The Re-Birth of Entertainment:
Start your engines!
For generations, the Emerald family had catered to the transport needs of Harbour City. By 1920 Mortimer Emerald, was seeing first hand how fast innovation was redefining the future of transportation. As such he modernised his family’s stable and carriage premise on Victoria Street into an automobile garage. From that moment the Emerald Garage became somewhat of a Darlinghurst Icon and became synonymous as a one stop shop in the sale and maintenance of luxury Australian automobiles. At one point the garage spruiked everything from tyres to lubricants and was known as the ‘jewel of Victoria Street’
Post World War Two and with a boom in the importation of international cars, the Emerald Garage shifted gear and realigned itself with high performance and racing cars. Business was good but after Mortimer’s sudden death, his son ‘Albie’ took over the business. Notoriously bad with money, it was a well known fact that Mae, Albie’s wife was the real brains behind the success of the garage as well as raising their three sons. Nothing it seems could prevent the inevitable and through a series of poor decisions and bad gambling bets the Emerald Empire had fallen.
All was not lost, and thanks to some quick last minute thinking Mae was able to save the garage by signing over the deeds to her three sons, with the hope that the garage would rise again. Alas Albie ran from his creditors and wasn’t seen since with rumours he settled in Queensland.
With their father gone and now encumbered with a garage that had never really been of their interest, the three boys came together to bring a life back to their cavernous warehouse that would put 235 Victoria Street back on the map. It was the 60’s and Harbour City was welcoming the world. The jet age was bringing International acts directly to us and redefining entertainment. The Emerald Room was born!
