Victoria Avenue, Chatswood, looking east from the station, c. 1938
A hamburger shop opened in Victoria Avenue, Chatswood, in 1936. The shop was owned by Mr Lovett but the short order cook, Mr Jones, made the hamburgers. He bought the lettuce and tomatoes from my father at his green grocers shop that was two doors further east at 373 Victoria Avenue. When the shop first opened we kids would gather outside and watch the cook through the window and sniff the tantalising smells wafting through the door. A plain one cost 4 pence, and with egg it cost sixpence.
I well remember the day I tasted a hamburger for the first time. Mr Jones came into our shop to buy fresh ingredients to make his hamburgers and he asked my father if he had ever tasted one. My father said “no” and Mr Jones said “Well then, I’ll make you one up and it will be on the house” (free). It consisted of a mincemeat patty with cooked onions, lettuce, tomato and beetroot in a soft bun. My mother cut it in four and we had a piece each. It was absolutely delicious. I can taste it now! In those days a hamburger was much larger – about 5 inches in diameter and 2 ½ inches high.