Welcome back, to the second of two standalone posts from the post-show series for both editions of Content Survey Live in 2024, A Flood of Memories.
The success of this post-show snapshot of life after the '74 flood, led us to bring more from the microfiche, and into the light: hence this is going to be a two part series: the first part being focused on the post-flood recovery and was released on August 16, the second that you are seeing today is giving you a wider look at food and other goods which we only touched on briefly on Feburary 22, and 29.We begin part two, with a look at a snap sale at Brisbane's two Kmart's (the newest being Cannon Hill (opened in October 1973), and unlike the original Kmart Chermside (shut in mid-1996 for a move to Chermside Shopping Centre, which ultimately happened in March 2000), Cannon Hill Kmart is still trading today as Queensland's oldest Kmart still in it's original location), at the height... of the cleanup.
(Kmart promo 1/2/1974)
The 33c 2 gallon (9L) plastic bucket (worth $3.49 in today's money, although Kmart sells the same volume plastic bucket for $1 in 2024) and half gallon (2.3L) of detergent for 24c (worth $2.54 in today's money) were the key highlights of this promotion.
But the interesting question we ask is this: has someone in Brisbane still got a bucket they used to clean a house in 1974 floating around (mind the pun)?
Meanwhile, a business close to the Jindalee area thought it'd be wise to market products direct to the eager consumer, who would be raring to clean their house.
(S.W Peterson advert)
But the key struggle was for some businesses to come back online after a event of such magnitude. The Brisbane Markets at Rocklea were swamped causing fresh fruit and vegetable shortages, the main milk production plant for QUF (i.e. Pauls) at Kurilpa Point were also swamped and ultimately had to be cleaned. Not even biscuits were immune: as this very short advert for Arnott's former Milton factory (now in the flood-free northern suburb of Virginia, with the former Milton factory site ultimately becoming apartments) would allude to...
(Arnott Morrow cleanup).
But to make biscuits, bread and all sorts of tasty things, you also needed flour. One of these distributors was based on Stanley St in South Brisbane.
(Seafoam Flour advert for resumption of flour sales)
And then there was chocolate: with Rowntree Hoadley's Brisbane distribution sites at Milton and Rocklea both getting hit.
(Rowntree Hoadley advert)
To complete the chain from factory to retailer: you had ads like this:
(Four Square advert (whose 1974 national owner conference at the Crest Hotel made a appearance on May 28)
It wasn't just a riverside issue either: businesses along Enoggera Creek were either lucky:
(Leach Motors Newmarket advert)
or had a significant mess to clean up.
(NARM cleanup)
(Dendale sale)
Plenty of businesses were taking stock and disposing what they could...
(Kennedy's Operation Mopup)
While others were intially taking huge gambles in offering significant discounts to those who were still getting the mud out.
(Errol Stewarts advert post-flood)
(Chevron Furnishings advert post-flood)
But, there was one poorly timed radio promotion.
(4BC's "National Sandwich Week"... while bread was in short supply)
The success of this post-show snapshot of life after the '74 flood, led us to bring more from the microfiche, and into the light: hence this is going to be a two part series: the first part being focused on the post-flood recovery and was released on August 16, the second that you are seeing today is giving you a wider look at food and other goods which we only touched on briefly on Feburary 22, and 29.We begin part two, with a look at a snap sale at Brisbane's two Kmart's (the newest being Cannon Hill (opened in October 1973), and unlike the original Kmart Chermside (shut in mid-1996 for a move to Chermside Shopping Centre, which ultimately happened in March 2000), Cannon Hill Kmart is still trading today as Queensland's oldest Kmart still in it's original location), at the height... of the cleanup.
The 33c 2 gallon (9L) plastic bucket (worth $3.49 in today's money, although Kmart sells the same volume plastic bucket for $1 in 2024) and half gallon (2.3L) of detergent for 24c (worth $2.54 in today's money) were the key highlights of this promotion.
But the interesting question we ask is this: has someone in Brisbane still got a bucket they used to clean a house in 1974 floating around (mind the pun)?
Meanwhile, a business close to the Jindalee area thought it'd be wise to market products direct to the eager consumer, who would be raring to clean their house.
But the key struggle was for some businesses to come back online after a event of such magnitude. The Brisbane Markets at Rocklea were swamped causing fresh fruit and vegetable shortages, the main milk production plant for QUF (i.e. Pauls) at Kurilpa Point were also swamped and ultimately had to be cleaned. Not even biscuits were immune: as this very short advert for Arnott's former Milton factory (now in the flood-free northern suburb of Virginia, with the former Milton factory site ultimately becoming apartments) would allude to...
But to make biscuits, bread and all sorts of tasty things, you also needed flour. One of these distributors was based on Stanley St in South Brisbane.
And then there was chocolate: with Rowntree Hoadley's Brisbane distribution sites at Milton and Rocklea both getting hit.
To complete the chain from factory to retailer: you had ads like this:
It wasn't just a riverside issue either: businesses along Enoggera Creek were either lucky:
or had a significant mess to clean up.
Plenty of businesses were taking stock and disposing what they could...
While others were intially taking huge gambles in offering significant discounts to those who were still getting the mud out.
But, there was one poorly timed radio promotion.
But a significant turnaround happened on February 4: the announcement of the reinstatement of some milk distribution facilities by QUF (with a significant decision to separate retail users (corner shops, supermarkets etc.), where the Teneriffe milk depot was dedicated entirely to retail uses) from the street milkman (although with changed depots for some locations particularly those likely reliant on Kurilpa Point coming back online).
And, naturally, Brisbane food retailers began advertising heavily as stock came back in.
While general merchandise was in for a field day:
All three of those retailers have something in common: something we'll get back to in the finale.
But we leave you with a aarrkk.
But, first: a little light entertainment.
(Zupps mid-80's commercial)
We found in the microfiche file, at the same time as the Albert 1-2-3 opening, was another significant opening who was unaffected by '74: in fact, it was likely a boon.
Big John Zupp made a big gamble, fresh off the Yom Kippur War: open a new car dealership in the Brisbane suburb of Aspley. The gamble: offer 50 gallons of petrol (that's around 227 litres of petrol (costing the dealership $27.24 ($287.91 in today's money: thanks, inflation) for every used car sold until mid-Feburary 1974, alongside the move to offer a free lube and safety check just for visiting Zupps Aspley, a move that could have been extended in light of the flood situation.
We would also like to send our condolences to the Zupp family at this time: in the light of the passing of John Zupp from cancer on August 22 at the age of 93. Our suggestion to everyone reading this: give like the yellow elephant Zupp made famous as his dealership's icon, to the Queensland Cancer Council.
And, now here's the tough finale. Those three stores before the Zupps interlude: all had locations at Toombul Shoppingtown and had been hosed out along with dozens of others after Schultz Canal rose (fed by significant flows on Kedron Brook) and went through the centre.
We end this series with a look at a Toombul Christmas event circa 1973... and a tearjerker: a photograph of the current demolition of Toombul: after the 2022 flood did what Wanda couldn't fifty years ago.
We now end this series with a track that ranked #3 on the Brisbane charts during the Australia Day long weekend in 1974: but is also known for being the choice of music that also signalled the end of TVQ's Expo 88 adventure on October 30, 1988, and is also for us, signalling the end of a 194 day run of looking 50 years into the past, (that's two weeks longer than Expo 88, to paraphrase) and is also a symbolic message to Mirvac at this time...
Quite simply...
Ask the community that made Toombul their own, what they want on the Toombul site for the long term.
That song, is none other than Ringo Starr's Photograph.
This may be the end of the line for "A Flood of Memories", and for that matter: Content Survey Live in 2024, defined by two series, and a semblance that we captured the spirit of some of the last months of the hybrid era for 10's news: especially as come Monday: the biggest mistake of the whole centralization debacle at 10: Brisbane sharing news with Sydney, will no longer be a factor.
But it's certainly not the end of the line for Content Survey Live going forward into 2025.
We would like to use this opportunity to thank those who have gone with us on this journey in 2024.
The idea for the "Flood of Memories" tail was originally only going to be for the 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th of May, as part of the TVQ 50 years of news commemoration, with something else as the tail for Content Survey Live: Season Mode. A visit or two... or three to SLQ changed all that, where we pieced together the 1974 story (and we have some parts from this additional research, we never even used at all), but we have also found some stuff we've found ended up became mighty useful for the following:
We can now also share with you, a Spotify playlist to tug at the collective heartstrings. "A Flood Of Memories": The Songs, brings together some of the tracks we've used throughout this experience, alongside various tracks that have come from several 4BC charts of the time (some like Farewell Aunty Jack, aren't on Spotify at all: while Brisbane #1 at the time of the 1974 flood, Sister Janet Mead's Lord's Prayer in the playlist is actually a version recorded in the eighties), and some surprises (live versions of the three Faces tracks mentioned in the article about the concert, we looked at on Feburary 29, that ultimately got flooded out). This list as it exists now (we are hoping to eventually push it to 2 hours long or more) may end up getting added to over time (as we potentially revisit 1974 as far as the EKKA just to get more charts data... and that means more tracks for the playlist!)
Next year, see us on (date redacted), as we kick off the (length redacted) run of...
Content Survey Live: Yesterday's Hero.
With our DST guide coming, there will be a trailer for our next big move, along with hearing about our upcoming Patreon changes to better align with the future (clue: a move to a three tier package, we cannot say anymore at this time) in the DST Guide on Saturday September 28 (Saturday September 21, minus the Patreon changes, which will be detailed in a publicly available Veritas on KW on Sunday on September 22)
A reminder: if you enjoyed this, follow us on Patreon (and perhaps become one of our patrons: helping us build our way to a dynamic future), or our socials: on X, Bluesky, and Mastodon, as well as our official Facebook page.
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