Growing up in Durban from the 50s onwards, there were certain individuals one came to meet possibly through the business they had or perhaps they were just well known names in and around Durban. As someone else pointed out to me that in the 50s and 60s, Durban was a relatively close knit community and through a friend of a friend there was this network that existed of knowing people.There were some individuals of those times that everyone knew about but perhaps had never met. Some examples I remember were people like Jock Leyden, the Daily News cartoonist, Ernie Duffield who commentated the Durban July every year, Elizabeth Sneddon the English professor, Archbishop Eugene Hurley of the Catholic Diocese, Majorie Chase and her Ice Shows, David Horner the well known actor, Charlie Barends the champion jockey, Keith Oxlee the rugby player and so on. Never met the majority of those but see them in the street I knew who they were. In those days mention a name and you instinctly knew who the person was or had an idea of.
And then there were those who were just ordinary folk, whom you did not know at all yet knew of them. These would be like Ralph, a simple person, I would say in his forties, who would go around Durban on his bicycle dressed in his Scouts uniform. He would stop in at my old school, St Henry’s, on odd afternoons when there was sports practice on and he would let us know how DHS were going to thrash us. From what I gather he would visit Glenwood High School as well.
In the late 50s I well remember that every Saturday morning, there was an elderly blind gentleman who would set himself up, sitting on a box outside the OK Bazaars in West Street, playing a saw fiddle with a small bowl at his feet. Then there was Claude, a blind switchboard operator who worked for the Department of Posts and Telegraphs who you would see in town pushing his crippled wife around in a wheel chair. They lived on the Bluff if I recall. Then there was the evangelist who every Saturday evening would stand in front of Queen Victoria’s statue in the Town Gardens and ask you to repent before it was too late.
On this theme I would like to recall three people who I knew relatively well.
The first is Mr Barnard, the shoe repairer. I first met Mr Barnard when I was a school boy. My mother used to have our shoes repaired by him. His shop, always busy, was a small outlet in Smith Street sandwiched between a shop that sold oak furniture and I think Durban Leather. This would be on the left going up towards the Berea. My mother could speak Italian and once Mr Barnard found this out I well remember that as she entered the shop he would greet her with “ Ah Mrs Spaghetti”.
That smallish shop had a distinctive smell not only of leather but also the type of glue that was used. Repaired shoes would always be collected in a stout brown paper bag and attached to the shoes was the tag of a label with a number on it. The shoes were labelled when you brought them in. For many years Mr Barnard traded from that shop until that area started to redevelop when he moved to the lower end of Moore Road near the corner of Gale Street. He traded there for some years in a building which he had bought. Eventually after some 40 years he called it a day. I visited him just as he was closing down the business and took a photo of him outside. The sign above his head was the original he had in Smith Street.
I took the opportunity then of asking about his shoe repair business. He started in the late 40s apparently much to his father’s chagrin. The first premises he hired were in Madeline Buildings on the corner of Smith and Broad Streets. My vague recollection of this building is that it was two storeyed and had a verandah upstairs. There was a Chinese Laundry in the building facing Broad Street. Why do I think the Security Police were housed in this building? It was then pulled down and replaced if I am correct by Escoval House.
Mr Barnard closed his business in May 1999.
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The second person I would like to write about is Henk van Hoogdalem who sadly passed away a few years ago. Henk was a Dutch immigrant who came to Durban as a young man in the early 50s. He was from Amsterdam. I met Henk in the early 70s when my interest in philately was rejuvenated and I joined the Philatelic Society of Natal.
He traded from the newly built Escoval House at that time and his shop was at the back of the entrance passage. Henk was a short rotund man, with many interests and a sharp brain. He had an excellent memory. His business was called Philately and Art although in all the years I knew him there never was any art in is shop. He was a wily man and as they say “knew his oats”. He loved stamps and built up an extensive clientele sniffing out for his clients whatever they were after.
He no doubt traded with overseas connections and in the 70s I recall there was a boom in philately. He had an extensive amount of stock and he no doubt was involved with many collections from local estates. In later years Henk started a postal auction business which did well for him. His shop became a meeting point for fellow collectors and there was always some discussion going on.
I recall one day being in the shop when a dishevelled beggar walked in, handed him a small packet for which he got paid. I was intrigued by this and asked Henk what gives. At the time, the collectors of this world had turned their eyes towards telephone cards, then a new innovation. South Africa had started producing some of these cards with animals pictures on them and these became very collectable overseas. So what Henk had done was approach some of the city’s beggars to scrounge, especially at the city’s telephone booths, for the discarded cards. These they brought back to him and he duly paid them for their efforts. Business is business.
In the mid 90s, Henk’s health took a down turn, and with rising rental costs and the philately business not as strong as it used to be, he moved operations to his house in Glenashley. In 1999, when Philately and Art closed in Durban it was the last stamp dealer business to be operating from premises in Durban.
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Click to enlarge
David Ritchie
David Ritchie was another Durban personality many knew of, but not much about. Dave Ritchie as he was known was a Rhodesian who had come to Durban to attend the University of Natal. A tall, good looking young man, he could be called what was termed a “struggling student”. To supplement his income and pay his way through University, he took on the task of being a social photographer. Dave was the guy in the late 60’s who everyone knew what he was, and that was all. As the caption below says, for 4 years, six days a week he would visit all the leading nightspots in Durban taking photos of couples and groups. Always immaculately dressed in his black tuxedo, camera in hand and battery slung over his shoulder, he would announce his presence by flashing off his camera. As the room lit up, you knew “the photographer” was here. He duly would ask at each table if you wanted a photograph. There must be thousands of photographs that he took. David eventually married a Durban girl, a fellow student. I actually attended the wedding in 1970. He emigrated to Australia where he took up a position in an Australian university.
If you can add to the post please do or comment on any other Durban “personalities”.
Hi Gerald
Your stories on the army and Durban personalities evoked some old memories – some pretty grim ones and some very happy ones!
Fortunately the grim ones can be discarded and the happy ones may remind some folk of the really good times we had as we progressed from “boyhood to manhood”!! Question is – how many of us are still children at heart!!
Some of the personalities that stand out in my memory were –
Bill Payn – the legend who ran the Comrades Marathon inn Rugby boots, stopping along the way for a mammoth breakfast, guaranteed to give lesser mortals a heart attack!! He taught English at DHS and I was lucky enough to be his class. A really nice thing about Bill was his wealth of knowledge on subjects like the world war and life as a POW! He was easily distracted from the nouns, verbs, adjectives and the suchlike and would keep us enthralled with stories of POW life !!
Izak van Heerden – coach and rugby tactician! Great guy and if you were ever coached by him you would surely remember him swatting your backside with the cord that was attached to the whistle!
LCWT – Theobald – hope I have the initials right! We knew him as Theo – Mr Theobald to his face of course! I think that guys like Barry Richards, Denis Gamsy and a host of other well-known cricketers will have fond memories of Theo!
Ralph – who could forget Ralph and the loyalty he showed for DHS. I remember him and his old bike and his “uniform” which I think was a pair of khaki shorts, a khaki shirt and a grey pullover. In my mind’s eye I have the vision of a pair of brown shoes and long socks that completed the picture.
There are so many personalities that one could mention – Des Collopy is another, and so on, and on!!
The army story will need to wait – maybe there is nothing too much different to your story! As you know, I started at Tempe as well – Bungalow 58 I think! And where was Sergeant Major Crumpton when you were there!! Hope I have spelt his name correctly!!!
Hi Allan H,
School Days and School Teachers evoke their own memories for everyone. No doubt we all had our own inspirational teachers some where along the way. The names you mention at DHS were very well known in Durban in my time late 50s/early 60s. As it was in those days, there weren’t that many boys’ high schools in Durban.
Talking Barry Richards. In 1966, I had just bought a new VW Beetle and not having a garage for my new wheels, looked in the Daily News for a garage that was To Let. There happened to be one close to where I lived so in the evening I went round to a block of flats to discuss the rental with the person who was letting it. The block of flats was Nuffield Court and who was letting it none other than Barry Richard’s father. The family had no need for it and if I recall Barry had gone over to the UK to play professionally. I always thought it ironic that Barry lived in a block of flats with a name synonymous with cricket in Natal. Des Collopy if I recall was a swimmer of note as well as a water polo player.
Yes Sergeant Major Crumpton was at Tempe when we arrived there in April 1962. I seem to recall he actually was Regimental Sergeant Major. A WW2 veteran he really was a military man to the back teeth. Every morning when he appeared on the parade ground he was impeccably turned out. I recall he had the whole intake, soon after arrival, formed around him (I think the formation was called a boxed square) and he laid down the law regarding one’s personal health ( I won’t elaborate), hair at the back of the head that could be grabbed with two fingers was too long, that we all would be shaven every morning, that all officers would be saluted, that the curfews on weekend passes were going to be strictly enforced, and absolutely no alcohol would be tolerated within the camp confines. It was a rather daunting introduction to army life.
Seeing that we’re discussing school teachers, and in particular Izak Van Heerden and LCW (Les) Theobald, I’d like to supply an anecdote about each of these personalities. When I was at DHS, Izak coached the under 15A team – he was unable to coach the 1st team because of his obligations as coach of Natal. He utilised exactly the same training methods to us 15 year olds as he did for the Natal senior side and expected the same skill levels, and when this didn’t happen we were berated with a selection of choice language. For example his advice when carrying the ball in a tackle situation was to “hang onto that ball like you’re hanging on to your girlfriend’s tits in the cinema!”, and “if you kick when you can pass, stick the ball up your arse!”.
Les Theobald was the antithesis of this, always calm and elegantly dressed and mannered. The main cricket pitch at DHS was aptly called “God’s little acre” (those of you who have any knowledge of classical Greek will know that “theo” means god) and it was his habit to inspect the pitch at various intervals every day. One night some inebriated individuals planted a paw paw tree in the middle of the pitch, and upon discovering this the following morning, LCW was distraught to the extent of tears, such was his love of the game of cricket.
Some great memories there Gerald. I remember Mr Barnard very well and had many shoes repaired by him over the years including my army boots.
You also mentioned Henk van Hoogdalem and, although I didn’t ever get involved in the stamp world, I was an avid collector of militaria and it got me to thinking about the characters in the antiques business whom I actually met. There was the Brigadier who ran Antiques and Bygones. I spent many happy hours rummaging through his boxes of assorted badges and remember cap badges from British county regiments costing the princely sum of 50 cents each. Buttons and collar badges cost even less. In much the same area at the bottom of Smith Street was Tubby Martin’s medals and coin shop and we’d always drop in to look his stuff over although I don’t think his selection was as varied as the Brig’s.
I have been sitting at my computer for hours going thru the Facts about Durban which I have enjoyed so so much,sure made me go back in the time machine,thanks to all who have posted these stories on,
Hi Claudette,
Why not post some of your memories? The more the merrier. Claudette? I remember…
Personalities
Thanks guys for all those memories,I think Ralph died when he was hit by a car.I do recall a story about someone pouring a bucket of water over Izak while he was tanning outside the staff room but who knows if its true or not.What is true is that I would lie in the long grass at midnight waiting to ring the school bell which now sounds silly but then it was a big deal.
Ian
Hi Ian
Couldn’t resist another Sas Nourse / Izak van Heerden anecdote!! Will try to make it as brief as possible!
Sitting in Sas Nourse Phy. Science class upstairs new science block DHS. Sent by Sas to collect his tog bag which he had left in teachers common room. Found there were 4 identical bags and took all 4 back to Sas so he could choose his one, intending to take left over 3 back to comm0n room!
This one not mine said Sas and chucked it out upstairs window of classroom! Repeats process next 2 bags despite my protests!
Stentorian bellow from class room below where Izak has just witnessed his bag fly past his window and land with sickening thud on cement walkway outside!!!
Cannot tell end to story – suffice to say class abandoned!
Best wishes
AllanH
Wow – I have just spent all afternoon reading all those wonderful memories about Durban. We moved there in 1972, after spending so much time holidaying there (we used to live near Springs where my father was one of the original designers of the Blue Train’s engine, and worked at the Union Carriage in Nigel.)
I attended St Agnes’ Primary School (near Gordon Rd Primary) and then later Mitchell High. Returning 6 years ago to attend my 20th matric reunion, I found neither operated as a school – though a little disappointed, it was good to see the buildings were still being used for a good cause.
I will dig into my boxes of news items I have saved and see if I can find some of the information some folk have asked for – I have quite a bit of memoriablia being an avid learner of the past! I now live in Far North Qld where there are so many ex pats!
Thank you so much for a wonderful site.
Marie
Hi Marie
There is a fair gap between Far North Queensland and Durban. Good to read that ex Durbanites from all over the world are finding the site interesting. St Agnes School. Yes sadly no longer. It is now the Deutsche (German) School. Even St Joseph’s Church, next door, has moved from Stamford Hill Road to the new St Joseph’s in Florida Road. St Joseph’s is now called San Jose’s and is the church for the Portuguese Catholic Community. My sister attended St Agnes for a short time in 1948 and coincidentally attended Mitchell High School as well when it first opened I think 1955. I recall Miss Cheesman was the first head. Mitchell closed down I think in the 1990s and was recommissioned as a Technical School which it remains as today. Just a reminder Mitchell High was in Earl Haig Road.
Hi Marie
Looking forward to your contributions. I’m also in Qld and, although I didn’t go as far north as you being based in Brisie, I do work a couple of days a week on Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register.
Allan
What a surprise to be browsing this site and to come across an article about my dad Henk van Hoogdalem. i know he would have been delighted with the article and thank you for including him.
This sad notice appeared in the Sunday Tribune dated 4th November 2012.
I wonder how many of us who were in their mid teens in 1960 did not hear of or attended the Kinrade Potter Dance Studio? The studio was upstairs in King’s Hall, then a relatively new block of apartments in Aliwal Street opposite the Local History Museum. At street level, there was a Ladies’ Hairdresser , a pharmacy (I think) and also a popular coffee bar called the Three Kings.
In those far off days, school dances were still in their infancy with few schools actually having them. St Henry’s (Marist Brothers) only started having school dances round about 1960 as up until then they had no school hall. Holy Family Convent (St. Andrew’s Street) had a big hall and they held dances there. There was no hype or hoo-hah as that which surrounds school dances nowadays what with all the hysteria around venues, dresses, freaky arrivals, after parties and the like. I could not believe my grandson telling me that the DHS Matric Dance ticket two years ago cost an incredible R700!!
At that time as well, school numbers were far less than they are today with some schools only having one or two Matric classes or Form VIs as DHS used to call them. They probably had the most matrics in those days. St Henry’s, I know had only one Matric class, one Standard 9 and one Standard 8 in 1960. It was for this reason that to make up a suitable number, at St Henry’s, the annual school dance was open to all the boys from Standard 8 up. I think this was the norm at most small schools.
School dances as I recall caused stress on quite a few fronts. First you had to find a partner unless you were going “steady” which put that problem aside. If this was not the case, much telephoning would go on, trying to arrange a dance date with some one you had in mind but who you had to approach via an intro through a friend of a friend. Once that was finally achieved, you then had to arrange transport to and from the dance. This is where elder brothers, family members and in my case, my brother-in-law became most handy. To expect your dance date to bus it to the dance and back was unheard of. In those days, the standard dress for the boys was the school blazer, better still if you had an honours blazer, or scrolls running down the front, or coloured binding round the seams. Your date of course would be in a specially made or “altered” dance dress, totally coiffured and out to make an impression. Then there was the added tension of meeting the girl’s parents for the first time if she was a blind date. The awkwardness and anticipation of questions that would be asked of you at this first meeting. Finally so as not to look like a chump on the dance floor, you had to have the rudiments of some dancing skills and that is where the dance studios of the time came in.
I was trying to recall the dance studios in Durban in the early 60’s and three immediately came to mind, Kinrade Potter, Dudley Andrews and Myklebust. There was also Arthur Murray, but I have an idea that was a franchise which came later. There may have been others but I do not recall them. Ballroom dancing was very popular in those days and there was much rivalry between studios who had professional and amateur dancers associated with them. Annual interprovincial competitions were held with the standards exceptionally high and the competition keen.
Which brings me to Kinrade Potter. It was either 1959 or 1960 that I realised that my dancing skills needed upgrading and I found out that Kinrade Potter had dance classes on Saturday mornings for teenagers. The cost was 25 cents a morning and classes started about 9 am to noon. Being situated in town meant that I could get there by bus so I “enrolled” along with many other girls and boys who were as leaden footed as I was. The two teachers were Mr and Mrs Potter, as we knew them. They were never referred to by their Christian names. The boys and girls were split up initially and Mrs Potter took the boys under her wing. She was a jovial, spirited and vibrant lady and would draw you into her bosom, tell you to relax and flow with the music. There were three dances that she felt one needed to be confident with on the dance floor. That was the quickstep, the waltz and the cha cha, which was all the rage then.
Rock and Roll or as the dance studios called it Jive, was also popular but in that department, Mrs Potter left us to our own moves. I still remember all the boys lined up in single file at one end of the studio floor with arms up as if holding a partner with Mrs Potter selecting one of us as her partner. The music was turned on and Mrs Potter would loudly direct us attempting the quickstep: “Slow slow quick quick slow” and then “ Side, side, side together, side” as we tripped our way down the length of the hall. Those were fun times and eventually the Potters succeeded in getting us, the boys and girls, doing a fair rendition of the dances.
These dance lessons were also an opportunity to meet “girls” as in those days, meeting other girls (and I suppose it was the same for the girls) was by and large a case of first being introduced through a friend whereas in this situation you were “thrown into the mix” if I can put it that way. I do recall meeting Penny Coelen’s younger sister there. Wonder if she remembers that!
I have no recollection of how long the Potters carried on with the Kinrade Potter Dance Studio. I know that the building, Kings Hall was eventually taken over (perhaps bought) by TAFTA (The Association for the Aged) and the dance studio was turned into a dining room for the TAFTA residents. This would have been in the 80’s. I was also unaware that Mrs Potter was a hair stylist but it would seem logical that she had a salon downstairs with a fair number of clientele upstairs.
I had always assumed that Kinrade Potter was a double barrelled surname but see that Mrs Potter’s maiden name was Kinrade hence the dance studio’s name. I also never knew that her name was Enid, she was always Mrs Potter to us.
Inevitably time marches on and with it, so folk pass on. Folk who in some small, maybe unremarkable way, leave you with memories to remember when you come across their name so many years later.
I also remember going to the Kinrade Potter Dance Studios in Aliwal Street for dancing lessons but I was a lost cause with two left feet. I went with friends in the late 50′s for about 6 lessons at 2/6 a time – no Rands and Cents then! I remember being told that the Arthur Murray Studio was better, but that they did not accept school-children or was it under 20s? (I can’t remember which).
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i had a motorcycle shop in umbilo and chris barnard used to pass on foot always a happy face he also repaired my racing leathers and boots
The Movies – Does anyone remember the Refreshment Tray lady who would sell sweets, Ice Cream & Cooldrinks at the Capri (or was it the Embassy). She would shout “Top Tens – Ices Here” to draw custom.
The Wax Museum – The over made up Cashier Lady. She must have been 70 odd, with blond hair in a beehive, and plastered-on Makeup.
Also the African chap with his head “on the table” and the rest of him underneath, saying “I’m velly hungly. Give me some food”
Stuttafords – The lift operators and the crank handles they used to operate.
The smell of the air as one walked into big Department stores (especially Payne Bros). Cool, conditioned air, smelling of new cloth & goods.
The Italian owner of the record shop, also on Smith St (Passage corner shop). He was a classical musician in the DSO.
The toy shop, near Point Rd, South Beach, on Smith (or West). The cranky old man liked hurting children. He once pinched and twisted my cheek. He also shot one of my friends with a spud gun (I think it was Dave Wiseman).
Hi,
I lived at Kings Hall Durban in 1962 with my family having come over from England.
I was seven at the time and just wondered if anyone has any photos of it from back then ? Or anytime really ??
Sadly my mother had Alzeihmers for quite few years before passing away and consequently threw out all of our old family photos.
I would love to be able to share at least something of my stay in Africa as it was (and still is) a very special time for me.
Could anyone at all please help ?
Thank you
Gail Cooper
Hi Gail,
If I remember correctly King’s Hall was still relatively new in 1962. For those not knowing the building it is in Aliwal Street and opposite the museum end of the City Hall. Gail if you could post some information as to the school you went to and some other activities I am sure someone will chime in.
Hi Gerald,
Thank you so much for the response, YES you’re right it was very new ! It was a beautiful building. I remember swimming close by at ‘The Tiki pool’ ? ??
As I was only 7 my memories are a little vague I remember we had a maid !!
I will need to contact my sister for information re: The school we all went to (there were 4 of us kids) and hopefully she will be able to enlighten me on other places as well
My older sisters were 12 and 13 at the time so hopefully they remember more than me.
I remember ‘Rickshaw Boys’ ? Do they still call them that ? They were a little scary but AMAZING in all there regalia in particular their ‘Head’ gear ! and the noices they used to make…very impressive on a little kid
I attended ‘Addington Primary School’ we used to get the bus that was outside the Hotel next door to Kings Hall. The OK Bazaar was opposite on “West Streeet” ?
Does this ring any bells with anyone ???
The hotel was probably the Waverly – although there was another one where I think the Oswald Pirow building is now ( or whatever they call it these days )
Yes I seem to recall a branch of the OK there – I haven’t been in central Durban since I left SA in 1999 but at that stage the building there was the new Metro Cinema and furnishers Geen & Richards had a branch precisely where the old OK was I think
Thank you Richard
Yes now that you mention it you’re right ! It WAS ‘The Waverley”
Hi Gail,
To start off with in 1962, OK Bazaars was in West Street but quite a distance away from King’s Hall. OK Bazaars was on the left hand side (looking up to the Berea), adjacent to Stuttafords which was on the corner of Field and West Street. That would put the OK about three big blocks away from King’s Hall. As far as I know, the OK franchising of small OK Bazaars outlets was not yet in place so I think you are a little confused there. The short section of Aliwal Street that King’s Hall was in was dominated by three structures. The Waverley Hotel Hotel (cnr Aliwal and West St) on the left which was an old Durban landmark, now demolished, then King’s Hall in the centre and on the right was the Broadway Hotel (cnr Aliwal and Smith St). At ground level there were small shops the ones I recall were the Aliwal Pharmacy, the King’s Coffee Bar and the Kings Ladies Hairdresser. There was also a small supermarket but not the OK. The Broadway Hotel had an open verandah on the first floor and overlooked the movie houses on the opposite side and the intersection of Aliwal and Smith St. The Broadway Hotel was eventually closed and the site sold to the Methodist Church where the new Durban Central Methodist Church was erected. King’s Hall remained an apartment block for some years into about the 1990s when it was taken over by the TAFTA (the Association for the Aged) and became an old age home for elderly people who could still manage to look after themselves. TAFTA had also acquired the old Hollywood Court building in West St (next to the Embassy Cinema) and this was converted in to old age accommodation. The hall that was once Kinrade Potter’s dance studio in King’s Hall became the dining room for King’s Hall and Hollywood Court residents. As far as I know Tafta still controls the two buildings.
If you attended Addington Primary School (green dress uniform) then you would have caught the South Beach Trolley bus. The trolley bus starting point for this route was next to the Town Baths near the Post Office. Cannot recall them being called Tiki Pool. The bus stop would have been opposite the side of Waverley Hotel facing West St. The bus would run straight down West St to Marine Parade were it turned right and then travelled past the beach front hotels, past Addington Hospital, the Children’s Hospital, some blocks of flats and at the end the turn around point which was close to Addington Senior Primary School. Addington Junior Primary was next to Addington Hospital facing South Beach if I remember. I hope this helps you to remember some of the locations.
Wow !!! Thank you soo much or all the information Gerald !!!!That’s great !!
You’re completely right about the OK Bazaar. I checked the message again from my sister and she said it was on West St ! I don’t know what made me say opposite the flats.
Sadly, back in those days it was ‘Whites only’ at Addington seems things have changed since then, Thank Goodness !!
As for ‘The Tiki Pool’ maybe that was just a nick name as it cost a ‘Tiki’ to get in but obviously the same place
I’m really enjoying re-visiting these places again after all these years later, even if only in my mind
Thanks to Richard as well any information at ALL is Greatly appreciated
It would be great to get some pics from back then.
Hi Gail
That is the fun of reminiscing. Basically pictures in the mind. You had me on the Tiki as I was thinking of a KonTiki association. Tickey was the way it was spelt. Just to put that in time. In 1961 South Africa dropped the Pounds Shillings and Pence and went Metric but probably in 1962 it was still around as the coins were still valid. The Tickey (2 1/2 pence) was made redundant when the money changed. It was the cost of a local telephone call at a Tickey box (Call Office) if you remember. There was of course also Tickey the Clown of Boswell’s Circus who would visit Durban in the July school holidays. Tickey was part of a duo clown act and he was a midget. He was known all over SA and I recall forst seeing him in Potchefstroom about 1950. The circus tent was pitched on an empty piece of ground near the top of Old Fort Road called Cartwright’s Flats. I had a look at the 1968 Durban Directory and there was no OK Bazaars down that part of town. A branch was opened in Sol Harris Crescent in the Mutual Beach Centre and there were other branches around Durban on the Bluff , Durban North and Montclair. There are pictures scattered around this site, you have to look for them. And then there are word pictures some of which I have written up so if you want to read, put my name in the Search box and see what comes up.
My memory on OK Bazaars may be a little hazy. I am of course familiar with the OK near Stuttafords in West Street. I am not sure, but I don’t think that it ran all the way through to Smith Street when it first opened. Again, I may be wrong, but as far as I can recall the previous OK was situated in the L-shaped shop that ran from West to Gardiner Streets (with Reed & Champion Pharmacy on the corner – can’t remember the name of their building, but it was a well-known sky-scraper of that era.) When OK moved to their new premises the old OK continued as a down-market version of OK called CTC Bazaar. There was another branch of CTC Bazaars in the Brittainia Building (?) further up West Street between Payne Bros. and Grey Street. I don’t know if many will remember the old Brittainia Building. I remember it well on account of the marvelous second hand bookshop situated on the 1st or 2nd floor.
Hi Rodney,
Ah, the beauty of being able to go back to 1938. The 1938 Directory gives the OK Bazaars as being at 381/387 West Street and at 370 Smith Street. So the shop went right through from West to Smith Street as we knew it. Smith Street was the “delivery” side and I recall the OK and Harvey Greenacres having a free delivery service. My late mother in law who lived on the Bluff never carried her parcels home in the bus, she had them delivered. So the OK was and is today exactly where it always was. Now the L shaped building you are describing was the original Woolworths and I recall it from the mid 50s being there as my mother worked there. The main entrance was in West Street and to gain access you had to go up a wooden ramp. The ramp had something to do with a water drainage problem Durban had in that area. Eventually it was resolved by draining the water down Gardiner Street to the Bay. The building was rather old and decrepit and the floors were wood and suspended so everyone stomped around the shop. Two friends of my mother were a Mrs Louisa Pedersen (formerly Lightfoot) and her sister Mrs Mary Jones. My mother in law worked at the same shop before the war. The shop had the old fashioned counters were each assistant had there own counters and manged their own transactions. The Gardiner Street side if I recall had the sweets and cigarette counters. Now the 1938 Directory records this as well giving Woolworths address as Corner West and Gardiner Streets.
Right next door to Woolworths was the Central Methodist Church which I saw being demolished by Atomic Demolishers in the early 70s. Next to the Church was the Standard Bank Building with its highly ornate interior which sadly was also reduced to rubble. The building Woolworths was in was called Reed and Champion’s Building with Reed and Champion having the corner to themselves. They were Chemists and Wholesale Druggists established in 1877. In later years a new building was erected and this was called Trust Building and the L shape of the old Woolworths was converted into the Trust Arcade which I think still exists. Woolworths eventually put up a new store at 344 / 352 West Street which ran through to Pine Street. Woolworths is still there but the access to Pine St is now closed. Getting back to Trust House that was demolished to make way for the Old Mutual Towers which transformed the whole corner. There is a picture I posted of Gardiner Street which shows the Trust Building as it was
CTC Bazaars was at the lower end of West Street near the Roxy Bio cafe. And yes the Britannia Building was right there. CTC (Cape to Cairo as I remember it) Bazaars was a “cheeper” shop with quality sacrificed for price. Ackermans were also in the area. As far as I know CTC had nothing to do with OK Bazaars. CTC Bazaars do not appear in the 1968 directory so they must have been bought out. Britannia Building was a very old building, I think double storey situated at 426 West Street. It is listed as being there in 1938. It was still in existence in 1968 at the same address. I recall the book shop, called the London Book Shop, upstairs which was accessed via a wide staircase. It was run by a very old lady and I recall buying an old 1947 Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue there in 1956 for a shilling (10 cents). I still have it. All I recall was that the rooms were large, very dusty and the fittings very makeshift. If one looks at the site today, JET Stores stands where the building was. In short it was directly opposite the Colombo Tea and Coffee shop (now a Nandos) landmark building. This down town area of West St was rather interesting as it was the point at which there was a mixing of the Indian and European cultures with Grey and West Street meeting here.
Thank you for your comments and corrections Gerard. Sometime after making my posting above, I did wonder if in fact the L-shaped bazaar was in fact Woolworths and not OK. Having spent 2 years in England in my pre-teen years I returned thoroughly confused about Marks and Spencer, Woolworths and OK Bazaars. The South African Woolworths are somehow connected with the British Marks and Spencer, not the British Woolworths. How this connection came about I have never been able to establish. The British Woolworths were as far as I recall slightly down-market to Marks and Spencer, but the British Woolworths chain has, I read, now closed down. Just who owned CTC Bazaars I don’t know – it may have been a down-market subsidiary of the South African Woolworths or just someone else being opportunistic. Thank you, too, for reminding me of the name of the bookshop which I had forgotten, but I seem to remember usually being seen to by an elderly gentleman (but at that age most adults seemed elderly). I also remember Trevenna opening at the new shopping centre at the lower end of Mackeurtan Avenue, Virginia. It was not the first supermarket in the area – Morrisons Fine Fare were on the corner of Broadway and Kensington Drive. I think that Morrisons were a small supermarket chain based in Pinetown.
My apologies Gerald for incorrectly naming you above. For some obscure reason (not entirely unrelated to FAD as it happens) I was thinking of The Blessed Gerard.
Talking about shops made me think back to a time before Durban really had supermarkets. It must have been sometime in the late 60′s when a store called Trevenna opened (I think somewhere near the sea end of West street, where the car dealerships were before they all moved out of town). There was big excitement about going there because it was a “supermarket”, about the size of a small Spar, more like a large cafe really. It’s logo consisted of large diamond shaped objects. Then one opened in Virginia at the Virginia circle (bigger excitement). As far as I can remember, Trevenna was the forerunner of Checkers.
Hi Bianca
The 1968 Directory says: Trevenna Supermarket 84 Smith Street. The only listing. To get some idea of the location, next to 84 was the Farewell Service Station which was on the corner of Farewell and Smith Street. Farewell and the next one down, Kearsney Road are both diagonal streets meeting Smith Street. In the same area were Maxwell Campbell and McCarthy Rodway the two big car dealerships as you mention. Cannot recall Trevenna at all but I do seem to recall that a supermarket was opened in Malvern which also was one of the early breakaways from the general supply store concept which was common before the arrival of supermarkets.