Piccadilly Arcade

Piccadilly Arcade runs from Hay Street through to Murray St in the Perth CBD.  It has a wonderful Art Deco feel about it and my image is of the staircase that used to be the main access to the Piccadilly Picture Theatre.  I’ve added an extra of an old photo taken in 1953.  If you look closely you will see an advertising clock promoting Brownes Milk.  Underneath the ad is Wednesday 1:25.  The digital clocks were installed in the 50’s by my Dad.  His business was called Publicity Clock Company and he had them in all of the major arcades in the Perth CBD.  He sold the ads on the premise that shoppers would see the ads as they looked up to see the time.  The ads were set to flip over every few seconds.  Dad was a great salesman and many of his clients paid to have their products promoted for many years and became good mates with Dad.  I noticed the old photos in a display in the arcade the other day and photographed them.  Mum used to do all of Dad’s admin and typing so they ran the business together.  I can remember Mum would take over the Dining Room table regularly to type up the accounts.  Nothing like running a business from home.  They were very entrepreneurial as a team and worked hard to make sure their three children all had a good education.  I added a second extra showing the old ticket booth for the picture theatre.