[liveworkplay]

I do alwasy remember an enterence there and I must have walked the arcade 100's of times as I used to catch the bus to Clifton Beach from just outside in Collins street. I do remember when there was Coles, Venture and an actual fountain in the Cat and Fiddle arcade. There was a cafiteria on the ground floor where Target is now and I used to always go with my Nan and have frog in a pond before racing out to watch the cat and the fiddle. There were also toilets upstairs where the walkway to harris scarf is now.

Goign to the city as a kid was a huge adventure and I used to love it.

[FionaBeagle]

Ah yes, The Place Arcade, Contessa Lingerie, it's all coming back now.

liveworkplay - Venture was where Priceline is now, and I have a newspaper cutting from late 1982/early 1983 which shows a friend and I at the checkout of Venture; the Mercury had done a story on retail trade. My take-home pay was a princely $103 p.w., so I was probably spending that on a bubble skirt or leg warmers.

I too remember watching the Cat & Fiddle, the cow, spoon and so on, rooted to the spot, as were most children. We were easily amused back then! After moving to Sydney, I got such a shock when I returned to Hobart to discover the fountain gone.

Going to the city was a big deal, wasn't it? Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

[2bundles]

Ok, now you say off Murray St..... I thought that was part of cat & fiddle, but Place arcade rings a bell. I used to get my hair cut there, and there was a kids shoe shop too? I obviously remember it being bigger than the op does. I guess everything seems bigger when you're a kid!

[*Caro*]

I thought the shoe shop was in Cat and Fiddle proper, rather than the Place Arcade? Could be wrong though, time does weird things to memory!

And when I was a kid, we always talked about 'going into town'. I remember when a friend moved from interstate and used to talk about 'going to the city' with her mum - she'd lived in Melbourne and Sydney and was oh-so cosmopolitan!

[FionaBeagle]

The shoe shop was The Shoe Mart, upper level, approximately where the Red Cross second hand shop is now. From memory, this shop, and this area, did not form part of The Place Arcade. Though, to be fair, the only shops I really remember are Coby's, Bertoz, the coffee shop and Contessa Lingerie (and possibly The Leather Ram.) I also can't be sure that there was an entrance off Murray Street (even though I've been told there was.)

I'm pretty sure The Place was quite small; it must have been a smallish off-shoot of Cat & Fiddle.

ETA - Actually, it was Burrells shoe shop which was upstairs; perhaps The Shoe Mart was also there??

This post has been edited by FionaBeagle: 19/03/2012, 11:43 AM

[2bundles]

Burells I remember. I used to get my school shoes there every year.

[liveworkplay]

And when I was a kid, we always talked about 'going into town'.

I still tell my girls we are going into town They say 'the city?" and I say yes

Burrells only closed down a few years ago. They were gutted in the big Myer fire and Mr Burrell decided it was time to retire. A sad sad loss to Hobart. I now buy my decent kids shoes online.

This post has been edited by liveworkplay: 19/03/2012, 08:56 PM

[Silvermist~]

According to my mum it was called the Place Arcade. There was also a lingerie shop called Contessa.

I remember this arcade! I can remember wanting to go and play near the pond thing but Mum not letting me.

[Silvermist~]

I thought the shoe shop was in Cat and Fiddle proper, rather than the Place Arcade? Could be wrong though, time does weird things to memory!

And when I was a kid, we always talked about 'going into town'. I remember when a friend moved from interstate and used to talk about 'going to the city' with her mum - she'd lived in Melbourne and Sydney and was oh-so cosmopolitan!

heehee I still say "going to town" and my eldest daughter (4.5 years old) often asks when we can "go into town".

Anyone remember the wooden box type play structure in the mall back in the 80's? When we'd go into town I'd always ask Mum if we could go play on it but Mum never let me either.

[*-*]

heehee I still say "going to town" and my eldest daughter (4.5 years old) often asks when we can "go into town".

Anyone remember the wooden box type play structure in the mall back in the 80's? When we'd go into town I'd always ask Mum if we could go play on it but Mum never let me either.

Me! Me! Me! But I was allowed to play on it!

I must say, thank you for the trip down memory lane. I spent my younger years growing up in Southern Tas (Blackmans Bay, Kingston Beach).... not often do I get to read things and remember those times.