In 1917 John George ‘Jack’ Nelson established a stylish cafe at 152 Brisbane Street in Launceston. The premises were actually owned by his mother.
The Majestic Cafe included a tea room, where Jack’s wife Kate was a charming hostess. The furniture was of Tasmanian oak covered in leather. Patrons were entertained by an orchestra, or a state-of the-art Edison diamond disc phonograph.
Innovations included a soda fountain,’ The fountain is brilliant with coloured electric lights and an army of bottles proclaim to the public that sparkling drinks are ‘on tap.’ However, the greatest novelty was ice cream, made in an adjoining factory;
Quite an innovation as far as Launceston is concerned is the Nelson Mountain Ice Cream Block. This block of ice cream is very neatly wrapped in special paper, and then cased in an artistically and specially designed box. These boxes, which are sold for 3d each, have already become a boon to numerous homes. It is not an uncommon sight, even at this time of year, to see quite a number of tram passengers homeward bound with their Ice Cream Blocks.
The only photo I can find of Kate Nelson is from November 1919, when she became the first woman passenger to fly from Hobart to Launceston, with the pioneer aviator Lieutenant Arthur Long. She wasn’t a bit nervous and said she quite enjoyed it.
In November 1920 the cafe business was sold as a going concern, with the factory continuing to supply syrups and ice creams. The sundae menu was enough to make patrons feel they were in downtown New York;
American Beauty, Peg of My Heart, Choc Nut Freeze, Walnut Choc, Pink Lady, Hug Me Tight and Cherry Blossom.
But there was also a Tassie Special, and the list of soda drinks included a Tassie Spider. I wonder what was in that?
Within a year or so there was a demand for Nelson’s ice cream all over Tasmania. The problem of how to transport it was solved in 1921. Each little block in its paper was put into a cardboard box with two wafers. The boxes were the packed in tins surrounded by ice and finally put into larger cartons. Off they went to towns such as Burnie and Devonport. They must have been a bit like the Kreme Between ice creams I remember from the 1950s, made by Peters.
Just as the business was at the height of its success there was a serious fire. It was thought that a gas jet had been left burning in the wafer baking room. The Nelsons lived on the premises, but were peacefully asleep at the front of the building. They were unaware of the drama until a neighbour saw flames and knocked on their door. The enormous damage (estimated at £3,000) was partly because the firemen concentrated on trying to save Hatton and Laws, the wholesale chemist next door. The chemist shop was full of flammable chemicals, which it was feared would explode.
The ice cream factory presented its own challenges;
At the rear of the shop was a refrigerating works and factory, at which ice cream wafers, syrups for soft drinks and similar goods were manufactured…Fumes from the freezing chamber and the exploding of ammonia pipes made the work of the firemen difficult. (The World, Jun 28 1922).
Although the business was insured and rebuilt, Jack Nelson’s interests would soon turn elsewhere. He became one of the State’s first registered bookmakers. When he died in 1946 he was acknowledged more for his contribution to greyhound racing in Tasmania than to the manufacture of ice cream.
I do wish I had been around to try one of his ice cream blocks or perhaps a Tassie Spider.
