CORDIAL AND SOFT DRINKS MANUFACTURERS
BY THE LATE CLEM GILLEPSPIE
Shelly's Drinks were started here in 1893 by J.A.M. Shelley, my grandfather, who had arrived in Broken Hill from South Australia a couple of years earlier. He worked for a while at Ryan's cordial factory in Williams Street, Burton's brewery on the corner of Bromide and Blende Streets, and for about three months on the mines before starting on his own to manufacture drinks. Shelley's first factory was on the corner of Williams Lane and the Silverton Road 9 Brookefield Avenue) then was moved to the corner of O'Farrel and Morgan Streets. The old factory there was pulled down in the 1950's and rebuilt by British Tobacco Co. who then owned it. In the early days the main lines manufactured were hop beer and ginger beer and later a few other soft drinks were added.
About 1907 Shelley expanded and bought new machinery.
At first the machinery was all run by steam but later a gas engine was installed. This was still working in 1939 when I went to work in the plant. The machines were driven by belts off line shafting along the back wall of the building. Steam was used to make the syrup which was boiled and I think that this probably saved a lot of fermentation later. Water was a problem and I can still remember the tanks, about twenty of them, square and lined with concrete, holding about one thousand gallons each. These tanks were filled with water and a bucket of slaked lime solution stirred in then left to stand over - night. In the morning the water was crystal clear with a pleasant taste unlike any Broken Hill water.
In the early days horse drawn trolleys were used for delivery of drinks to customers. At the back of the block were eight or ten stables and a big paddock for the horses. The drinks were packed into crates or boxes on the trolleys and the driver carried a wicker basket that held about a dozen bottles to carry the orders into the shops. In summer about twenty-five men were employed altogether.
J.A.M. Shelley ran the plant until his death in 1927, with his son Herb and Matt helping in the business. After J.A.M.'S death Herb and Matt ran the business together until Matt went to Sydney in 1929. He built a factory there and ran it for many years.
It is now owned and operated by Amatil, the bottlers of Coco Cola. Herb Shelley died in 1935 and then another brother Fred managed the plant. In the late 1940's Fred built a small factory behind his house in Morgan Street and worked that while the Shelley plant continued to work with Clarrie Holmes, from Sydney, as manager, but that did not last long due to hard times. Fred Shelley and his son bought the plant back and Jack Shelley from Sydney, managed it.
The business was then made into a company and taken over by the British Tobacco Company who built a new plant and operated it until about 1980 when I took it over. My brother Bob came in with me and managed that factory while I continued to run the factory I had established as "Clem's Drinks" at South Broken Hill. Bob Gillespie retired about 1986. The West End Brewing Co. then purchased the property and converted it to be their distribution centre for Broken
Hill.
I started on my own in 1952 in a factory at 155 Wilson Street. I had been running a tuck shop at the High School selling ice blocks and other lines when my mother (nee Shelley) urged me to start making drinks. I started with most of the work being done by hand including the bottle washing: the only plant I had being a small bottler and a carbonator. I worked that plant for about three years and then wanted to expand. Coco Cola had been using the old South bus company shed but decided to sell it and move to other more suitable premises, so I bought their building together with an adjoining house and that was how I came to South Broken Hill to live.
I bought new machinery - a 'Progressive' eight-head bottle and a carbonator able to produce 250 gallons of soda water per hour; also a Hydro bottle washer that took away a lot of the hand work, although the washer was only a glorified rinser and the dirty bottles still needed hand cleaning with a brush.Bottle washing at Shelleys's in 1939 when I went there was done in a soaker tub with about sixteen trays. The bottles were put in upside down and moved down into a caustic soda solution heated by steam.When they had completed the circuit a lever was pulled to slide them into a rinser, then they were put onto trays and sprayed with clean water. The operator standing at the front of the machine had to smell all of the bottles as people used to put things like kerosene and phenyl into them. Those bottles were discarded and destroyed as it was impossible to clean them properly.
When Shelley first started the bottles were corked and tied, then the bottles with the glass marble in the neck were used.After those went out of use most of them were broken by boys to get out the marbles.About 1956 I moved the plant to Patton Street and did quite well, but it is surprising how many shops have
closed since the advent of supermarkets. The supermarkets were selling drinks at prices lower than Local manufacturers could make them so about 1988 I had enough, and sold out to Mark Poole who still has the business. He makes cordials but does not make any cool drinks. I have now retired.
Other drink manufacturers in Broken Hill that I recall were-
Ryan and Co. William Street.
F.W.Adams Oxide Street and Argent Lane. The Masonic building now occupies part of the site and the Workingmen's Club car park was where the factory stood.
Eastman's in Wolfram Street run by Mick Sumsion.
Silver City Mineral Water Co. Argent Street.
Courtney's in Chapple Street run by a Joe Boulus. Bottled Pepsi Cola and '3 spot' drinks. taken over by Ken McBeth.
Fred Peter ran Adams.
Lindstrom's Oxide Street near Grant's Ice Works, then moved to Railwaytown. Later became Dalle's.
Fontaine's Argent Street made their own cordials.
Source - Maurice Craker (dec) 2000
Soft Drink Machine from Bells Milk bar website http://www.bellsmilkbar.com.au
