The art of window shopping

Photo: Artfully decorated window displays at Boys Department Store. 

Saturday night. Cars line Adelaide Street. The footpaths are filled with people. Families walk with children along the streets, the youngest in prams. Young couples stroll hand in hand and well-dressed friends stop to chat. It is before the advent of television, and night-time window shopping is a favourite social ritual.

From the late 1800s, when store owners built shops with large windows spanning the lengths of their shops, to its heyday in the 1950s and 60s, window shopping was an essential and much loved part of Maryborough’s retail and social scene. 

Shop after shop created elaborate window displays packed with artfully displayed goods to draw in customers. 

Among the most popular were the creative, magical displays in the eleven show windows of W. Boys and Son. They were said to rival those found in the leading department stores in capital cities, especially at Christmas and show time. School children would even be taken on special class outings to view the displays.