Retro

I turned 60 this year so decided to have a 60s party to celebrate.  This meant 60s props. And the best place to find these is either in the back of your cupboard, in your mother's stuff, your friends' stuff or in your local op shop.  However, some shops are more savvy about the value of retro items than others.  Here is my glasses collection at the party. The tea towel and swizzle sticks came from a friend, but the beautiful glasses in the foreground with the white and gold decoration came from Grapples at Chermside.  Places I did not buy from included the Lifeline Super Store at Virginia. They know the value of retro goodies and were out of my price range.

Back to Grapples. It sits behind the Uniting Church on the corner of Gympie Road and Rode Road. This is the second Chermside Uniting Church of my life time, the first being a red brick building on the south-east corner of Gympie and Hamilton Roads.  It had a small hall out the back containing the original op shop and a larger hall where my son David used to learn Tae Kwon Do.  When the church moved, the op shop relocated to the last building from Chermside State School that remains on its original site. My tenuous connection with Chermside SS goes back to when I was in 7th grade in 1965 at Wooloowin State School, and was reserve on the girls' tennis team.  Every Friday afternoon they would hop on the tram and head to Chermside to fight it out on the courts.  My big day finally came when someone was sick and I got to catch that tram. Not a single point did I earn for my school, and there endeth my competitive tennis career.  The site of the tennis courts is now Grapples car park (which is a good place to park if you also want to pop into Aldi without wrangling with the Gympie Road traffic).

Grapples is wonderfully crammed, especially with clothing for older persons.  This means it's a good place to shop for things for Mum.  I suspect a significant amount of stock comes from dying parishioners.  Anyway, they have lots of goodies and their prices are SOOO cheap. But there's more to the Grapples experience than a rummage and a side trip to Aldi: at the front of the Uniting Church sits Chatters Coffee Shop run by church volunteers.  It is open from 9.00 till 3, Monday to Friday, and serves good old-fashioned home cooking at low prices. A great venue to take your granny.  Don't expect fast service, though, as the place is usually full.

These photos are of part of my friend Jo's retro collection, amassed over many years of careful op-shopping, taken at the 70s fondue night she held last year, so she could use it all. We had such fun.  The sausage dog was her pièce de resistance.  The actual fondue recipes were taken from genuine 70s recipe books as well and were delicious. Try it sometime.

Another good op shop I explored this week was the RSPCA shop at New Farm (have you spotted my favourite 'brand'?), which lurks in James Street at the corner of Merthyr Road. If you are after retro tablewear, head there right now.  This not-so-good photo shows why.  This is as far as my interest in retro goes. Vintage clothes aren't my thing. I was there!