2 August 2024
Great stylish sign on the ex Swallow & Ariell Biscuit factory in Port Melbourne, now largely hidden by trees. When the redevelopment into flats was planned in the early 90s they were just going to demolish this bit, which in the end they did, but reproduced it on a beam over the car park entrance. Those trees are I guess 30 years old now; I do like a Norfolk Island Pine, so I’ll forgive them for blocking views. Old photo 1987, Port Melbourne Historical Society, and an ad from 1953 showing the swallow as a logo.
On the corner of Rouse and Stokes Street Port Melbourne is something that looks like early Victorian terraces, but it was actually built as a factory- for biscuits ! Swallow & Ariell built this corner section in 1858 to produce ‘ship’s biscuits’, using steam machinery, hence the words. They later then expanded into domestic biscuits, and extended the building in many stages, eventually occupying much of the block. It closed down in the late 80s I think, and the site redeveloped in the late 90s, with this part as townhouses with extra doors, in bright colours, a big change from the original, but it’s nice. The wide view is from c1905, then @museumsvictoria 1958, then Heritage Vic from 1995. The Museum has some great pics of workers from 1959 too. Then some labels /ads from various periods, one showing the whole factory. The last pic is a ‘hard tack’ biscuit from WW1. Found most of the old images on Facebook.
Storey of Melbourne 