decade away when this article about double decker trains was published in The Sun Herald in 1962. The first Tulloch carriages were intended to be on the rail network in 1963, but had to wait a little longer.

Reporter Bob Johnson visited the workshops at Rhodes and was shown around a concept model. As you read through the article, he presented a positive review of what Sydney rail commuters were expecting. Compared to double decker buses, navigating the stairs to either the upper or lower deck was never going to be a challenge.

And it was seen as addressing overcrowding and capacity constraints on the existing rail network, though studies in recent times suggest single deck trains have lower dwell times and henceforth, more trains can operate.

Most of the article from The Sun Herald (September 30, 1962) can be read below:

Property Advert of the Week: Eastlakes (1965)

I have posted two entries featuring advertisements for homes and apartments at Eastlakes, but recently unearthed this one from 1965.

Source: Parkes Developments Pty. Ltd. 1965. "New Home Units Open for Inspection" The Sun Herald, December 19: 23.

NEVER BUILT SYDNEY: Club Med proposal for the Malabar Headland (1988)

Below is a "never built" proposal by Club Med to build a resort on the Malabar Headland encompassing the site of the ANZAC Rifle Range.

Source: Benns, M. 1988. "Club Med lines up a rifle range...and shooters raise a stink". The Daily Telegraph, April 8: 5. 

Development of the Malabar Headland has arisen from time to time. In 2015, rumours circulated that part of the headland would be redeveloped into housing.
Enable GingerCannot connect to Ginger Check your internet connection
or reload the browserDisable in this text fieldEditEdit in GingerEdit in Ginger×

Property Advert of the Week: Rosedale - Chatswood (1971)

Below is an advertisement from 1971 promoting apartments for sale in the Rosedale complex. It is located at 420-422 Mowbray Road, Chatswood.

While the advertisement is listed as Lane Cove, it is located within the boundaries of Chatswood.

The price of the three bedroom units would equate to approximately $242 500 in todays money according to the RBA inflation calculator.

Source: Progress & Properties Ltd. 1971. Untitled (Advertisement). The Daily Telegraph, June 12: 44.

1965: Possible Combined Terminal at Sydney Airport

I recently located a newspaper report relating to a proposal for a combined International-Domestic Terminal at Sydney Airport along those seen today at Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne and Adelaide Airport.

It appears that the northwestern section of the airport had been selected as the site for the new terminal, where the new International Terminal would be built and opened in 1970.

Below is the article from The Daily Telegraph dated June 8 1965.

On the same page, there were also concerns over the development of the modern facilities at Sydney Airport and that Melbourne's new Tullarmarine Airport would be completed before Sydney Airport. Sydney Airport did open ahead of Tullarmarine airport in 1970.

It would have been interesting had the Federal Government gone for the combined terminal option, especially if extensions had to occur in the years ahead. The space where the International Terminal is located is tight as it is today. Imagine sharing it with the Domestic Terminal.

We could have ended up even with separate terminals for separate airlines as seen in numerous airports. Sydney Airport's layout would have made this challenging.

Interesting to note in the article of a possible rail link to where the Domestic Terminals are located today, which was to be linked to a future eastern suburbs railway line. The Airport Line (2000) would eventually see a station built there along with the international terminal. It linked the city, but instead of serving the eastern suburbs, it serves the western suburbs through a direct connection to the East Hills Railway Line.

And a need for two parallel runways. Only one of them became reality as reflected in the third runway (1994).