Their ice cream sodas, malted milks, and leg ham sandwiches were popular, but the Kosciusko Cafe’s claim to fame was that it was ‘the best fruit shop in town’.
‘She won’t last a week,’ said Peter when she turned up for work that first day. It was 1939 and 15-year-old Gwen Mullins had secured a job as typist and cashier at the recently refurbished Christie’s Cafe at 217 Queen Street.
Imagine the courage of young Greek women who travelled across the world to marry men they had never met. Women are the unsung heroes of the Greek cafe story.
The task of naming the State Library of Queensland’s impending exhibition about Greek cafés was met with deliberation equal to that of the Greek proprietor choosing a name for his shop.
At the State Library we’re working towards an exhibition about Greek cafes. Run by Greek migrants, these shops were the heart of regional towns across the state.