A quiet Sunday, Brisbane, 1954, out front of the fruit shop and milk bar… when cousin Tony came to visit from Melbourne and everyone met there for photos since, at this time, Nonno Anni kept it open from 7am until 10pm, 363 days a year.
It makes me smile to see them all then – Bisnonno Vitale, Granny Maddalena, my dad as a young boy in his best clothes, great-uncle, Vince, Nanna Francesca still in her 20s, Nonno Anni in his work vest (lower centre) with his cousin, Tony, and Tony looking suave between two other fellows, Domenico and Achille, (top left).
It also makes my heart catch a little that they met there so Nonno Anni didn’t have to close the milk bar, even on a Sunday, since people came there after going to church or visiting at the hospital close by.
All the hours my grandparents worked and the decades of holidays they didn’t take so that their children and grandchildren could have different lives, hopefully easier lives. The way so many who are migrants or from poorer beginnings sacrifice and work tirelessly with love and a generous spirit. It’s very humbling to me, especially as, two generations on, I’m able to pursue my dream to write and for this, I’m very grateful – to all of you too. Thank you for your interest in these stories. Zoë 💛 xx
PS. When I was about nine – the age my dad is in a photo here – and cousin Tony was again visiting, we went to Surfers Paradise and I was allowed to get a lift in Tony’s Mercedes while the rest of the family followed in their regular cars. I just couldn’t believe it – my first time in such a car! 😄 And I still remember Tony’s kind grin at seeing my amazement.
PPS. Nonno Anni later replaced the Tristrams sign with the red and white ‘Milk Bar’ one that lit up. The same sign I wrote about in, Joe’s Fruit Shop and Milk Bar that got covered by the flood in 2011.
I’m so thrilled that, 
Thinking of all those volunteering and working over this time when many get to take a break. It still amazes me how my grandparents opened their milk bar and fruit shop 7 days a week from early morning ‘til late at night with only two days a year off – for 20 years straight! And then ‘scaled back’ to 5 days a week for the following years.
In this photograph of my family’s fruit shop and milk bar in its earlier days, it’s apparent how it began very modestly with my grandparents standing on the footpath in Ann Street selling produce from a ‘hole in the wall’ before they expanded the space to include a milk bar. Visible in the top left is some of the sign that hung over the footpath from around the early 1950s. It was white with ‘milk bar’ in red Perspex letters and lit up at night.
Today it is 70 years since my Italian grandparents, Nonno Anni and Nanna Francesca signed the lease on premises to start up their fruit shop and milk bar in Australia.
Original, circa 1950s glassware from Nonno Anni and Nanna Francesca’s milk bar… milkshake glasses, the glass for the homemade orange drink and the bowl used for ice cream sundaes and fruit salads.
Nonno Anni behind the counter of the milk bar – one of very few photographs taken inside. Great to see the milkshake machines to the right. It is difficult to decipher some of the brands of sweets, cigarettes and biscuits around the counter though I can see Mars chocolates {first made in 1932}, Violet Crumbles {since 1913} and a sign for Peters ice-cream {since 1907}.
An original glass {circa 1950} from Nanna Francesca and Nonno Anni’s milk bar. These were mostly used for my grandfather’s sought-after, homemade orange drink but customers would also request milkshakes in them too if they preferred glass to one of the metal canisters.
One of the very few photographs taken inside my family’s milk bar in the 1950s (and also one of my favourites). Nonno Anni is behind the counter and Bisnonno Vitale is leaning on it.
Recently, I have been travelling in southwest Queensland for research for the next book. In the main street of Laidley, I happened across this beautiful old building that was originally a bakery when it was built back in 1905. It is currently empty and seemed to be being renovated inside. Lovely how so many country towns value and utilise their historic buildings. Seeing the words ‘Soft Drinks’ in faded paint across the glass over the front entrance, I could not help imagining turning it into an old-style, 1950s milk bar…
Zoë Boccabella 