Category Archives: Newspaper Clippings

W.G.Goetz & Sons advertising for H.J. Heinz new Dandenong factory 1955

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.

goetz-400r-heinz-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.

 

Jobs, jobs, jobs!

A collection of job advertisements from ‘The Age’ newspaper.

Jobs-The-Age-13-Mar-1940-p1813 March 1940. p.18

Jobs-The-Age-2-Feb-1946-p182 February 1946. p.18

Jobs-The-Age-23-MAr-1946-p1923 March 1946. p.19

Jobs-The-Age-29-June-1946-p1929 June 1946. p.19

Jobs-The-Age-27-Jan-1951-p1227 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.

 

Jobs-The-Age-31-Mar-1951-p3031 March 1951. p.30


Jobs-The-Age-1-Mar-1952-p41
1 March 1952. p.41

100 Years it’s time for whoopee! 1975

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:

  • W. G. Goetz’s death as 1917. Recorded death 12th May 1913.
  • His arrival from Germany in 1875. Gottlob Wilhelm Paul Götz actually arrived in Australia aged 23 at the Port Melbourne Pier, on 14th December 1863 aboard the S.S. Great Britain, from Liverpool. No information regarding his journey from Germany to Liverpool has been found so far. One can only speculate that the reason for his emigration was to avoid military service. Had he remained in Germany, he may have been caught up in the Austro-Prussian war of 1866 when his native Würtemberg took up arms on behalf of Austria. Austria was defeated by the Prussians, who promptly occupied northern Würtemberg. W. G.’s relocation to Australia turned out to be a good move!
  • No evidence has been found that his business commenced in 1875. Contrary evidence suggests later dates. For further discussion see this page Beginnings — Queen Street, Melbourne

100-Years-Herald-Thurs-4-Sept-1975-p19

War production at the annexe

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 versionsWar_production_Age_020941

War_production_Argus_020941

Annexe_Sun_171041

Annexe_Argus_021046

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
Muitions

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.

C'wealth-Disposals

 

 

W.G.Goetz & Sons advertising for RVB 21st

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.

Goetz-advert-for-RVB-21st-22-May-1956-Argus-p.9Click 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.