Alex, Max, and I were staying by Hyde Park so strode past twice daily going to and from Circular Quay.
The St James Station on Elizabeth Street is part of Sydney’s underground system. It’s my boys’ first visit to the Harbour City and I’ve not been there in over a decade. My previous time was a day trip for an (unsuccessful) interview.
It grabbed me instantly. As art, it’s beautiful and transportive to multiple personal destinations. It’s heritage listed (1938) and draws upon an Art Deco aesthetic. The pale blue of the Chateau Tanunda lettering and the Vintage Vegas orange tone of The Brandy of Distinction juxtaposed with the (formerly) white tiling. The neon colours are joyous and sentimental.
The station itself is mimicry of London Underground.
Staring at it from the edge of Hyde Park I wondered about the naivete. Although dating from just prior to WW2, there’s an innocence at play. Over time do even the darkest of eras become prone to unsophistication? With the painterly mise en scène does it also evoke the often-quaint cinematography of Wes Anderson?
I thought about my own (brief) brandy drinking career. After cricket, and a meal in the Wudinna Club, my captain, Peter ‘Honey’ Boylan, would often say, ‘Beer’s no good after a steak. I get too bloated. Buy you a brandy.’ I didn’t especially love nor hate it but I’ve not had one since.
I do love the persistence of analogue clocks in railway stations despite the difficulties of moving parts, manually adjusting the time, and keeping all of them accurate. I read that railway station clocks, ‘provide optimal time awareness to patrons’. The sign and the clock are pleasingly synchronous.
With the Barossa adjacent to my hometown of Kapunda, my parochial self was also activated. It makes me proud that Tanunda’s conspicuous in Sydney and I feel a swell of nostalgia for growing up. Is it true that the older many of us become, the more magical appears our childhood? This neon display in Sydney certainly had this effect.
Of course, none of this mattered to my boys who were impatient to get over to Luna Park. I tore myself away, but the image stayed with me.
In this bejewelled alpha city with curving harbour views, this is a gently magical interior vista.
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About Mickey Randall
Now whip it into shape/ Shape it up, get straight/ Go forward, move ahead/ Try to detect it, it's not too late/ To whip it, whip it good
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I always get a kick out of seeing that sign. It evokes that radio ad of the 60s (and no doubt prior)
“No wonder, no wonder. It’s Chateau Tanunda. Aged in Oak. By Seppelts”
I must seek out more of this sign’s history. It’s amazing that it is still there, rather than an ad for passionfruit vapes or non-fungible tokens.
Thanks Mickey
I was astonished that it was there. Would Chateau Tanunda still be paying for it? Or anybody for this matter? If brandy undergoes a renaissance similar to gin, they might put their hand out although I think this unlikely.
Brandy’s probably in the line behind Spumante as a future trend.
Thanks Swish.
Hospital brandy. Nurse knows best.
https://images.app.goo.gl/Fz33Jjrrehe6FJuF9
https://images.app.goo.gl/LnzDQZw5t4roxxE88
Someone I know enjoys a very good brandy, taken mostly on a Friday. Usually poured by their next of kin. X
Mickey,
I’m not entirely sure “joyous and sentimental” is exactly how I remember St James station in Sydney.
That said, I shall try to see something beyond my existential experiences hitherto next time I am there – even though this could be a little while yet.
On the other hand, the Ferris wheel in Moseley Square at Glenelg though? Oh, different question altogether!
RDL
PB- I love me some ‘highest medical ethers.’
Someone- St Agnes is the patron saint of Friday evenings.
Roger- George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. the inventor of said circulating structure seems to have been forgotten as modern wheels no longer use his surname and instead are the funkier ‘eye’ or as is the case in Glenelg, ‘Giant wheel’ sponsored by dreary Pink-loving radio station, Mix 102.3.
Poor Ferris dropped off three years after his invention was made public at the age of 37 so didn’t enjoy his legacy.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
Re childhood: yes, it is true.
Partly because we know that it is something we can, nor will, ever again experience.
Thanks, Smokie. I’m sure you’re right. Consciously or subconsciously it’s likely a reason people have kids and then are excited by their grandkids.
To draw a (possibly specious) sporting parallel, I once heard Graham Cornes mention that he was drawn to coaching as a way of extended his playing career. I can see this too.
Mickey yes astonishing that the sign is still there
Thanks Rulebook.
Just curious if the neon sign has outlived the brandy and it appears to not be available at Dan’s but only smaller merchants with Nick’s describing it as having a, ‘small but loyal following.’ I reckon this adds to the sign’s mystique.