Sales floor, Anthony Hordern & Sons, Brickfield Hill, Sydney, c. 1933-1938

Sales floor, Anthony Hordern & Sons, Brickfield Hill, Sydney, c. 1933-1938, a photo by State Library of New South Wales collection on Flickr.

Here is a picture of Anthony Hordern's in the 1930's.

The Universal Providers

Does the ghost of Samuel Hordern visit the World Square Building in Sydney?  I wonder what he thinks, if he does.  He would probably be extremely sad to see that his great store, Anthony Hordern & Sons, has been demolished and a rather soulless apartment building on the site.  He might be pleased to see that there are still shops there, but I'd have to send him to David Jones to see a grand old department store.

The story of Anthony Hordern & Sons began when Anne and Anthony Hordern arrived in Sydney, Australia with their three children in 1825.  They were free passengers and ambitious business people.  Anthony started a coach workshop and Anne opened a drapery store. 

Eventually two of their sons opened a larger drapery store on George Street.  The emblem of the new store was an oak tree and the motto was 'While I live, I grow'.  Eventually, this partnership ended and Samuel launched a huge new department store in the Haymarket with his son, Samuel.  This grand store was advertised as 'The Universal Provider'. The Horderns could supply almost anything that people wanted. According to Anthony Horderns, Historic Houses Trust:  'The 1914 general catalogue, which extended to over 1500 pages, illustrated the opening of a fine art gallery in Hordern's Brickfield Hill store and featured marble statuary, French bronzes, the finest hand cut crystal glass and ceramics by Royal Doulton, Wedgwood and Royal Copenhagen'. The Horderns soon had six outlets in the city and  employed 3,500 people.

A terrible fire burned the store down in 1901 but another huge store was built, called the Palace Emporium.  This opened in 1905.  The main entrance was filled with Italian marble and no expense was spared on the fittings.  These included iron castings and embossed steel ceilings.  The marble was imported but many of the other features were made in the Hordern factories.

Oak tree seedlings were given when the store celebrated its centenary in 1938.  Many of the oak trees still dot the city.

The store was sold by the Horderns in 1926. Unfortunately, the store came to be regarded as old-fashioned and began to decline in the 1950's.  The building was demolished in 1987.

Under the Arches

Walter Sickert painted there; Kipling could see it from his window; Ada Reeve reminesced about it and many great stars appeared there.  Gatti's at Charing Cross was one of the most popular London music-halls.

Variously called 'The Hungerford', 'Gatti's in the Arches' and simply 'Gatti's', the theatre was originally a restaurant.  Carlo Gatti launched it as a music-hall in 1867.  It was built into a 250-foot arch underneath the South-Eastern railway station near Charing Cross.  The old theatre, which was one of the most vulgar music-halls of the day, could hold 600 people when it was filled to capacity.

Ada Reeve and Katie Lawrence were just some of the many stars who appeared here in the late 1800'
s.  They scandalised audiences by dressing up in men's outfits and singing risque songs.

I learned about Gatti's because I recently saw Sickert's painting, Katie Lawrence at Gatti's, in the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Ada Reeve Talks About Gatti's

Douglas Tompkins, A Respected Psychoanalyst

Douglas Tompkins is an esteemed psychoanalyst, with many qualifications, who practises in New York.  He specializes in Jungian psychotherapy.

Jungian analysis focuses on healing people by helping them understand the inner psyche.  It also helps them understand and come to terms with their complexes so that they can successfully integrate their inner selves.  The interpretation of dreams and reflections on daily life play a large role in this type of analysis. Jung believed that dreams were a good indication of the state of a person’s psyche.  They often reveal hidden problems and fears.  However, if you can’t remember your dreams, Jungian analysis can still help you by dealing with the troubles and dilemmas of your life and the way in which you deal with it.

If you are interested  in improving your life by undergoing Jungian analysis it is a good idea to visit Douglas Tompkins.  Make an appointment for an initial consultation to see whether you think that you can develop a positive and healing relationship.  After this, consultations are usually once a week. 

Douglas Tompkins also holds events and classes for those interested in Jung's ideas.