Staff of Coles and Garrard Pty Ltd. Opticians

Historical Significance: Coles and Garrard Pty Ltd was the largest optometry firm in Melbourne until it was sold to OPSM in 1988 and ceased trading under its name a few years afterwards. It was established in March 1922 and located at 370 to 372 Bourke Street. This photograph is from the early years of the firm. From the 1940s it established branches in country towns and at the Chadstone Shopping Centre in 1960. Earle Coles was the proprietor. He was feisty and energetic as the photograph shows, and built his business on advertising and commercial contracts with government agencies. It was regarded a a commercial firm contrary to the desires of the leaders of the profession to practice with professional restraint and thereby be accepted as professionals rather than makers and sellers of spectacles. Persons named in the photograph are: W.G. Cole (spelt as Coles in the photograph. He was the father of Barry Cole, foundation professor of optometry at the University of Melbourne), H.E. Burns. G.F Sheedy. R.L. Broadhurst, S.W. Ralph, A.E. Bisset, Misses J Shore, N Spaven, E Green. Mrs G Burns, J E Brown, K L Jennings, A, W, Fox, G. G Hussey, C R Gaddes, H E Coles, (Managing Director), C S Staples, G A Bursill, W E Stephenson, W Saxon-Jones.The photographer, John Cyril "Jack" Cato, F.R.P.S. (1889 - 1971) was a significant Australian portrait photographer in the Pictorialist style, operating in the first half of the twentieth century. He was the author of the first history of Australian photography; The Story of the Camera in Australia (1955).