Shops dealing in antiques , old wares and ephemera are regrettably disappearing across Australia . Recently a Townsville collectables shop from which this writer had bought assorted items , including WWll sheet music , closed its doors . Research into the sheet music led to information about American troop involvement in Australia , even the death of a young Jewish pilot killed in a crash near Townsville .
Thankfully still operating in the former Townsville Mall is The Speckled Hen ( the owner hooked on chooks and ran a former bookshop ) , offering an interesting range of books , paintings , furniture , collectables , even a Chinese jar similar to ones dug up by this writer at Pine Creek in the Northern Territory .
While on the subject of the Territory ,where several secondhand bookshops have closed , it was a relief to see the Coin Bear Collectables shop , above , in the Star Village, Darwin , was open during the festive season . The heart quickens upon entering the den .
It is, however , moving back downstairs into its old lair from whence , over the years , I have searched a box of postcards and ephemera and found interesting Kiwi and Australian items .
