Otto ‘Jack’ Goetz (top, left) pictured at the 1951 Australian Canners Conference in Melbourne. Weekly-Times, September 12th, 1951 p.54
From ‘The Argus’, Monday November 7th, 1955. p.25, this advertisement featuring the Goetz Model 400R can making machine was included as part of a souvenir lift out celebrating the opening of the then new H.J. Heinz factory at Dandenong.
According to articles elsewhere, young Henry John Heinz commenced by growing, packing and selling his first product, horseradish, in his neighbourhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the USA in 1869. His product ‘lines’ soon extended to and beyond the famous ’57 varieties’, which became the company slogan in 1896.
Although Heinz products became available in Australia from around 1895, demand was such that an Australian factory had to be set up. Its Australian operations commenced in October 1935 in a converted former piano factory in Richmond, Victoria. Perhaps as a nod to H.J.’s original product, bottled horseradish was the first product off the line at Richmond. By 1939, there were 40 employees, but the move to Dandenong saw an expansion of the workforce to 350 employees.
Although still headquartered in Melbourne, Heinz closed the Dandenong factory in 2000.
A collection of job advertisements from ‘The Age’ newspaper.
27 January 1951. p.12.
In the early 1950s, Goetz brought skilled tradesmen from the U.K. under a migration scheme sponsored by the Victorian Chamber of Manufacturers. As part of the scheme, Goetz was obliged to provide accommodation for workers and therefore purchased suitable properties at Newport and Williamstown.
In addition to the cost of the accommodation properties, extra finance was needed as Goetz had acquired an interest in a foundry in Grace Street Dandenong in 1948, and made outright purchase in 1949 whereupon they commenced construction of an ‘up to date’ facility on the site. By 1951, the new foundry was still incomplete, requiring an additional ₤8,000 to complete the work.
Therefore, in April 1951 the company made available an issue of 35,000 ₤1 5% Cumulative Preference Shares.
This article appeared in The Herald, Thursday September 4th, p.19. The article mentions the forthcoming celebration dinner to be held the next day at the Southern Cross Hotel. For more info and a look at the dinner menu, go to the post ‘Centenary Month & Dinner 1975
The article contains some errors:
The extra requirements of wartime defence production at Goetz saw the construction of a new building adjacent to the main factory in Hall Street Spotswood.
Registered on 29 November 1940, Goetz Annexe Pty. Ltd. was formed as a subsidiary company of W.G.Goetz and Sons Ltd. Renamed Goetz Annexe Limited and finally Goetz Manufacturing Pty. Ltd., the company was deregistered on 11 July 2003. (ref: businessofaustralia.com)
These September 1941 newspaper clippings report that double 12 hour shifts had been undertaken in the preceding year, doubling regular production output. By October 1941, the defence annexe was in full production.
Click the newspaper images below for larger versions
Below: Some of the Goetz made munition percussion and timer caps from WWII. These particular items in the photos were used by my grandfather Otto Goetz at home as paperweights. As a small boy, I used to play with them when I visited him. Neal
The land on which the Goetz annexe operated was actually owned by the Department of Munitions. Following the war, in May 1947 W. G. Goetz and Sons Ltd. purchased the land, including all ‘buildings and services’ through the Commonwealth Disposals Commission.
Below: Sales advice from the Commonwealth Disposals Commission regarding Goetz’s purchase of the annexe site from the Department of Munitions, May 1947. Click image for larger version.
In May 1956, Goetz’s neighbour RVB Engineering Products were celebrating their 21st anniversary. Not being one to usually advertise in the papers, Goetz took out a half page ‘congratulations’ style advertisement on page 9 of The Argus, 22nd May 1956 as part of the RVB celebration and promotion.
Click image for larger version
Directors of RVB at times included names familiar to W.G. Goetz and Sons. A newspaper clipping from The Argus on January 23rd 1951 regarding an RVB share offer following its conversion to a Public Company, lists directors including Captain J.H. Moss, O. Goetz, A.Goetz, F.C. Craddock and R.J. Burns.