EXPLORE the famous former Coles Book Arcade (1883-1929), an icon of gold rush Melbourne. Students walk to the locations of its former fabulous attractions, which included a band, aviary, fernery, monkey house, library, robots, electric lights, and rainbows. Plus over a million books!
VISIT the Marvellous Melbourne era of surrounding gold-rush buildings that inspired the Coles Arcade. These iconic places include the Town Hall (1860), Block Arcade (1891), Royal Arcade (1872), GPO (1861), Dymocks, Presgrave Street Art and the Howey Place Rainbow. We ‘walk the block’ of Victoria’s high fashion promenade.
OUR TOUR is interactive with images and fun activities that encourage students to learn about the Marvellous Melbourne era and its goldrush personalities, including ‘Willy Wonka’ owner Edward Coles, his wife Eliza Jordan, their six children and many others such as Nellie Melba, Nellie Stewart, Ned Kelly, Alfred and Pattie Deakin.
LEARN about the literature history of the Arcade. The Coles Funny Book (1879) by Edward Coles, ‘the best children’s book in all the world’, was crammed with riddles, puzzles, games and cartoons. Other books about the Arcade include Cole of the Book Arcade by Cole Turnley, Under the Rainbow by Richard Broinowski, Chasing the Rainbow by Lisa Lang, Utopian Man by Lisa Lang and The Grandest Bookshop on Earth by Amelia Mellor.
“Thank you so much for such an insightful & engaging excursion! We loved it.” Eltham Primary.
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HISTORY
Melbourne became a United Nations World City of Literature in 2014 but 130 years earlier, Melbourne had a world-famous site founded by Edward Cole in Bourke Street, Melbourne. In 1883 Edward invited the public to ‘THE GRANDEST BOOKSHOP IN THE WORLD’. This was no idle boast. His book arcade expanded into a vast, fantastical entertainment emporium stretching two blocks to Collins Street. In this public space, people browsed thousands of books for free and were entertained by a band, monkey house, aviary, fernery teahouse, mechanical devices and innovative departments for music, confectionery, photography, ornaments, library and more. The south entrance was on ‘The Block’, the Marvellous Melbourne promenade on the Golden Mile of Collins Street.
Cole believed that reading was democratic, enjoyable and the essence of civilization. He lived out his idealistic dreams in an apartment on the upper floor of the bookstore with his wife Eliza Jordan and their six children Ruby, Ivy, Pearl, Linda, Edward and Valentine.
Cole was also a prolific publisher of works such as Cole’s Funny Picture Book, Cole’s Fun Doctor, Cole’s Intellect Sharpener, and The Thousand Best Poems in the World.
At its peak, the arcade was famous across Australia and abroad, attracting writers like Mark Twain and Rudyard Kipling. Cole’s passion for justice expressed itself in opposition to the White Australia policy and his campaigns for a federated and peaceful world with one harmonious religion.
