The General Post Office building (GPO) which is listed as a heritage landmark building was officially opened in 1923 and regarded at that time as 'quite splendid'.. Oh how I would have loved to have seen this post office in it's hey day, 7 floors of thriving activity. Basement vaults and bulk parcels, 1st floor mail room. 2nd floor executive offices, 3rd floor State Engineer and operators of the telephone and telegram systems connected to the ground floor by pneumatic tubes HOW FANTASTIC!! I'm sure I should have been born a hundred years ago...oh wait.. !! I was haha! Now where was I before I got excited about the pneumatic tubes...4th and 5th floor taxation department, 6th floor Federal Depts and accommodation for Federal Ministers and last but not least the 7th floor which was the staff dining room, imagine the stories flying around there! The solid Jarrah floor and features are still there, but only a very small section is used as a post office, the rest as the bumph describes it has been 'spruced up with shops and restaurants'..yeh like we really need more of those.....!!
Reminds me of the great post office building in Minneapolis where I picked up the mail for a large company on my way to school in the 1950s...
ReplyDeleteIt is a shame that these grand structures have, at least in this country, become mostly extinct!
Your building is absolutely gorgeous and even if it ain't what it once was, at least it hasn't been bulldozed to make way for a Starbuck's or a McDonald's!
Oh, yes! I should add that in my youth all the major stores use pneumatic tubes!
ReplyDeleteGreat mean to measure time and life indeed. Can barely remember last time I used 'snail mail'.
ReplyDeletePlease have you all a good Friday.
What a grand building it is. Beautiful shots.
ReplyDeleteSydney - City and Suburbs
It is a magnificent building indeed! Marvelous captures! I find it sad what's happening to so many beautiful older buildings here in the states. To be sure, the new ones have very little "personality"! Hope you have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteSylvia
I'll bet you couldn't find anyone under 50 that would even KNOW what a pneumatic tube is!
ReplyDeleteGreat looking building Grace!
ReplyDeleteOh my. Pneumatic tubes. I remember them in NYC department stores when I was a child. Now we have text messages.
ReplyDeletemeet you in 1898 !
ReplyDeleteAloha from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
> < } } ( ° >
><}}(°>
< ° ) } } > <
What a wonderful piece of architecture.
ReplyDeleteIt is a beautiful building! I'm glad it's still used even if it is for more shops. You made me think of a department store I shopped in as a kid and there were pneumatic tube running in all directions (or at least it seemed like it to me). What fun!
ReplyDeleteToute une époque, que tu nous décris là. Et, à la lecture de cette vie révolue, je revois les scènes de films américains des années 50, avec Humphrey Bogard...
ReplyDeleteBonne journée, Gracie!
I'm a huge fan of snail mail. I would looooove to post letters and postcards from this gorgeous building and naturally I would enjoy the shops too. Yes, les magasins... :-)
ReplyDeleteOne of the co-ops in Edinburgh used such 'tubes.' Amazed me as a kid, but would annoy me a lot if I had to wait on them today!
ReplyDeleteThis building is gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteYou say you'd like to be born a 100 years ago; Do you know the Woody Allen's movie "Midnight in Paris"? you SHOULD LOVE it!
Great building !
ReplyDeleteBest regards,
Pierre
That is a gorgeous gorgeous building! I can imagine the hustle and bustle there :D
ReplyDeleteUn edificio emblemático,
ReplyDeleteque tengas un feliz fin de semana.
un abrazo.
I had to laugh at the post's title .. my office's email server has been having issues and I was wishing for a pneumatic tube moments ago! Honest.
ReplyDeleteI still remember when, a few years ago, our Central Post Office still worked mail and parcels. Now it is something like what you described, but in a way that is absolutely unappealing...
ReplyDeleteFab building. Those tubes were magical weren't they?!
ReplyDeleteIt's a lovely building. In the US they still use pneumatic tubes for drive-thru banking. The magic lives on! ;)
ReplyDeleteThese buildings are amazing1
ReplyDeleteNice work capturing the old building. It is full of character and you have shown its elegance well. Informative commentary makes the pictures even better.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful building. I really deserved monument. The building is basically a palace. Nice morning wishes Peter.
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful building, Grace. It looks like your first picture was taken as the sun was turning to gold.
ReplyDeletePneumatic tubes? You are making me feel really old. I do remember one store that used them. You bought an item, handed the clerk the money (this was before credit cards!!!), he or she put the money and credit slip in a little vessel and inserted it into the tube. Whoosh! It got sucked up to a higher floor. After a while, it came back down with the change.
Don't do this to me, Grace! I was feeling young and strong before this, despite the gray hair and other evidence to the contrary.
It's a grand building, love it!
ReplyDeleteI used to be able to find good advice from your content.
ReplyDeleteFeel free to surf my website ; Local News aggregation website