Don't forget the session on "Disputed Country" at Horsham Library tonight @ 7pm. The event is part of the "Art is...layers of time".
John Deckert of Westprint Heritage Maps will talk about his book chronicling the saga of surveying the South Australian/Victorian border and the ongoing controversy (see the Border Clash post).
Hi, sorry this comment has nothing to do with this particular blog post but I was wondering if you have any information about the Yanac fuel distributors from the 'old days'. I have in my possession a truck with Yanac Fuel Distributors written on both sides with the Caltex logo. It's an old Commer truck. Thanks. Sam.
ReplyDeleteHi Sam, Have done a bit of research from "Time goes by at Yanac", which says: The first motor garage business was established by Mr Phyl O'Reilly in a small building west of the blacksmith on Maud Street in 1929. The building housed the equipment, with all the work undertaken out on farms. It only traded for a year.
ReplyDeleteThe second garage operator was Claude Smith who purchased the business from O'Reillys, relocating to a building on Harry Thiele's property in Francis Street. It operated for 5 years, closing in 1934. The building was removed in the 1980s, part of the roof now on the Thiele homestead in Francis Street.
There was no garage until 1948, when Roy Crittenden built a new garage next to the fuel depot, in Nhill Road in Yanac. Crittenden sold the business to Ken Barras in 1952. Ken said every farm had a family car and a tractor, but only a couple of farmers had trucks then, but some businesses used trucks for carting produce. The garage supplied electricity to Ken's house and business, Methodist church, parsonage, and the Hall, via a Cooper diesel generator. He retired before 1992, but kept the garage as a hobby, and has kept an accumulation of old vehicles, engines, lighting plants, etc. (and maybe a Commer truck). Hope this helps.