Historical information

Description: Seven seated and fifteen standing men dressed in suits around a long table in a panelled room hung with formal portraits of men. A trophy sits on the long table amongst loose paper sheets.

Research by project volunteer, Fiona Collyer:
The Commercial Travellers’ Association of Victoria (CTA) was formed at a meeting of 40 commercial travellers held at the Duke of Rothesay Hotel, 24 Elizabeth Street on 1 December 1880. Their charter was to advocate for better working conditions for commercial travelling salesmen, including improved accommodation at discounted rates and travel concession fares.

At first by locomotive, horse and buggy, steamers and horseback, later also by motor car and motorcycle, “The Man on the Road” went into the back-blocks of the country to extend the interests of commerce to the stores and households of Australian regional towns and isolated settlements.

Affiliated organisations existed in all states and New Zealand and in 1895 they integrated to form the United Commercial Travellers’ Association of Australasia (UCTAA). By the turn of the 20th century, the Victorian branch of the CTA had 421 Association Members and 520 Club members.

The CTA continued to hold meetings in leased rooms in hotels and offices until 1898 when they commissioned purpose-built premises at 190-192 Flinders Street (extant, now the Macstore, next to former Metropolitan Gas Company Buildings).

Designed by leading architectural firm of brothers H.W. & F.B.Tompkins (Dimmey’s Model Store, Swan Street, London Stores, Herald and Weekly Times, Myer building, Diamond House, Centreway Arcade, Manton’s Store) in the Queen Anne Revival style at the cost of £20,000, the four storey building had a facade of red Northcote bricks and an entrance of Pyrmont stone. It was very modern for the time, featuring elevators, offices, bars, kitchen, dining, card and billiard rooms and 31 bedrooms with shared bathrooms for the footsore travellers. However, despite adding two storeys in 1901, and another storey and a basement in 1905, they soon outgrew their premises, and in 1912 the CTA commissioned a new building at 328 Flinders Street.

At this time, buildings in Melbourne were constrained by the city height limit of 132 feet (40 metres)- the maximum height of firefighting ladders. The new CTA building was the tallest building in Melbourne until 1932 when regulations changed allowing the Manchester Unity Building to be built.

The new CTA headquarters was the epitome of comfort and luxury with cutting edge facilities to ease the fatigued salesman and prepare him for another stint on the road. General Secretary, James Davies travelled to Britain and America to acquire the very best and latest innovations. After visiting the new premises, Punch magazine 11 June 1914 reported “furnishings, appliances, and labour-saving conveniences which were more than up to date- they were up to-morrow.”

The Edwardian Baroque style building was again designed by architects H.W. & F.B. Tompkins at the cost of £100,000 and built by contractors F.E. Shillabeer and Sons (Nicholas Building, Kellow-Falkiner Pty Ltd car showroom). The nine storey plus basement building is of steel frame construction with concrete floors. The ground floor facade is of grey granite and above that it is faced with cream glazed bricks chosen to combat discolouration from the pollution emitted by Flinders Street Station trains across the road. The facade is decorated with mascarons, gum leaf trim and balconies with classical style balustrade.

The club was entered through revolving doors into a two storey high, circular, domed lobby with white columns, American oak panelled walls and intricate mosaic flooring. The ceiling is festooned with plaster gum leaf and gum nut detail, a theme that is repeated throughout the building.

The basement kitchen had modern, labour saving appliances that would be the envy of any Edwardian housewife, including an electric toaster, a potato peeling machine, heated dumb waiter, dishwashing machine and electric refrigeration and cooking. It serviced the commodious second floor dining room which seated 200 people and the cafe/breakfast room, 80 people. Members were permitted to entertain their lady friends there for afternoon tea between the hours of 3 and 5 pm every day, except Sunday.

The members’ facilities included a barbershop, clothes pressing machine, boot cleaning chair, pipe and cigar stall with electric humidor, public telephones, lockers and safe deposit. The building was serviced with five elevators, a built in vacuum cleaning plant, hot water radiators and linen and postal chutes.

The first floor was devoted to business and relaxing, containing the Board, Writing, Reading and four Business Rooms. The board room had Queensland maple panelling with huge blackwood tables topped with blue morocco and golden tortoise-shell trim and cane bottomed chairs. Large framed photographs of past presidents since 1884 lined the walls.

The Reading Room ran the whole width of the building. Arthur Streeton’s painting “Between the Lights, Princes Bridge 1888” and Frederick McCubbin’s “Looking North from Mount Macedon” were hung there, as well as paintings by renowned Australian artists Hans Heysen, Walter Withers, John Mather, Jan Hendrik Scheltema. The Argus 30 May 1914 quipped “Around the walls hang evidences that the commercial traveller's soul has not been killed in his pursuit of commerce”.

The blackwood panelled room was furnished with Queen Anne style tables and chairs and green leather armchairs with inviting rocker foot rests allowing weary travellers to relax after traversing the railways and dusty roads of Victoria while planning their next sales trip. “The Australasia Traveller” Volume 10, Number 2, April 1914 page 35 noted “An attendant will be constantly employed on this floor to take care of the stationary supply, to tidy up newspapers, and generally study the convenience of members.”

The third floor was for amusements with billiards, a bar and four rooms for playing cards, dominoes and chess. The huge billiard room had seven Alcock billiard tables including a table in a partitioned match-room for tournaments, exhibitions and matches. The walls were lined with members’ cues and for spectators, comfortable lounges with marble topped tables and electric bell pushes for drinks service.

There were 150 bedrooms over five floors, each with their own telephone and wash basin and five suites with a private sitting room attached. There were four bathrooms per bedroom floor and capacious, well-lighted shaving rooms. Top rate club tariff for bed and breakfast - 6 shillings, if called for a country train leaving Melbourne before 8am - 4 shillings, suite and breakfast- 9 shillings, sixpence. “The Australasia Traveller” Volume 10, Number 2, April 1914 page 35 reported “All “early calls” will be made from the Club Office to Bedrooms by means of the Telephone, so that instead of waking everybody else up on the corridor, only the member concerned will know that it is his unpleasant duty to get up.”

The new CTA premises was widely regarded as the finest club in the Southern Hemisphere.

The CTA also built the adjacent six storey Commerce House with 52 sample rooms for travellers to display their wares with the remainder rented to retail businesses and a post and telegraph office. After the CTA moved into their new, larger premises in 1914, neighbouring department store Ball & Welch expanded into the former CTA.

The CTA saw themselves in a nation building role and were an influential lobby group to the Government. They advocated for inter city trunk telephone lines, standard gauge railway lines between NSW and Victoria, improved roads and highways, the Murray River water scheme and maintaining the White Australia Policy. They were very active in fund raising for the war efforts.

The CTA offered its members support in other ways with benevolent funds for widows and orphans, mortuary, accident, sickness and an annuities fund for members over 65 years. There were scholarships for members’ children and home purchase scheme to assist with home ownership. A secondary membership scheme provided access to non commercial travellers (men only) to its exclusive club premises.

They also organised social events and activities such as billiard tourneys, golf tournaments, dances and an annual “Smoke Social” which was a social event where men gathered for a formal dinner, community singing, lectures, speeches and of course, to smoke!

Daylesford born James Davies OBE, (1865-1931) worked at the CTA for 50 years, starting as an office boy and working his way up to General Secretary and editor of the monthly trade journal for UCTAA members, “The Traveller” (1890-1905, later “The Australasian Traveller” 1905-1924 and then “The Australian Traveller” 1925-1976) and the annual colour supplement magazine “Australia To-Day” (1904-1973).

“The Australasia Traveller” featured commentary on the issues of the day like wars, tariffs and trade, articles on new products and hotel recommendations and their rates and lots of advertising, especially alcohol, tobacco and accommodation in regional hotels.

There were regular columns, each illustrated with a line drawing and these included “Our Immigration Record” a state by state summary of arrivals of “desirable immigrants” to Australia, while bemoaning the declining (white) birth rate.

The column followed the arrival of British boys sent to Australia as agricultural apprentices to work on rural properties which were short of labour. Between 1913-1928, 1750 “Barwell Boys”, some as young as 14 years of age arrived in South Australia to work. NSW had a similar program known as the Dreadnaught Boys Scheme where 5595 boys immigrated between 1911-1939. The boys were considered of “good British stock”.

There was a “Home Page For The Ladies” showcasing the latest fashions in women’s clothing, millinery and hairstyles and tips and trends in home furnishings.“Children’s Corner for Dear Little Folks” which featured puzzles, jokes and stories and members could send in photographs of their children. “Road Echoes” devoted to “The Man On The Road” and his doings. “Face Massage, Smiling is the Best Face Massage”, the humour page full of jokes and funny stories. “Railway Rumbles” news of innovations, timetables, tickets and grumbles about lavatories, food and drinking water on trains and at railway stations. And in case we forget that members had a home away from their CTA home, gardening tips with “The C.T. as Gardener” column.

The annual magazine “Australia To-Day” was a vehicle to promote Australia here and overseas as a modern, prosperous country with abundant opportunities and pleasant climate. It sought to showcase its manufacturing, agriculture and tourism and encourage British immigration to Australia. The magazine featured articles about recently arrived migrants at work, quirky native flora and fauna, beach culture, recreation and the Australian way of life in the settler nation. Many of the articles were written by politicians of the day, including Robert Menzies.

The UCTAA commissioned original artwork for the front covers and feature articles of “Australia To-day” from leading Australian artists. These included Norman Lindsay, Frederick McCubbin, Napier Waller, Lionel Lindsay, Hans Heysen, C Dudley Wood, Louis McCubbin, Penleigh Boyd, Louis Buvelot, Christian Waller and Ellis Rowan and her Australian wildflowers.

Some of the photographs in “Australia To-Day” were provided by state and federal government departments as well as manufacturers, newspapers and mining companies. Amongst the credited photographers was Helmut Newton who later earned world acclaim as a fashion photographer, and architectural and industrial photographer Wolfgang Sievers (unfortunately their photographs remain in copyright and aren’t available online). Also featured was Richard C. Strangman, a professional photographer from Canberra, William Howieson of Melbourne, who has 22 photographs in the collection of NGV, Tasmanian wilderness photographer Frederick Smithies, Athol Shmith, portrait photographer and educator from Melbourne, Gordon de Lisle, a Melbourne commercial, industrial, aerial and society portrait photographer. (One of Gordon’s assignments was as the stills photographer for the 1959 movie “On The Beach” filmed in Melbourne). Photographs taken by acclaimed Antarctic and official war photographer Captain Frank Hurley OBE for Adelaide’s Centenary were also featured.

The Australian Government was keenly aware of the influence and quality of the UCTAA publications. On 1 June 1914 The Age reported that to advertise Australia in Great Britain and elsewhere, the Department of External Affairs purchased 6500 copies of “Australia To-Day” magazine for £515 to distribute free to “places where they are most likely to come under the notice of a desirable class of immigrants.” In 1950, the office of Prime Minister Robert Menzies ordered 2550 copies of that year’s issue of “Australia To-Day” for the Department of Commerce and Information to distribute.

The CTA donated their archives to University of Melbourne Archives which includes original artworks and photos used in “Australia To-Day” (Melbourne University has digitised 1114 photos) and sundry items including trophies, ashtrays, commemorative souvenirs, menus, a rare “Safechek” sovereign changer, a bust of James Davies and even a CTA embossed wash bowl and chamber pot.

After the death of General Secretary James Davies in 1931, the CTA held the annual “James Davies Memorial Cup” golf tournament at various Melbourne golf courses, the winner receiving a splendid silver cup. “Table Talk” magazine photographs from 29 June 1933 depict the travellers beautifully (and I would say correctly) attired in tweedy plus fours, Fair Isle knitwear, flat caps and of course fringed brogues. I have been unable to ascertain whether the trophy in our photo is for golf or another CTA social activity.

The CTA Victoria membership peaked in 1951 with 4,672 Aassociation members and 3,693 Club members.

In 1959, Hollywood came to Melbourne when film stars Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Anthony Perkins and Fred Astaire descended to film ‘On the Beach,’ directed by Stanley Kramer. The film is based on the bestselling Neville Shute novel about the aftermath of World War Three, a nuclear war that has obliterated most of the Northern Hemisphere. Radioactive dust is heading toward Australia and everyone is preparing for death.

Scenes with Anthony Perkins were filmed in the CTA billiards room as the exclusive Pastoral Club. Anthony Perkins’ character, Lieutenant Commander Peter Holmes of RAN tells Gregory Peck’s character, Commander Dwight Lionel, that The Pastoral Club is…"A mahogany and polished brass sort of place-some people claim it was the stuffiest club in the Commonwealth” before assuring him that despite shortages, the club is likely to have some Scotch left. In a scene at the Pastoral Club two, old (probably red faced) codgers discuss the challenge of drinking all of the 400 bottles of Gould Campbell vintage port in the club wine cellar before they succumb to radiation sickness in five months time.

The NGV has 12 photographs in their collection of wardrobe stills of Ava Gardner modelling costumes designed by the Fontana Sisters of Rome for “On The Beach”, taken by Italian photographer G.B.Poletto. During the filming, Gregory Peck and his family stayed at “Kurneh” 206 Domain Road, South Yarra, the former home of three times Grand Slam winner Norman Brookes.

Through the decades, Australian society was changing and in order to stay relevant, the CTA had to change too. In 1971, two women were elected for club membership, although they were only granted limited access to the club’s facilities and in 1972, women were invited for the first time to participate in the previously men only annual “Smoke Social”. In 1975, dwindling membership forced the closure of The Commercial Travellers’ Association building and in 1977, the building was sold, with the CTA ceasing to operate in 2014. It was the end of the road for the “Knights of the Road”.

In 1992, the CTA building at 328 Flinders Street was placed on the Victorian Heritage Register in recognition of its architectural and cultural significance. The building has been meticulously restored with many of the original fittings, decorative plasterwork, mosaic flooring, stained glass windows, columns, chandeliers and the panelling made from Australian timbers retained. After renovations the building became first the Euro Asia Hotel, then the Duxton Hotel and in 2005 The Rendezvous Hotel, Melbourne.

In tribute to the history of the building and the film “On The Beach”, the Rendezvous Hotel has the Ms Ava Bar, Perkins room, Mr Tompkins restaurant, Commerce Room and the Davies Room.

Physical description

Glass plate negative

Inscriptions & markings

Photographer notations on slide: