SMART ATTIRE
Col Beazley and some old menswear memories...
HE’S got a little less hair these days but that’s Col Beazley pictured there, as a young man in the black and white photos Col’s asked us to share with you.
“I came across these and thought, ‘Crikey, that might have some interest.’ It’s just a bit of history. I think the photos were taken for a story that was going in the old Dispatch,” Colin said, referring to the former Dubbo newspaper that published for more than a century.
At the time of the photos, in 1956, Col was working as the junior assistant in George Cooper’s Menswear on Talbragar Street and it was the beginning of many roles in the ‘rag trade’.
“My first job after school was for a garage called Dunlop and Lees on Macquarie Street. They were where Best and Less is now. They were the Humber dealers,” he told Dubbo Photo News.
“I worked there until this job at George Cooper came up – I was getting three pound five a week at Dunlop and Lees, but I got five pound three going to George Coopers!” he recalled.
Also in the picture is Col’s colleague, the senior, Jimmy Moore.
“I was general hand in the store. George was out the back doing the tailoring. It was common back then to get a suit tailor-made for you. There was a company though, called Anthony Squires, and they were very big in readymade suits. There were a lot of big brands in those days but they’re gone now.”
The reputation of George Cooper Menswear was second to none during that era, and as Col suggests, the store was a very big deal.
“Our suit business was the best in town. Every year come show day, people from all over would come in to buy a new suit, just to go to the show. It was unreal,” he said.
“George was a brilliant man. This was THE store in Dubbo. There was the Mace’s store in Orange, and George Coopers in Dubbo – it was the high-end store.
“I guess his secret to success was that he was a brilliant retailer; between him and old Gil Henderson and Bruce Sutton, who used to be around the corner.”
Bruce’s son, Peter, is now retailing in the old George Coopers store trading by the name of Harry’s for Menswear.
“In my last job before I retired, I was a rep’ for the Stubbies clothing company – the Stubbies shorts company – and Peter was one of my customers. Now, Peter’s really in that higher end just like George was.
“George has got a son, Alan Cooper, who’s the store manager at Carpet Court.”
After working with George for five years, Col headed to Bourke to work for George’s father.
“His dad had a store, the old fella, Arthur George, used to take wicker baskets on the train out to Bourke and the train would stop there for two days and come back and he sold the clothing out of the wicker baskets. Then he got a store there. When I finished working for George I went to Bourke for four or five years to work for his father.”
After that, Col went to work for Marcus Clarke.
“It was like a Myer’s store, where Rivers are now. Here’s a funny story, on the first night of my honeymoon, Marcus Clarke burnt down!” Col said.
After Col retired he did some work at Henderson’s Menswear on a casual basis.
“I’ve been a long while in the rag trade.”
Clearly, Col found these precious photos brought back some very fond memories of his time a George Coopers.
“They were the big time, they really were.”