Opened c.1922. Operated by William "Pop" and Bridget Stones until Bridget's death in 1948. Sunday night concerts became a local institution. Continued as teen cabaret in the 1950s and 60s with artists such as Johnny O'Keefe.
Stones Cafe and Milk Bar - the Place to Go
No history of Coogee would be complete without highlighting Stones Cafe and Milk Bar which was located at 157 Dolphin Street, Coogee. Sited near the famous dome-topped Aquarium and the
newly opened Coogee Pier, it helped to make this block a glamorous seaside place for Sydney-siders to catch a tram to Coogee and enjoy the food, drink and entertainment on offer. Stones' remained
a popular venue from the 1920s and the decades through to the 1960s.
The cafe was the idea of William "Pop" Stones and his wife Bridget who built it up into a Sydney institution. Crowds would block the street waiting for its opening time, eager to try their famous milkshakes. Their fruit cocktails were another favourite and cost 1/6d (15cents), which according to the Reserve Bank of Australia's inflation calculaltor would today be worth about $7.50 - about what you would pay to in an upmarket cafe today. Stones' (known over time as a Milk Bar, Cafe, Nightclub, Coffee House, Music Hall and Cabaret), became one of the the places to go in Sydney.
Athenaeum Cafe - Earlier Business
A search of newspapers from the early part of the 20th century shows that William Stones was in business in Coogee in the years before the Dolphin Street business was opened, and operated an earlier business
from nearby Beach Street called the Athenaeum Cafe. Other newspaper articles show meetings and events being held at an Athenaeum Hall, so maybe William Stones was associated with that as well.
In 1914, the Sydney Morning Herald, for instance, carried an advertisement for the rental of a 5 bedroom flat in Beach Street, Coogee, and those interested were to apply to "Stone's Athenaeum Cafe, Beach Street, Coogee."
And then another story recounts that William Stones was called to give evidence at a murder inquest in December 1919; to testify that he knew the alleged murderer and victim as customers and sold them icecreams during November 1919.
William Stones was described as a shopkeeper of Beach Street, Coogee.
Stones Milk Bar & Coffee House, c1946
Stones' of Dolphin Street Opens
By April 1922 we know Stones was operating a business from Dolphin Street because of press reports that show that a daring gang of burglars had broken into his business and stolen £100 worth of tobacco
and £5 of cash from the till. Then in 1931 The Grafton Argus and Clarence River General Advertiser reported that two "inspectors" had asked for glasses of milk at Stones' business, but were refused because they only sold milk shakes.
In the subsequent court case, the magistrate dismissed the charges. It seems to confirm that the Dolphin Street business opened in about 1922.
William and Bridget Stones
Entertainment Venue
The cafe hosted dancing and talent quests on Sunday afternoons and evenings. The latter were the occasions for
amateur performers to give it their all with professional backing. Some achieved later celebrity. One such was Tessie Hamilton who became known by the charming sobriquet of "The Lorelei of the Loo".
Another Stones' performer was the remarkable vocalist Nellie Small (c1900 - 1968). She was a black Australian-born woman of West Indian heritage. Impeccably cross-dressed as a man, she described herself as the King of Australian Drag. From the 1930s and into the early 1960s, she wowed audiences throughout Australia and New Zealand, including at Stones, with her versitile voice and great stage presence.
Stones' Performer: Nellie Small
World War Two Popularity
During World War Two, the cafe became the haunt of Allied servicemen on leave in Sydney.
It was also a popular place for visiting US personnel but tensions between Americans on occasion boiled over into brawls when some objected to the presence of Black
American servicemen. Prince Philip also reputedly visited it as a young naval officer (he was in the Pacific theatre from late 1944 to early 1946).
Talent Quest at Stones', 1946
Bridget's Death & Change of Ownership
Following Bridget’s death in 1948, the goodwill of the business was sold although the name of Stones was retained. It became Stones' Cabaret. Stones welcomed new and young Australian talent.
Entertainer Bill Shadie and pianist Bill Connelly gave aspiring entertainers professional backing during regular talent quest events. Shadie has been putting on regular Sunday
night cafe-cabaret shows for over 20 years and from 1953 Sydney radio station 2SM recorded a half-hour session of each Sunday's entertainment for broadcasting the following
Saturday.
Stones was a non-alcoholic venue, so people remember. One 1953 newpapers advertisement, for instance, shows: "Supper Dance - Stones Cabaret- Coogee tram terminus;. Fri., .17th. inst. 8 to 12p.m. Admission 10/6 (popular band.). For reservations ring FX4323. Bring your own liquor refreshments". Which seems to indicate that alcohol that you brought with you was accepted (B.Y.O.). Going back to the Reserve Bank Inflation Calculator, the admission fee would be worth about $20 today - not unreasonable.
Days of Rock & Roll
The Fifties saw the rise of Rock'n'Roll with hordes of "bodgies" and "widgies" representing a new generation of patronage at what was now called the Teen Cabaret. The local press was deluged with demands
by irate readers for the venue's closure. A Mrs. Larcher who was the proprietor of Stones in the late 1950s felt the need to defend the behaviour of her younger patrons.
It was here Johnny O'Keefe and his band the Dee Jays used to practice their routines and debuted in 1956 (one of the landmark events of Australian rock). In 1957 they released one of Australia's first rock-n-roll records 'You Hit the Wrong Note Billy Goat', which was written by American rocker Bill Haley for O'Keefe (who O'Keefe met during Haley's Australian tour earlier that year). Some claim that O'Keefe's debut performance at Stones' was abandoned during an all-in brawl.
Johnny O'Keefe Performing Shout
Patrons, including children, enjoyed drinks and food on marble tables. You need to be in your 70s to be old enough to remember being at Stones. But even it its last days, people still recollect it being an exciting venue. Those I spoke to recall it as being a slightly glamorous place to be taken to as a special treat by uncles and aunts even though the entertainment on offer could be a mixed bag. It hosted events such as weddings and real estate auctions and in 1950, for instance, and a report had the Auburn Chess Club meeting at the cafe.
Stones Closes
In 1967, the Stones family sold the premises and it was converted into a Hungarian Restaurant. So ended one of Sydney's and Coogee's most remarkable business and entertainment venues, now marked by
a brass plaque in the Dolphin Street's pavement.
Then in 1978 the venue was converted into the Coogee Comedy Theatre Restaurant, with the first show by Coralie Wood and Jim Hutchins called Vaudeville Capers who decorated the interior with large amounts of red velvet to give it, they said, an "authentic 30s' flavour". Eventually the site was demolished and redeveloped into a retail and apartment block.
Some Stones' Family History
The Stones had a son, William John Stones, born on 26 June 1916, who volunteered to enlist in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) on 22 April 1940. His enlistment papers at the National Archives of Australia tells
us quite a bit about William John, and in turn, a little more about his family as a whole. He was a Catholic who attended school at Marist Brothers, Randwick, now known as Marcellin College, and later at
the St. Patick's Business College. When he enlisted he stated that he had spent two and half years training as fitter and refrigeration mechanic at a factory in Pyrmont and that he had recently married
Marjorie Patricia in 1942. He said that he was a British subject and of "pure European descent" (many people felt that was important in those days!). An RAAF aptitude test described him of as being of average
intelligence, and though very good mechanically, was poor at maths and general planning. Nonetheless, he progressed through the non-commissioned ranks during his 4 and half years in the Air Force to
become a Sergeant (Fitter Armourer) when discharged in October 1945. Throughout his service, his home address was given at 157 Dolphin Street, though by 1954 when he acknowledged receipt of his war
decorations, he was living at nearby 5 Glenwood Avenue, Coogee.
According to the online Ryerson Index to death notices and obituaries in Australian newspapers, the founder of Stones, William Henry Stones died, aged 86 on 29th October 1964. His wife, co-founder Bridget Ellen Stones (nee Cain), had predeceased him on 2 October 1948 aged 65. They were married in 1920. Their son William John Stones (the RAAF veteran) died on the 1st March 1982. All were described as being "late of Coogee". The younger Stones' widow, Marjorie Patricia (Pat) (nee Lambert) Stones died on 12 November 2011, aged 91, and was described as being "late of Pioneer Lodge Nursing Home, Griffith."
William John Stones, c1940 - RAAF Enlistment Photo
References
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