John Fleming and his wife, May built this business from a 'ham and beef shop' to a more modern delicatessen from c 1930 until the 1950s. May and her mother, Mrs Ethel Pallisser, cooked 'potted meats', pies and rissoles. John cooked and boned the bacon and other meats. They also sold Herbert Adams cakes which were delivered in large slabs from which John cut into one and two pound pieces. Initially the shop had counters which they replaced with glass cases. The Flemings lived at the shop until the accommodation became too cramped. John Barry Fleming (1912-2010) married Ethel May Palliser (1915-1997) in 1938. Prior to marriage, May lived with her parents: father Henry or Harry Palliser, a bricklayer, and Ethel nee Johnson in Norfolk Road. The Flemings later lived in Yandilla Street, Balwyn.Close-up black and white photo of the exterior of 156 Union Road. The shopkeeper, John Fleming is standing at the door. Either side are display windows, on one side filled with shelves of cakes and on the other with packaged goods. Advertising on the windows is for Robur tea and Herbert Adams cakes.delicatessens, shops, businesses, union road shops, john fleming, john barry fleming, ethel may fleming, ethel may palliser, ethel palliser, ethel johnson