The Path of Pleasure. Flashlight at opening of Wattle Path Palais at St Kilda - The "Temple for the Dancing Muse," which has been erected on the Upper Esplanade, St. Kilda, and which claims to have the largest and finest dancing floor in Australia, was opened to the public with great eclat on Wednesday, October 31. It is an exceedingly handsome addition to the architecture of St. Kilda, with a very fine outlook over the waters, and the interior is splendidly appointed both for dancing and dinner parties, with an admirably selected orchestra each afternoon and evening. (1)
The opening of the Wattle Path Palais
Table Talk, November 8, 1923 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article146466608
Temple of the Muse - Wattle Path Palais - Splendour at St. Kilda.
On Wednesday, October 31, the most beautiful dancing hall and cafe erected in Australia will be opened at St. Kilda. For some months past many who have wandered along the Esplanade, St. Kilda, have wondered what the superb building being erected on the site of the once famous open air theatre known as Paradise was? At the end of seven months they are enlightened. It is the Wattle Path Palais de Danse and Cafe, St. Kilda, and it can accommodate 6,000 people! Something like a Palais!
In every way the Wattle Path is an asset to the St. Kilda Esplanade. The front of the building, facing the sea, is handsome in appearance, and later on there will be a rockery, set with palms, before the entrance. This is tiled in blue, to tone with the artistic colour scheme of blue, gold, and white, which is carried out through the building. In every season of the year the Wattle Path will be a place of brightness and exhilaration, filled always with bracing ozone. The typhoon system of ventilation pumps out the used air and floods the building with fresh air six times during the hour. The huge ballroom presents a magnificent sight with its expanse of gleaming white, studded overhead with deep orange and blue shades veiling the lights. Blue upholstery on the cane seats, blue carpets, and dark woodwork complete the scheme. It has been chosen for good effect by day as well as by night, for there are to be dance matinees twice weekly.
Around the sides of the ballroom is a wide balcony, really a second ballroom. Its kauri floor is similar to the big one downstairs. Here, the public may also dance, but it is expected that the balcony will he largely used for private parties. Sections of the sides can be screened off, and separate self-contained serveries deal with the refreshment problem. When the tables are set at one side, there is plenty of room to dance, the screened section forming a miniature ballroom for the party, if they so prefer it.
To cater for the thirst and healthy appetite that dancing invariably creates, there are several soda fountains and a large catering plant at Wattle Path. The man in charge of the soda fountains has evolved some "specials" sure to tempt the palates of thousands during the coming warm months. Light refreshments are served to order, but for those who desire something more substantial a cafe seating 400 persons runs the breadth of the building in front. Through the many windows may be seen the splendid sweep of the bay, and there is an open-air promenade over the entrance to the lounge downstairs. It is intended to conduct this as an all-day cafe, and bathers, visitors, and passing motorists should find it a boon. From 8 till 11 p.m. - while the dancing is in progress - the cafe will be reserved for patrons of the Wattle Path. The appointments in the cafe match in beauty and good taste the remainder of the building, and the smart uniforms worn by the staff tone with the general scheme. Downstairs in the kitchen the latest appliances are installed, which ensures that the food will be stored, prepared, cooked, and served in thoroughly hygienic manner. The big oven, the cost of which ran into four figures, can bake 3,000 pieces of pastry an hour. The engineer had to start the furnace three weeks ago, and kept it burning continuously, in order that the oven shall be in perfect condition to bake the first batch of Wattle Path cakes. (2)
The Wattle Path Palais. In the window bottom left, Joe Aronson and his orchestra are advertised.
There is more about Joe, below.
Detail of View of the Esplanade, St Kilda. Valentine Publishing Co., State Library of Victoria image H2018.253/6
See full image here https://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/4182132
The Wattle Path was built for the Wattle Path Palais de Danse and Cafe Ltd. This company was registered in August 1922 and it had a capital £40,000 in £1 shares. (3) The Subscribers were -
Stanley Manuel Young Freeman. Stanley was the managing director of the company and listed in the electoral rolls at Hornby Street and later The Avenue, both in Prahran; his occupation was a teacher. Stanley died September 25, 1945, aged 56. (4)
James Percy Griffen Sargent. He was the secretary of the company and the manager of the Wattle Path Palais de Danse. His address in the electoral rolls, where his occupation was listed as a clerk, was Wild Street, Preston (also called Regent); however he moved for a time to St Kilda, and then back to Wild Street in Preston, where he died on May 13, 1960, aged 80.(5)
Gilbert Macpherson Johnstone. Gilbert was a solicitor from Tasmania, but by 1924 he had moved to St Kilda. Gilbert died in New South Wales, on November 28, 1954, aged 70.(6)
Eustace Duncan. Eustace was an accountant from Alfriston Street in Elwood, who later moved to South Yarra. I have no other information. (7)
James Eustace. Presumably a brother to Eustace, but I can't confirm any information about him.
One of Stanley Freeman's first tasks was to advertise for a Musical Director for the Wattle Path, at a salary of £1000 per annum, a huge salary for the time. (8) In 1920, for instance a factory worker was earning around £200 per annum and a manager or clerk around £300 per annum. (9)
Advertisement for Musical Director
The Herald, May 7, 1923 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article244024341
The building was designed by architects, Beaver and Purnell and it was built by H.H. Eilenberg of Caulfield. (10) The Architect, Isidore George Beaver (1859-1934) had worked in Adelaide until 1893, when he moved to Melbourne to work on the National Mutual Life Association building in Collins Street. His work in Melbourne then consisted mainly of private houses. In 1915 he formed a partnership with Arthur Purnell (1878-1964). They also had many residential commissions, but in 1924 they designed a new wing on the Homeopathic (later Prince Henry's) Hospital. Their partnership was dissolved in 1925. (11)
The Architect's sketch for the Wattle Path Palais De Danse
The Herald, May 16, 1923 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article244026751
Henry Harris Eilenberg of Kooyong Road, Caulfield, was the builder. In an article on Arthur Purnell by Melbourne University lecturer, Dr Derham Groves, he notes that Henry Eilenberg was Purnell's favourite builder. (12) He built, amongst other things, the grandstand at the St Kilda Cricket Club in 1925; the St Kilda Synagogue in Charnwood Grove in 1926 and the Samuel Meyers Hall at this synagogue in 1940. (13)
The Interior of the Wattle Path Palais.
The caption reads - At Wattle Path Palais de Danse and Cafe on a recent Sunday afternoon. Tables are laid on the dancing door for over a thousand guests, and, in consequence of the appreciation and patronage of the public, the management are now considering the advisability of throwing open the balconies. Music by a full orchestra is given every afternoon and evening (Saturdays included) under the direction of Mr. Joe Aronson.
Tables can be reserved on application to the management. Telephone, Windsor 5441.
Table Talk, May 8, 1924 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article146459399
I came across this programme (on EBay) for the Wattle Path Palais from 1926.
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The programme advertises Joe Aronson's Roseland Orchestra, who was playing on Sunday, November 7, 1926. This is the detail of the playlist from the programme.
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Joe Aronson, was an American, and was a popular musician and the first reference I can find to him being in Australia was in April 1924, when he appeared Direct from New York at the Wattle Path. (14)
The Wattle Path presents Joe Aronson direct from America
The Herald, May 14, 1924 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article244219597
During 1927 and early 1928 Joe and his Syncopating Symphonists played live on Radio 3LO, and listeners from all over Australia could tune in to hear him. The music programmes for 3LO were published in newspapers interstate, with the Western Australian papers reminding listeners that Melbourne time is two hours ahead of Perth. Joe left radio in February 1928 and played at the Green Mill Dance Hall in St Kilda Road for over a year. (15). Joe was back in Australian in 1933 and back on radio as Sports and Radio reported -
One of the first saxophone players in the world, and now regarded as a leader in conducting jazz orchestras, Joe Aronson, of Chicago, has returned to Australia, and, as in 1927, is going to delight listeners in all States with his “Syncopated Symphonists,” which is the name of the band he has organised. In furtherance of his policy of building up the programmes of the Australian Broadcasting Commission throughout the national network, Major Conder, general manager, who in 1927, when controlling wireless stations in different States, had Aronson booming as an entertainer, has engaged the Chicago conductor and his band for a season of six months. All the States will be visited by the combination, which has been specially organised in Australia, and has been in rehearsal for over a month. (16)
Joe Aronson
Australian Jewish Herald, December 22 1932 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article262185226
The Wattle Path was sold in June 1933. The Herald reported that the price paid for the Wattle Path
Palais is said to be approximately £23,000. The building cost £83,000 before it opened its doors as a dance resort about 10 years ago. (17) It was purchased by Frank Thring, the film and theatre entrepreneur of Efftee Film Productions and became a modern talking picture studio. (18) However by December 1935, the building had returned to its original use and became the Streets of Paris the first real continental cabaret ever presented in Melbourne. (19) This was operated Henry Hans 'Harry' Kleiner, who in 1939 transformed the building into the St Moritz Ice Rink, advertised as the fourth largest in the world. It opened on March 10, 1939 (20) Harry still owned St Moritz in March 1953, however at this time he sold the lease to two Melbourne ice-skating enthusiasts, Ted Molony and John Gordon. (21)
As you can see from the circa 1950s photograph, below, the St Moritz building changed very little externally from when it was first opened as the Wattle Path Palais de Danse in 1923, having been designed by Isidore Beaver and Arthur Parnell and built by Henry Eilenberg.
St Moritz closed in 1981 or early 1982 and was demolished in 1982 (22)
St Moritz Ice Rink, c. 1950s. The structure on the left is the St Kilda Boer Memorial in Alfred Square, designed by Arthur Peck (see more about this here)
Detail of Upper esplanade, showing St. Moritz, St. Kilda, c, 1950s. Photographer: Rose Stereograph Co.
State Library of Victoria image H32492/6549.
See full image here https://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/128416
Footnotes
(1) Table Talk, November 8, 1923, see here. The Herald report on the opening, published November 1, 1923, can be read here.
(2) Prahran Telegraph, October 26, 1923, see here.
(3) The Herald, August 24, 1922, see here.
(4) Freeman - Electoral Rolls on Ancestry.com; Sydney Sun, April 17, 1923, see here. Death notice: Suns News-Pictorial, September 26, 1945, see here.
(5) Sargant - Electoral Rolls on Ancestry.com; The Herald, May 16, 1923, see here; The Argus, March 6, 1925, see here. Death notice: the Age, May 16, 1960, p. 16; on newspapers.com.
(6) Johnstone - Electoral Rolls on Ancestry.com. Death notice: Sydney Morning Herald, November 29, 1954, see here.
(7) Duncan - Electoral Rolls on Ancestry.com
(8) The Herald, May 7, 1923, see here
(9) State Library of Victoria https://guides.slv.vic.gov.au/whatitcost/earnings
(10) The Herald, May 16, 1923, see here
(11) Architects Database - George Isidore Beaver-
https://architectsdatabase.unisa.edu.au/arch_full.asp?Arch_ID=146 Homeopathic Hospital illustration - The Argus, April 19, 1934, see here.
(12) Groves, Derham The Barlow File published in University of Melbourne Collections, Issue 5 November 2009
(13) Henry Eilenberg - buildings The Argus, February 9, 1925, see here; Australian Jewish Herald March 11, 1926, see here; Australian Jewish Herald, May 30, 1940, see here. The Synagogue and the Samuel Meyers Hall were designed by Joseph Plottel (1883-1977) - I have come across him before and written about him here - https://thepalmtreeblog.blogspot.com/2026/01/the-palm-trees-in-palm-grove-deepdene.html. Harry Eilenberg died on October 16, 1960, aged 68. Death notice: The Age, October 17, 1960 p. 16, on newspapers.com
(14) The Herald, April 14, 1924, see here.
(15) Perth Daily News, February 8, 1927, see here; Adelaide News, February 20, 1928, see here. The Green Mill opened in 1926 and was on the site where the National Gallery of Victoria is now located - corner of St Kilda Road and Sturt Street.
(16) Brisbane Sports and Radio, June 17, 1933, here.
(17) The Herald, June 23, 1933, see here.
(18) The Herald, June 23, 1933, see here.
(19) The Age, December 23, 1935, see here.
(20) The Herald, March 8, 1939, see here.
(21) The Age, March 4, 1953, see here.
Harry Kleiner - At the time of his death on January 18, 1959, at the age of 72, Harry was listed as an auctioneer and also owned the Central Hotel in Brighton. Death notice: The Age, January 19, 1959, p. 12 on newspapers.com; Obituary - The Age, January 19, 1959, p. 5 on newspapers.com
Ted Molony (1900-1975) - https://icelegendsaustralia.com/legends-2/bio_molony.html;
John Gordon (1894-1989) - https://icelegendsaustralia.com/legends-2/bio_gordon.html
(22) The last reference to skating at St Moriz, which I can find in The Age on newspapers.com is August 1981, which doesn't mean, of course, that it didn't last longer. Demolition had commenced by May 1982, then it was stopped by the Builders Labourers Federation for a short time, but by then demolition work has already cleaned out much of the inside of the building and removed the verandah (see article below)
The Age, May 4, 1982, p. 14 from newspapers.com
