1950s Melbourne

1950s Melbourne: Photos give a revealing insight into everyday life in Melbourne in the 1950s

1956: Fans get a real close look at Neil Mann and Ian Ridley in the Melbourne v Collingwood grand final.

1950: The Old Tin Shed in Elizabeth St stood next to the GPO. Built in 1906, the shed was intended to be on the site temporarily, but it became a city landmark despite persistent calls for its removal.

April 1950: The handwritten caption on the back of this image describes it as the “township of Broadmeadows”. It is actually a street in Westmeadows that was the site of the original Broadmeadows village.

1950s: Shoppers at Coles.

1950: Children helping their father in his grocery shop.

1951: People relax on the lawns outside the State Library of Victoria.

1951: Children from Scotch Church Elwood Play Centre meet a joey with some help from Joyce Seekamp at Melbourne Zoo.

1951: The Melbourne Town Hall at the intersection of in Swanston St and Collins St.

1951: Tattersalls Lane, off Bourke St. Picture:

1952: Myer's cafeteria packed in the crowds.

1952: Matt Beha and the bells in the GPO clock tower in Elizabeth St.

1953: Children feed swans at the Royal Botanic Gardens.

1953: Dan Curtain, licensee of the Turf Club Hotel in North Melbourne, presents local paperboy Peter Hargraves with a watch for his 15th birthday. A collection was taken up for him by his grateful customers.

1953: Swinging high above a street, rigger Jack Farley directs his invisible crane driver to lower him to a pile of girders on a building site in Spencer St.

29 July 1953: In Sunshine where the roads were unmade and there was no running water, Mrs Anita Steigler and her son Ernst along with the family dog set out for home with a bucket of water. Mrs Steigler uses three of these for the family bath. Also pictured is Mrs Urmgard Stanik, who has to carry water home.

2 October 1953: Main street in Belgrave.

31 December 1953: Bill Young, Brian Collins, David Young and Judith Young enjoy a stroll along Mentone's breeze-swept foreshore.

1953: Kids enjoy the water in the children's pool at Eastern Beach, Geelong.

31 December 1953: Main street in Mentone pictured after all the shops closed for the day.

1954: Drive-in branch of the ES & A Bank at Camberwell.

16 July 1954: Buildings at 88-92 Puckle St, Moonee Ponds that were bought by Woolworths for $84,000.

1954: This dance craze called the Roo Roo Kangaroo was introduced in Victoria at Ormond Hall.

28 July 1954: Locals chat outside a new shopping centre at Nunawading.

1954: Dandenong Town Hall.

1954: Corner of Barkly St and Nicholson St, Footscray.

1954: Bay St, Frankston.

1954: Newsboys Leon Wiegard, Wally Leckie, Kenneth Brian White, Paul Wenn and Brian Galley leave for their rounds.

1955: Intersection of Mount Alexander Rd and Fletcher St in Essendon.

1956: Workers unload ships at Melbourne docklands.

1956: Ahead of the Olympic Games opening in Melbourne, a giant torch was placed outside Flinders St.

November 1956: The Olympics came to town.

Crowds watch the opening ceremony.

1956: Station St, Sandringham.

1 January 1957: Graham Horn, Lillian Stiles, Peter Hunt and Julie Barlow were all dressed up for New Year's Eve at Luna Park. The original caption noted that the group had “a gay time”.

1957: Immigrant men play billiards in the Democritus Club.

1957: Shoppers in Bourke St.

1958: Heatwave? Children at the North Melbourne Day Nursery grab a cool drink.

1958: North Melbourne footballer Laurie Dwyer was nicknamed “Twinkle Toes” and is pictured with his dance partner Veronica Boyhan, with whom he became a national ballroom dancing champion.

AUGUST 1959: South Melbourne footballer Bob Skilton at work.

LIFE IN 1950s MELBOURNE AT A GLANCE 
Price of a loaf of bread: 8 cents
Average yearly wage for male factory workers: $592.33 
Average yearly wage for female factory workers: $294.40
Average yearly wage for a male clerk or manager: $866.14
Average yearly wage for a female clerk or manager: $325.06
Unemployment rate: 1-1.7 per cent
Biggest names in sport: Dawn Fraser, Betty Cuthbert, Peter Thomson.
Latest tech device (the tablet of its day): Television
Population of Melbourne: 1.3 million in 1950

 Source Internet.