On the 26th May, 1845, the following trade circular appeared in the newspapers :— New Drapery Establishment, Commercial House, (Late R. Spence's), Elizabeth Street. J O H N O ' S H A N A S S Y and CO., beg to announce to their friends and the public in general that they have commenced the Drapery Business in the above house.
No need to indicate the identity of the principal partner in the above firm, for few guessers will mistake the individual. T h e premises consisted of a small one-storey tenement on the eastern side of Elizabeth Street South, a few yards distant from what was known for m a n y years as the Clarence corner, where the City of Melbourne Bank n o w stands. In August, 1845, tne following announcement appeared in the newspapers:— Daguerreotype.—Little Flinders Street, at the stores lately occupied by Messrs. E. Westby and Co. M R . G. B. G O O D M A N begs to inform the inhabitants of Melbourne and its vicinity, that he has taken those extensive premises lately in the occupation of Messrs. Westby and Co., Little Flinders Street, and nearly opposite the residence of William Hull, Esq., J.P., where he will commence practising the above art on Monday next, the nth August, where he hopes by attention and care on his part to receive here as great a share of patronage and support as has hitherto been kindly extended to him in all the adjacent colonies that he has had the honour of visiting. For the information of those who may not have studied this most interesting and marvellous art, Mr. Goodman begs to state that sitting does not exceed five seconds, and the whole picture isfinishedand delivered in four minutes, thus avoiding the delay and tedium attending frequent and protracted sittings, and ensuring by the nature of the operation (which is the reflection of thefigureitselffixedin a mirror) a true and faithful likeness both of face, figure, dress, expression, &c, & c , ; in fact the portrait is a stamp of the original, and produces in effect a SECOND-SELF. As Mr. Goodman's stay must be very limited, he would particularly impress on those who may wish to patronise him the necessity of making an early application. Price of each Portrait—one guinea, including a handsome gilt and Morocco case. Specimens to be seen at the Stores, Little Flinders Street, at Mr. Cashmore's, corner of Collins and Elizabeth Streets, or at the Office of this Paper.
Mr. Goodman does not seem to have made a bad thing of it, for after being in business for four months, and taking £870 in cash, he rather unexpectedly packed up one summer morning and packed himself away, bag and baggage, to Adelaide. In 1846 the notion of versified advertising was realized by some of the more energetic of the retailers. There were two or three semi-professional rhymesters in Melbourne, and though no doubt ample value was given for the fees paid, some queer outbursts of rigmarole occasionally appeared in the newspapers. From a small pile I cull three specimens:— Henry Baker opened a tavern known as the Imperial Inn, a tidy two-storey house, erected on portion of the site of the Exchange in West Collins Street. H e was a pragmatical, dumpyish sort of fellow, w h o always appeared with a very clean-shaven face, and was white aproned from chin to ankles. H e was a precise and painstaking m a n of business, and established a table d' hote from which he hoped to realize a large fortune, though eventually his estimate of the probabilities was considerably in excess of the net results. In an ode headed " Comfort and Economy," the merits of the Bakerian establishment are indicated in a style more above than below mediocrity, as evidenced by the following stanzas which I extract:— "There 'cleanliness' and 'order,' hand in hand O'er the arrangements of his house preside, Where wholesome viands on the table stand, And genuine liquors pour their generous tide ; Combined with which his reasonable charges, Each guest's advantage very much enlarges. "'Tis there that 'new-come' emigrants may find A home at once—cheap, tranquil, and select, Fit for the wanderer—whose peace of mind Has been by adverse circumstances wreck'd ; And who escaped from ship-board and its riot, Would fain think o'er his future plans in quiet.
