St Bede's street sign in Elwood

Old street signs to discontinued destinations that remain in situ will continue to be markers of yesteryear, often suggestive of destinations gone by the wayside, and in some cases of bygone customs and culture. Other lamp post signs such as 'Hail Cars Here' denoted old tramway stops (1); while a 'War Savings Street' was an indication of local patriotic support (2). Even the round metal tags embedded in the actual timber pole and inscribed with two mysterious letters informed us of the type of tree by its common name. Old street signs are indeed intrinsic to the local flavour of neighbourhoods. They are little sentimental links that continue to bind us to our sense of place.

This street sign to St Bede's Church was on the corner of  Ormond Road and St Kilda Street in Elwood and went missing around April 2021. St Bede's Anglican Church, in Ormond Road, opened October 3, 1916; a hall, kindergarten and a tennis court were later added to the complex (3).  It was closed some years ago and is now apartments.

The missing sign to St Bede's Anglican Church, Elwood.

Image: © VanishedVictoria

Image: © VanishedVictoria

An example of the tag inscribed with BB denoting the type of timber a pole was constructed of. 

In this case  'BB' stands for Blackbutt a native eucalypt hardwood. 

Image: © VanishedVictoria

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Footnotes

(1) 'Hail cars here' sign  - the Melbourne Tram Museum has one of these signs in their collection, see here.

(2) 'War Saving Street' sign - these signs are part of the collection of the Kew Historical Society, see here and Monash History, see here.

(3) Cooper, John Butler The History of St Kilda from its first settlement to a city and after 1840 - 1930, v. 1 (St Kilda City Council, 1931), p. 342; There is a short history of the Church in Spirit of St Kilda: Places of worship in St Kilda by Janette Bomford (St Kilda Historical Society, 2003). Access it on-line here, http://skhs.org.au/SKHSchurches/churches.htm