While making a quick raid on the Cairns CBD in the never ending hunt for oddities, books , ephemera and the elusive Holy Grail, a shopkeeper from whom a few items were bought was asked if there were any other places which might have offbeat goodies which appeal to weirdos like Little Darwin and its readers.
Try the Crackerbox Palace , was the reply, just past the giant Captain Cook statue , in Sheridan Street , but it may not be open today . True enough , it was shut . Tut,tut . However the emporium was visited when it was obviously open for treatment of the afflicted by a huge kewpie doll flaunting herself on the footpath .
Upon entering the premises it looked [far left] as if Her Majesty was standing there in a right royal blue hat , searching for gear to modernise dreary Buckingham Palace . Before the forelock could be tugged , it became apparent it was a mannequin in the image of Lizzie Twostroke in ordinary dress,not crown and flowing ermine robe . A stand out surprise was Chesty Bond in a singlet . He used to be proudly Australian before Bonds was bought by the Yanks , along with Vegemite, Monte Carlo biscuits and probably the ashes of Horrie the Wog Dog . Desirable retro objets were scattered throughout .
Little Darwin's cluttered den would take on a new look if space could be found on a wall for that mounted Marlin trophy, which could have been caught by Zane Grey in New Zealand or Ernest Hemingway in Cuban waters. However, it was part of a 235lb Black Marlin caught by King Hardwick ,off Sydney, in l950, and is on consignment .
At the rear of the shop were records-vinyl - displayed as art objects and racks of distinctive clothing . Riffling through some 45s , an interesting one was Ted Egan going on about Darwin's Beercan Regatta. A cluster of postcards revealed an unfortunate episode where a person ,possibly from overseas , doing an outback tour , posted PCs to a friend in Sydney , but they were never delivered because of the wrong postal address, all marked not known at this address .
One of the postcards , a view of Mt Conner, in the Northern Territory, told of being stranded by rain in Central Australia , the cold weather hard to bear.
A particularly interesting postcard bought was about South Africa by German black and white artist Heiner Egersdorfer who came to Australia from South Africa and lived with Lionel and Norman Lindsay in the artists colony at Charterisville , Melbourne .
The proprietor of the shop , Megan Card , has been in this line of business for 20 plus years , her first shop at Kuranda , on the Atherton Tablelands .
The shop's name , she explained , was inspired by George' Harrison's 1976 single , the promo film for which, directed by Eric Idle of Monty Python fame , showed a group which included Harrison , a future wife , Olivia Arias, and John Cleese romping about in an array of wild clothes . Harrison had long been a fan of American stage performer Lord Buckley , called the hippiest cat of them all , and had visited the old Buckley house in Los Angeles called Crackerbox Palace .
The proprietor of the shop , Megan Card , has been in this line of business for 20 plus years , her first shop at Kuranda , on the Atherton Tablelands .
The shop's name , she explained , was inspired by George' Harrison's 1976 single , the promo film for which, directed by Eric Idle of Monty Python fame , showed a group which included Harrison , a future wife , Olivia Arias, and John Cleese romping about in an array of wild clothes . Harrison had long been a fan of American stage performer Lord Buckley , called the hippiest cat of them all , and had visited the old Buckley house in Los Angeles called Crackerbox Palace .
Through her business, Megan mixed with local artists , musicians and indulged her interests in records, fashion , retro furniture , into the latter before it became so popular. In the past she has been involved in art exhibitions and staged her own lighting exhibition .
One of her great buys came when an 80 year old man came in and sold his mother's large wardrobe of art deco clothing ; she had been well to do and had travelled the world . It gives her much pleasure bringing old fashion garments back to life .
The large kewpie doll at the front of the shop was specially made by an artist and Megan liked it so much she offered to buy it if she ever felt like parting with it and eventually it was offered to her .
