03 High Street - how we identify photos
Here is a sample of the often long and tricky process we go through to identify "orphan" photos. Accuracy is everything and we never just guess as this helps perpetuate false information and once it is out there, it is often difficult to correct! In this particular instance it took two years on and off before being 100% certain of the location.
Immediately we were able to identify the car as a 1923-25 Willys-Overland Model 91 Tourer and because the whole family were posing with the car, we assumed it was newly arrived addition to the family. So we dated the photo to between 1923 and 1925.
Key identifying features of the building: It was a two story building with at least one upstairs window - or a single story building with a parapet wall and a feature that resembled a window. We were looking for a building that had (or once had) a verandah with a distinct pattern on the corner brackets. That ruled out most of the buildings in New Norfolk.
The first step was to try to match it to a known location where the Traill family had conducted business. The obvious first candidate was 44 High Street because we didn't know when the Traills first opened this business. It had a verandah but no posts - doesn't mean it never did but the parapet would need to be dramatically changed to make it match. So we ruled this one out. Next candidate was the building next door at 46 High Street - definitely not a match. And lastly 43 High Street which apart from not being a physical match, was opened in the 1940s after 44 high was sold.
We then explored the possibility that maybe this building was never located in New Norfolk at all. Our research at this stage told us that the Traill family lived and worked solely in New Norfolk.
Then I realised that the partial name on the sign did not say Auctioneers, but Confectioners! How I missed this I do not know. I was looking for HW Traill and I knew he was an auctioneer at a later period so my brain made a false connection. Up until now I had been using the electoral rolls but then I discovered the Wise business directories. Alexander Traill was listed as a confectioner in 1925. We were getting closer but still no location for the building.
Then we found a Trove article that featured Alexander Traill (Alex) & Sons as the proprietors of the newly opened American Soda Fountain in 1925. We already knew the location of the soda fountain because we had a 1932 photo of it, but we still dismissed this as a location because the only name I could see was HW Traill and the features of the building didn't seem to match.
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angle makes it deceptive but the windows and parapet match the 1932 photo below.
The car dates the photo to the 1920s and HW Traill is listed in business directories from 1925, before he moved to 44 High Street. We don't know the date he moved but we are working on it. It makes sense that he would have started in partnership with his father before branching out on his own.
The edge of the verandah of 1 High Street can be glimpsed where you would expect it to be.
A moment of clarity - it is most likely that Alex had his confectionery shop on the left and HW Traill had his general shop on the right. The building was certainly big enough - thanks Ken for this gem of inspiration that completes the picture.
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