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As a small boy in 1925, I used to see his tall performances for the lasses, and a winner for
figure swing down Albert Street, East Mantons, a winner for the ladies and, I reckon,
Melbourne, into Elizabeth Street, Richmond, Mr. Parrish may have kicked a goal also!
where all the good Catholic ladies would hang
out over their front picket fences to receive a At the top of Bourke Street, Sunday nights at
lukewarm smile from His Eminence that the Apollo for the young men and young ladies
brightened their day. No wonder the good was a big deal. A top concert for only one
Archbishop lived to 99 and he also had a soft “deener” (10 cents). On a fateful Sunday night
spot for "The Magpies". in 1939, the manager told us Mr. Menzies'
cheerful bit of news - that Australia was at war
A murder was committed in 1921 at the Wine with good old Adolph!
Saloon of Colin Ross in the Eastern Market and
which was situated at the Little Collins Street From everybody's cheering you'd have thought
entrance. A schoolgirl from Jolimont had been that it was New Year's Eve outside the P.O.
sent to Bennet and Woolcock's butcher shop in However, for a lot of us young coves, a lot of
Swanston Street and on her way home she things were about to undergo a big change.
called into the wine saloon - or was enticed in When the first contingent of 6th Division
there. Her body was found next morning by a Troops left, they made sure they waltzed up
"bottle-o" on his rounds in a cul-de-sac named Bourke Street to the cheering of thousands of
Gun Alley, opposite the Eastern Market - a citizens and an “odd spot” stood out and even
tragic finish for a lovely young lass. Mr. Colin
Ross was found guilty of murder and hanged at
Pentridge in 1922. salacious humour, erotic dancing, ribald
comedy, but it reached an all-time climax when
A Melbourne strongman of world renown, Paul Folies Bergere opened in February 1953. It
Anderson or better known in the 30s as "The actually created a bigger ruckus than the
Young Apollo" pulled a bus up Bourke Street storming of the barricades by the Grand Prix
hill, and later three cars with full loads and demonstrators at Albert Park in 1996.
drivers aboard - WITH HIS TEETH.
When Folies Bergere opened in Melbourne,
Mighty Apollo for many years bought his meat wowsers cried out to heaven that our town
off me in the Victoria Market. One day I asked would be turned into the Barbary Coast of the
him why he chose Bourke Street to perform his world. Street protests and hysterical outbursts
feats of strength and he simply said, "Because threatened the holocaust to come! It all fizzled
it is the most vibrant street in Australia"! out when Mr. Parnell, manager of the Tivoli
invited the Rev. Lyall Dixon and Mrs. Dixon
Any comment on Bourke Strasser without of the Uniting Church to view the show.
giving the dear old Tivoli a gong would be
sacrilegious, for the Tivoli was our special After the performance, the Rev. Dixon stood
favourite for over 100 years. Even so, it faced on the stage, praised the show and the heavenly
its critics in its long history, for nudity, bodies in it (well), and virtually told
Melbourne's wowsers
Tivoli Theatre, 249 Bourke St., Melbourne "to loosen up and fly
right baby"!
The show then went on
to break all Tivoli
records, which just goes
to prove the truth of that
song from South
Pacific: "There is
nothing like a Dame"!
The big stores like
Treadways, Mantons
and Myers vied for the
large slice of the ladies'
buying power and
Manton's Elegant
Fashion House came up
with a bobby-dazzler!
They had singers and
dancers come across
from the Tivoli and, in
early 1940, they had
Negro singer Bob
Parrish - a good looking
hunk from New York to
warble a few songs.
Mr. Parrish was so
successful at Mantons,
that the Dining Hall was
packed for Bob's

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