91 years of Wall family history - the legacy of Hay Furniture Co.
By Bruce Wall
91 Years History of the Wall family’s “Hay Furniture Co” (1932 - 2023) Ronald Alfred Wall: 1901 - 1967.
Ronald Alfred Wall was born on June 28, 1901 in Hay at the family home in Church Street.
Ron Wall traded as Hay Furniture Mart from the beginning of his enterprise in 1932 to 1957, when the company was restructured, including a name change to Hay Furniture Co.
Ron began his working career at age 12 in 1913, and in 1916, at age 15, commenced employment with W.G. Butterworth & Co., in Alma Street, as an apprentice carpenter.
In 1918, following the end of World War One, some building workers who were previously employed by this company returned from military service to take up their former positions.
As a result Ron had to step aside and forego completion of his apprenticeship.
However, he remained in the employ of W.G. Butterworth & Co, working in their office.
Little is known of Ron’s life during the period 1918 to 1932, although it is known that he played football, Australian Rules, and was successful in winning awards for Best and Fairest on more than one occasion.
His other sporting interests included cricket and cycle racing.
A number of old family photographs indicate that he, like many in the community during this period, spent much time enjoying fishing, and of course picnicking and gathering fire wood.
As a young man he purchased a cornet on a time payment plan and joined the Hay Brass Band, rising to the position of Bandmaster in 1945.
This cornet is still in mint condition and is a valuable family heirloom.
During the 20’s and 30’s he played in various orchestras, including the orchestras that provided accompaniment for the silent movies at the theatre in McGregor Street.
In about 1930, Ron commenced work for Clarry Hill, who had a grocery store in the southern half of the site now occupied by Hay Furniture Co.
There has been some suggestion that Ron made an unsuccessful attempt with his own retail grocery store, possibly in the late 1920’s but no further information is available concerning this matter.
However, in 1932 he started his second-hand furniture shop in premises situated at 159 Lachlan Street, now occupied by CID Electrics.
Pictured is Ron Wall (in white apron), as an employee of Clarry Hill at that time in the late 1920’s. Image supplied by Bruce Wall.
Some four years later, in 1936, he purchased the local undertaking business from Andy Duncan, who retired due to age.
Ron partitioned the rear section of his Lachlan Street shop and carried out the undertaking business from this rear section which had direct access to Moore Street.
The early years of Ron’s second-hand furniture business involved significantly, attending auction sales to purchase broken and damaged furniture which he then rebuilt, re-finished and resold.
The economy of that period fell far short of supporting an antique furniture market in Hay and the concept of restoration was quite different to that of today.
It was simply a matter of repairing and reselling.
Ron had woodworking tools and machinery as an integral part of his second-hand furniture business during the 1930’s and he later expanded this capability, in around 1940 to include manufacturing small furniture items and wooden toys.
He subsequently designed and manufactured a number of wooden toys and nursery furniture items as there was a timely opportunity to supply merchandise that had become unavailable due to the war effort rationing of raw materials and various commodities.
The production line included a number of conventional woodworking machines, including a bench saw, jig saw, planer, large disc-sander and a spray-painting outfit.
Most of this equipment was located in the upstairs section of the shop with a large band-saw, with the integral drum sander being located on the ground floor toward the rear of the shop.
At that time, the back wall of the building was about two thirds of the way back when compared with the present building.
Items manufactured were many and varied and included hobby horses, pull-along wagons, aeroplanes, Tommy-guns with hacksaw blade and ratchet wheel providing the sound effects, Swan and horse style rock-a-ways, infants high and low chairs, children’s table and chair sets and bed tray-tables.
The manufacturing side of the business was halted soon after the end of World War Two, as the country began to return to normality with consumer merchandise becoming more readily available.
Around 1948, Ron embarked on a program of expansion, with the program including additions to the rear of the shop, together with the acquisition of an ex-army huts from the disbanded prisoner of war camp.
Ron personally laid the foundations and constructed the cement brick walls as part of the work involved in the expansion.
The final stage of the expansion program involved the removal of the woodworking machinery from the first-floor area which was then converted into a showroom as a supplementary display area for furniture stock.
It was soon found however, that the separate, upstairs display area was ill conceived and this idea was soon abandoned.
Bruce left school at the end of 1951 to join his father in his retail furniture shop. At that time, the retail stock in the shop comprised about 50 per cent second-hand and 50 per cent new.
This 50/50 stock situation gradually evolved to 100 per cent new over the next few years as the economy slowly found its feet after the debilitating effects of the Great Depression of the 1930’s and the enormous privations resulting from the 1939/1945 war effort.
Despite wool prices peaking around 1951, the local retail economy continued to experience modest growth during the post war period of the 1950’s.
Hay Furniture Company took advantage of the opportunity to expand their operation during this time, with the introduction of the supply and installation of Floor Coverings, together with the supply and installation of Made-to-Measure Blinds and Awnings.
As the local economy grew and strengthened through the late 1950’s, ideas of expanding the family business of Hay Furniture Company’s area of operation started to emerge.
In 1962, grocery and hardware store Permewan Wright Pty Ltd closed its retail operation and vacated the premises, which was the present site of Hay Furniture Co, 167-169 Lachlan Street.
Ron believed that the climate was ripe for expansion and seized on the opportunity, approaching the owner of the now vacant property, Mr. Worthington, a local.
Ron was successful in negotiating the purchase of the Lachlan Street property, together with the adjacent back store block fronting Moore Street.
It is understood that the closure of Permewan Wright’s store was the result of company mergers and restructuring involving Peters Ice Cream, Grocery and General, Permewan Wright Pty Ltd and HB Maclure & Co Pty Ltd.
HB Maclure & Co also ceased trading at their Lachlan Street retail store at a later date. HB Maclure & Co Department Store was located on the present site of Bidgee Motor Inn.
The present day building at 167-169 Lachlan Street formerly occupied by Hay Furniture Co was originally two separate structures having a common dividing brick wall.
O’Gilpin & Co occupied the northern shop, and Clarry Hill & Co occupied the southern shop At some later date, during the 1930’s, Clarry Hill & Co vacated the southern shop and DG Officer & Co took up occupancy.
Around 1946, D.G. Officer & Co vacated the premises and Permewan Wright & Co took up occupancy of both the northern shop and the southern shop and made two large archways in the common dividing brick wall to combine their operation of retail grocery in the southern half and hardware in the northern half.
At that time, both shops extended to about two thirds of the present-day depth.
Renovation by Hay Furniture Co of the newly acquired premises at 167-169 Lachlan Street commenced in March 1962 with the business opening eight months later in November 1962.
During renovations, the centre dividing, weight bearing brick wall was removed and replaced with a row of 150 mm bore casing posts.
The dividing wall has since been replaced.
Further improvements to the Lachlan Street property have been ongoing, first with re-roofing in 1975, and the virtual rebuild of the Moore Street Back Store in 1981.
In 1983, work was undertaken to obviate the inherited problem of having three different floor levels in the main shop area.
This latter undertaking was very messy but a significant improvement was obtained.
Soon after the renovation to the floor was completed, the main shop building was extended approximately 10 metres in depth to include a new office, goods receival area, tea room and toilets.
Further improvements to the building were carried out in 2005, when a large area of the old ceiling was replaced.
The next major development in Hay Furniture Co’s history took place when Bruce’s son, Jeffrey returned to Hay to join the family business. Jeff had been away for nine years.
Prior to his return to Hay, Jeff had been working as an electrician at the Albury Base Hospital. Jeff returned to Hay, together with his wife Andrea and newborn Hannah in 1988.
The arrival of Jeff and Andrea created a resurgence of enthusiasm and Hay Furniture Company’s business activity soon reflected this with further expansion of business activities, particularly with Floor Coverings and Made-to-Measure Blinds and Awnings.
Jeff’s interest and dedication resulted in further expansion of Hay Furniture Company’s business activities by way of successfully pursuing government contracts for merchandise and servicing in surrounding areas.
Shirley has played a major role in the history of the Wall family business.
In between raising three young children through the 1960’s and 1970’s she attended the shop at every opportunity to assist.
As Bruce and Shirley’s three children grew and became more independent, Shirley took on a full-time role at the shop, and in fact managed the business during the latter years prior to Bruce and Shirley’s retirement in 2004.
Andrea has succeeded in the same dual role, raising five daughters whilst co-managing Hay Furniture Co.
Andrea’s involvement in the management in later years was of great assistance to Jeff, allowing him to devote significant time to the ‘outside work’ of installing Floor Coverings, Blinds and Awnings
The Wall family would like to mention the loyal staff that they had the pleasure of working with over a long period of time.
We enjoyed the loyalty and company of all our staff members, and would like to make special mention of three ‘long-termers’, each being with us for more than 30 years; Perce Stratton, Merle Fayle, and John Kulper.
It was indeed a privilege to be able to rely on their dedication and strength.
The ‘Hay Furniture Co’ shop premises at 167-169 Lachlan Street underwent further renovation more recently with the original dividing wall being replaced to better accommodate the present “Kinfolk” business.
In further pursuit of his dream, Jeff, together with Andrea subsequently moved to Albury and then to Myrtleford where he pursues further business involvement.
Jeff maintains a strong affinity with Hay, returning to Hay on a regular basis to service the market for Floor Coverings, Blinds and Awnings.
Bruce and Shirley formerly retired from the business in 2004.
This article was originally published in The Riverine Grazier on December 20, 2023.
