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others including a truck-driver, a well- GLOBES
loved character named “Dingy” Bell
who delivered weekly supplies of
detergents, toilet-rolls, spare light-bulbs
and everything else needed to clean and The signs were certainly striking and
service all of Hoyt’s suburban cinemas. fitted in well with the architecture of
the building, but there were problems
At the time I was a Hoyts’ relief- with maintenance.
assistant and worked with the crew as
a casual to make extra money. This was In the short-term, the light bulbs had a
how I came to work on the new signs relatively short life and replacing them was
for the Victory in 1949. difficult. I heard a story about one of the
managers leaning out of his office window
The signs were fabricated in a metal to replace blown bulbs within his reach!
workshop in Guilford Lane near the old
Argus Newspaper building in the city. In the longer-term there were problems
The main bodies of the two signs had with weathering, especially with the
been completed when I started. They Victory’s proximity to the beach and
were enormous, and my job was to fit the sea air. Over the years, corrosion,
the light fittings around the edges and among other things, contributed to the
inside the letters – H O Y T S. end to their working life.
The sign on the Carlisle Street side
They were screwed on with self- was removed sometime in the early
tapping screws – there were hundreds seventies. The remaining sign on Barkly
of them. I didn’t count them, but using Street was stripped of its fittings and
photographs of signs after they were letters and converted to carry the name
installed - there were approximately of the National Theatre. The project
230 bulbs on each sign - 460 in all!
of replacing the two Claude Neon signs
was certainly a one-off making the
The wiring and the switching used replacements unique to the Victory.
to animate the sign at night was very
complicated and a tribute to the skill For some years, I was able to look up with
of the electricians who built them.
pleasure at the flashing lights whenever
I walked down Carlisle Street at night.
Unfortunately, I was working But with the coming of television and
interstate when the two signs were the progressive demise of the Hoyts
installed on the St.Kilda Victory suburban cinema network, we lost not
sometime in late 1949 or early 1950. only those and all of the iconic Claude
There must have been some media Neon signs that once lit up
coverage of the event, and I would the suburbs of Melbourne.
be interested to hear from any reader
who knows of articles or photographs “H.O.Y.T.S – HOYTS” of NOW
published at the time.
fond memories. +

CINEMAREC ORD 2012 29