History of the Tyabb Coolstore

Key: 

£ = pounds

s. or /- = shillings

d = pence

At an enthusiastic meeting in the Tyabb Hall on Sunday 14th January 1912 of the Tyabb and Hastings Fruit Growers' Association through a long discussion it was agreed that the government be asked to erect a cool store at Tyabb. <COOL STORES FOR TYABB (1912, January 15). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 8.>

Later in 1912 the Tyabb and Hastings Fruit Growers Association, under the presidency of Mr. J.D. Grant, was successful in gaining approval for a government cool store, for which guarantees were required and obtained to ensure that expenses would be paid. A sum of £500 required by the government for working expenses was paid by its members in August 1912. <Tyabb and Hastings Fruitgr ,wers' Association (1912, August 3). Mornington Standard (Frankston, Vic. : 1911 - 1920), p. 3.>

The coolstore, owned and built by the Victorian Government, was to be situated on land opposite the Tyabb Railway Station with a branch line alongside to service the cool store. It was to be built of weatherboard with a galvanised iron roof and red gum stumps. 

Construction was completed early in 1914 for a February trial run. The planned reception of fruit on March 12th, 1914 was not without anxiety, however, as the 78,000 gallon dam was dry, and to cart water by rail was not an attractive prospect. 

The cool store, with a suction gas engine of 35HP, consisted of three storage compartments with a capacity of 10,000 cases and when the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Hutchinson, opened the enterprise on 21st April, 1914 2,000 cases were in storage. 

What exactly is a "suction gas engine"? Is a question that has alluded a simple summary. It seems to be some form of gassifier system, with the gas produced through that process used to run engines. <source> This example is running on LPG but could run on any gas.

After the marketing of the fruit later in the year the space was filled with frozen mutton, and at that time the branch railway line was constructed to the store platform. 

In 1916 two additional chambers were added, and under the conditions relating to Government cool stores in country fruit growing districts, arrangements were made for the enterprise to be transferred to the local growers. On 1st July 1916 the Tyabb and District Co-operative Cool Stores Ltd. commenced operation.

Previously, on 26th January 1916, members of the Tyabb and Hastings Fruit Growers Association and others who had applied for shares in the proposed society, met in the Tyabb Hall to decide whether share applications warranted the formation of a society to take over the cool store from the Government. Mr. F. Stockton presided and it is recorded in the minutes that the following voted in favour: Alden, Hodgins, J. D. Grant, A.S. Krouse, Watts, P. G. Webb, W. Steer, J. J. H. Young, Kerr, S. Unthank, A. E. Benton, A. J. Benton, F Barclay, A. Millington, W. Longmuir, Woodhouse, R. Mair, F. Stockton, F. J. Mills. Brocket, J. T. Baker, and T. H. Houfe. It was decided that management would be in the hands of a committee of five. 

At the first meeting of the newly formed society held on the 17th July 1916 the first directors were appointed. Mr. R. Mair was appointed chairman and other members were Messrs. Krouse, Stockton, Grant and Young. At this meeting, the Secretary (Mr. Houfe) reported that "the Tyabb Cool Store with the capacity of 16,500 case spaces, has been sold by the Government to the Directors (representing the shareholders) and they have every reason to be proud of one of the most compact and up-to date stores in Victoria." 

Negotiations for the purchase were made by an extended committee of all board members Mr Longmuir, and the secretary. The purchase price was £5876 pounds on a deposit of £500 with annual payments of £352, 11 shillings and 11 pence, including 4% interest. On 16 August 1916 the society was registered under the Provident Societies Act with a capital of £25,000 divided into 50,000 shares of 10 shillings each. Rules were adopted making the society co-operative in character. It was decided that no more than 14,000 shares should be issued entitling the holders to one case space for ever share held with a minimum holding of 54 shares and a maximum of 400 shares. 

At the monthly meeting held in mid-November 1916 with it being reported that growers should be enthusiastic for the future operation of the business. <LOCAL AND GENERAL (1916, November 18). Mornington Standard (Frankston, Vic. : 1911 - 1920), p. 2 (MORNING.).>

The first banker for the society was the Colonial Bank (Mornington branch), although in November 1918 the account was transferred to the National Bank. 

The first engineer for the coolstore was was Mr. Millington. 

In the first year of operation financial strain was felt because of the almost total failure of the fruit crop and it became necessary to apply to the Minister of Agriculture for a re-arrangement of payment under the purchase agreement 9,765 cases of fruit were in store or 30th April, 1917. <COOL STORES' DIFFICULTIES. (1917, January 25). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 4.> In an endeavour to fill available space, storage was offered for butter and rabbits. The accounts for the first complete year of operation show a profit of £111, 5 shillings, and 10 pence for 1917. At the annual meeting in December 1917 the rules were amended to provide for a committee of six members. 

In April 1918 the society affiliated with the Orchardists and Fruit Cool Stores Association of Victoria (then known as the Cool Stores Association of Victoria.) 

Arrangements were made for the cool storage of lamb carcasses for the latter months of 1918 and three chambers were let for this purpose. On 3rd November 1918 Mr. Millington resigned as engineer and Mr. J. Ferguson was then appointed at a salary of £4 per week and house provided free. 

In July 1919 Mr. Ernest Sexton was appointed as assistant engineer and a block of land was purchased on the Mornington Road for the erection of a residence for the engineer. 

In July 1919 a lease of further land was arranged and extensions were carried out to the store to increase the capacity by 15,000 cases. Government finance of £5,000 was obtained, and meat was again stored after fruit was removed in November 1919. The Chairman reported at the Annual Meeting in December that the financial position had improved considerably largely due to the storage of meat. 

On 25th June 1920 at a meeting of shareholders they voted in favour of establishing a grading and packing shed. An application was the made to the railways for a lease of further land for these extensions. Mr. H. Denham was appointed Managing Packer and a quantity of packing materials were purchased for resale. At this time considerable difficulty was being experienced by the growers in obtaining cases for fruit and consideration was given to taking up shares in another company engaged in saw milling but this was rejected on legal advice. 

In September 1920 a portion of land was purchased for £1210 from Mr. Mair. This annexed the rear of the church property (on the corner of Peacock Road and Mornington-Tyabb Road) and was considered valuable for the future use of the cool store. The shortage of fruit cases was temporarily eased with arrangement for the supply of 30,000 dump shoots at 10½d each from Croft Bros. 

At the Annual Meeting held in December 1921 the Chairman said that fruit returns to growers had increased considerably as a result of cool storage facilities. During the year 8,817 cases had been packed using a shed moved from Langwarrin for this purpose. Early in 1920 a duplication of the cool store was planned, with a new area of 16,000 case capacity and the additional 35HP engine. A loss occurred during this year due to purchase of paper in anticipation of a price rise when in fact the price declined. 

At the end of 1921 shareholders numbered 117 and issued shares totalled 31,228. At this time the Society was feeling the effects of high rates of taxation imposed following the First World War.

Storage was generally satisfactory but pears were found to be ripening too quickly because of storage at apple temperatures. It was decided that, in future, an endeavour would be made to provide one chamber solely for the storage of pears. During the 1922 season the cool store with its extensions was filled to capacity and 16,651 cases of fruit were packed In this year profit on selling subsidised the Coolstore and allowed cool storage at a lower figure. In April 1923 the minutes record that storage temperatures for Jonathons should be down to 30F (-1.1ºC) and pear chambers to 31F (-0.6ºC) before closing for the day. 

Mr. Sexton resigned in April 1923 and Mr. R. Storey was engaged as Assistant Engineer. He was also required to under take other duties in the packing shed. In May, 1923 Mr. Ferguson resigned to return to his homeland, Scotland, and Mr. Thomson was appointed Chief Engineer at a salary of £5 a week with house provided. At this time the annual application fee of the Cool Stores Association was £3, 3 shillings.

In 1923 packing shed output was 19,379 cases and the chairman reported at the Annual Meeting that the year had been a very satisfactory one for the Society and the growers. Trading sales in that year totalled 2,400 pounds and total revenue from sales and rent levies was 5,246 pounds.

In June 1924 bank finance of £500 was obtained and construction of a house for the Engineer was commenced on Mornington-Tyabb Road. This year again saw the store filled to capacity and additional space required by the growers had to be refused. 25,226 cases of fruit were packed and a considerable quantity was carried by road to the Melbourne market. 

Trading turnover in this year was £3313. Considerable expense had been incurred before success was finally achieved in the Society's fight for exemption from the special Wartime Profits Tax. As the outcome of this application affected other stores also engaged in the storage of meat, a contribution to costs was sought and received from five other stores similarly engaged.

In January 1925 Mr. Grant was appointed Chairman of Directors replacing Mr. Mair who had occupied this position since the formation of the Society in 1916. Electricity was installed in the packing shed in 1925. Later in that year it was decided to effect economies in the cool store by employing one man only and Mr. Storey left the society in October.

Mr. Thomson was instructed that temperatures of apple chambers were to be kept no lower than 35F (1.7ºC) and pears at 33F (0.6ºC) . To this time refrigeration was operating from a suction gas installation. Enquiries were made as to the use of electricity and it was found that considerable savings would accrue from this means. However no sale was found for existing plant and plans had to be temporarily shelved.

In November 1925 a dam was constructed to supplement the existing water supply at the rear of the property. A lease of further land from the Victorian Railways was taken up for the purpose of building a shed for the housing of manures.

Fruit in the 1925 season was badly affected by black spot following heavy rains. <FRUITGROWING (1925, January 31). The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), p. 15> Prices in interstate markets were high and a reasonable return to growers resulted.

Mr. Shepherd took over as cool store Engineer in January 1926 and Mr. Storey was re-employed as temporary assistant. Mr. L. Cole became Chairman of the society in the same month. Packing shed plant was added to by the purchase of a Lightning Fruit Grader for £49 and 10 shillings. A partition in No.1 chamber of the cool store was removed in March 1926 allowing the storage of 1320 more cases. The death of Mr. Mair in May 1926 caused a vacancy on the Board which was filled by the appointment of Mr. W. Hutchinson. A guarantee of £25 for freight charged was entered into with the Victorian Railways.

In July 1926 at a meeting specially convened it was decided that the society should affiliate with the Apple and Pear Growers' Association but in June 1927 affiliation was discontinued. In 1926 40,997 cases of fruit were packed, with a very large quantity going to overseas markets.

Mr. Stockton was appointed Chairman in 1927 and Mr. Cyril Ward was employed as Trainee Cool Store Engineer at a weekly salary of 30 shillings.

1927 was a year of financial problems: the fruit was affected by thrip and only 17,000 cases were taken into store. It again became necessary to ask for leniency from the Government in the matter of loan instalment re-payments. In order to ease the burden on growers the levy was set at 4d per case for those having no fruit in the cool store and 1 shilling to others.

During the year five of the chambers were re-insulated with buzzer shavings instead of charcoal previously used and linings of timber were generally replaced. Ceilings were raised to allow for stacking of 7 cases high and space was thereby increased by 4,100 spaces to 36,650. Alterations were made in the packing shed financed by the issue of 6% debentures. Applications were made to the Superintendent of Agriculture for classes in apple packing. At the Annual Meeting in December 1927 director's remuneration was fixed at £42.

Mr. Willoughby became Chairman of the Committee in 1928.

On 1st May 1928 there were 30,000 cases of fruit in store.

During 1928 the Cool Store Association decided that an effort should be made to increase the demand for fruit and an intensive advertising campaign followed. To cover the costs stores were asked to contribute 10 shillings per 1000 case space. In 1928 44,593 cases of fruit were packed, including 20,032 for the overseas market. For the first time sub-committees were formed for Finance, Packing Shed, and Cool Store.

In November 1929 a meeting was called to change the name of the Society to the Tyabb Co-operative Trading and Cool Stores Ltd and to alter the rules allowing a lien on fruit stored as a means of recovering amounts owing to the Society by growers. Relief was again granted by the Government on payments due on the loan and a Contingency Fund was created so that in prosperous years a provision could be made to meet payments. One cool store chamber was made available during the year solely for the storage of pears and this was found to be a satisfactory arrangement. Cheap storage was provided for growers in the Red Hill area following a fire which destroyed the cool store in that area.

In December 1929 tenders were invited for building additions to the Packing House. <Advertising (1929, December 7). Frankston and Somerville Standard (Vic. : 1921 - 1939), p. 5.>

And in 1930 these new extensions to the packing shed were carried out and further plant was installed including a grader, gravity conveyor, and a case lidding machine. <MORNINGTON PENINSULA (1930, February 1). Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), p. 52.>

A case label was designed and submitted to the Trades Marks office for registration. Electricity was provided to the Engineer's residence on Mornington-Tyabb Road in May, 1930. In November 1930 application was made to Ronaldson & Tippett for appointment as agents. 

A further lease was entered into with the Victorian Railways for land on which to erect a grain store the annual rental to be £6 in early 1931. 

At the Annual Meeting in December 1931 Mr. Kerr resigned. At this meeting the remuneration of the committee was increased to £84 pounds per year.

In 1932 a number of complaints had been received regarding the theft of fruit from the cool store and, in an effort to combat this, permission had to be obtained from the Engineer before fruit could he removed by any person who was not a shareholder.

The store shed was extended in 1932 packing charges in this season were set at 1 shilling and 8 pence for apples and this was based on cost of materials plus 5% and labour and overheads at cost. 

Mr. Hutchinson was appointed to fill the vacancy on the Board and Mr. Harcourt became Packing Shed Manager. 

In 1934 Mr. Willoughby became Chairman. In the year shareholders agreed to export under the "Tycos" brand. Packers were paid 3d per case. Mr. Stockton resigned from the Board and Mr.F.C. Renouf joined the Board at the Annual Meeting in December 1934. 

In December 1934 four cool store chambers were converted to direct expansion in lieu of renewing worn coils. Mr. Cochrane, Engineer from Werner Bros., was in charge of this operation. Mr. T.Burden had filled the office of Society Auditor until 1934 when Messrs.Young & Outhwaite of Melbourne were appointed at a fee of £15, 15 shillings Mr. Cyril Ward resigned as Assistant Engineer in April 1935 to take up a position as chief engineer at Hastings coolstores. <1935 'TYABB', Frankston and Somerville Standard, 26 April, p. 5.> In the following month an agreement was signed with Massey Harris for the sole agency for the district. Mr. Webb left the Committee and succeeded Mr. Ward as Assistant Engineer. In July 1935 Mr. Taylor of Frankston became the solicitor to the Society. Mr. LewCole again joined the Board in December 1935. During 1935 cool storage was provided at 1 shilling and a penny half penny per case and turnover in the trading department reached £10,570. 

In 1936 allowance was made for the first time for the loss of space due to posts and trays in the store.

One of the first private sheds was erected about this time by Mr. Renouf who gave his assurance to the Board that he would not be competing against the Society's store and packing shed. During this season the store was filled to capacity 26,035 cases of apples and 3,000 cases of pears were packed and trading turnover was £13,914 Mr. Beardsmore was engaged as packing shed foreman Mr. Mair was appointed Chairman of the Board. In order to facilitate the collation of information for insurance purposes it was decided that growers would be notified of fruit in store at a given date, and there after information on all fruit removed and let at the store must be given by growers.

Land was leased to Mr. Woods in December 1937 and saw mill activities were then commenced there. This ensured a constant supply of fruit cases which had previously been hard to obtain. Total sales in 1937 were 16,904 pounds and fruit was packed as follows: export apples 11,604 cases; interstate apples 5,910; export pears 6,948: export plums 4,584 and 95 cases for the Melbourne market. 

In April 1938 Mr. Bradbury became Cool Store Engineer. In December 1938 a resolution was passed that any member competing against the business of this company should not be eligible to act as a committeeman. The total pack-out for 1938 was 14,971 cases. 

To remove arsenical residue on fruit a washing machine was installed and proved satisfactory. Space rent was kept at a low figure of one shilling and a half-penny.

Drought conditions in 1939 affected growers and the Society and the result was an output of only 2,527 cases of apples and 2,648 cases of pears in the packing shed.

Because of the disorganised market during the war years, the Apple and Pear Board was formed in 1940. The Board took over the cool store and Mr T.E. Butler was appointed coordinating officer.

During this time many orchardists on the Mornington Peninsula objected to further government interference and oversight. <Peninsula Orchardists Face Crisis (1940, February 9). Standard (Frankston, Vic. : 1939 - 1949), p. 1.>

Mr. Beardsmore was granted leave of absence for war service and the vacated position was temporarily assumed by Mr. Bill Lillvwhite. Mr. Alden joined the Board in 1941 replacing Mr. F.C. Renouf.

32,911 cases of fruit were packed in 1940 for the Apple and Pear Board.

80,000 cases of fruit were packed in 1941.

In 1942  a meeting of shareholders voted in favour of requesting the suspension of fruit acquisition by the Government in view of the very light fruit crop.

In 1942 the final payments were made on the Government loan. Changes were made in 1942 whereby charcoal replaced coke in the running of the engines that ran the refrigeration. A battery charger was also installed.

The Apple and Pear Board suspended operations in 1943 and storage arrangements returned to normal. A very heavy pear crop compensated for a light apple crop and allowed storage to the satisfaction of all growers. 10,000 cases of fruit were packed.

Plans were drawn up in 1944 for further extensions to the store at an estimated cost of £13,000. 

1944 was a good season for apples and the store was again full. One chamber was again available for pears, a shortage of packing labour curtailed the shed activity but 19,079 cases were packed.

In 1945 a loan of £12,500 was obtained from the State Treasury to finance extensions to the cool store. In 1945 further land was purchased in Peacock Road from the Estate of Mr. R Grienke for £165. The Society was appointed agent for the shell company in August 1945 and Mr. Shepherd joined the Board later that year. Through the generosity of Mr. W. Brunning 1,000 case spaces were made available in the store to accommodate the fruit of ex-servicemen for the season. 

Shortage of labour again limited packing shed output and 22,569 cases of fruit were packed. Trading turnover during this financial year was £19,485 pounds.

In 1946 chambers 1 to 4 were converted to direct expansion and the raising of ceilings increased the cool store capacity.  Charges were set at: export apples 3/4d; interstate apples 3/3d; interstate pears 3/5d and local 7d.

In August 1946 application was made to the Registrar of Friendly Societies to have Clause 4 of the act amended to relax the limit on share-holding of any one person. The application failed.

In October 1946 the saw mill was purchased from Mr. Wood for £800 and Mr.O'Malley was engaged as Mill Foreman. 39,642 cases of fruit were packed including 9.000 cases carrying the "Tycos" brand. 

A meeting of growers was especially convened in early 1947 to give members the opportunity of hearing suggestions from Mr. Chave for improvements to the pack marketed interstate. Rates for packing fruit in 1947 were: Melbourne 9d; interstate full wrap3/4.5; interstate half wrap 3/2.5; pears fully wrapped in dumps 3/5.5; in long bushel cases 3/7.5. 

As the details of the amount of fruit in store was necessary for insurance declaration purposes, growers were warned that unless the office was notified of each growers' total fruit in store, fruit may not be covered for insurance purposes. In 1947 a new grader was purchased for the packing shed at a cost of £480. Additional finance was obtained in that year from the issue of shares: 13,457 shares were allotted to existing shareholders and 4,998 to new members at a premium of 3/6d and 5/- respectively. The power costs for the complete year (the first since installation) was £274 and this was considered favourably with the previous charge of £194.

With the new extensions the capacity of the cool store had been increased to 70,943 cases for the 1948 season. A new compressor was installed and old plant was offered for sale. 24,000 cases of fruit were packed in 1947. The possibility of allocating chambers according to varieties of fruit was considered in the interests of more satisfactory refrigeration but it was decided that this would provide difficulties. 

In 1948 packing shed charges were: interstate apples 3/5; pears 3/7 ½ ; Melbourne 9d. 

The capacity of the store was fully utilised in 1948. Advice was sought as to the reason for breakdown in apples, particularly Rokewood and New Statesman. Many growers suffered heavy losses from this cause, but 56,000 cases of fruit were still packed.

The supply of timber for the sawmill was proving a problem although otherwise the mill was considered to be valuable acquisition. Trading was beginning to improve as commodities became more readily available. Three cool store chambers were now operating on automatic control. 

In February 1949 the Committee decided not to accept export packing unless an advance of 5/6 was previously paid to cover charges. In October 1949 a lease of land was taken up from the Church of England for use as a log yard for the sawmill. In the following month Miss Forestall left the Society after 17 ½ years service and Mr Kilborn became Accountant-Secretary in December. Late in 1949 it became apparent that the next season's crop would be severely affected by thrip and concern was felt for the Society in that year. It was found by growers that DDT powder was not an effective control solution. <More info: Wikipedia-DDT>

Total fruit packed for 1949 was 61,000 cases and the cool store was full. The mill returned a profit of £1039 when the shortage of timber was supplemented by taking in logs. 

In 1950 an extra charge was made of 4d per case when fruit was packed for non-shareholders. In 1950 to provide for expansion of the trading department application was made to Rural Finance for funds to erect extensions and to purchase additional stock. As Dowds were at this time seeking further space for their operations, arrangements were entered into for their occupancy of the Engine Room Annex. 

The 1950 space rent levy provided for concession to shareholders of 4d per case space on unoccupied space. It was decided to erect a holding with a capacity of 3,000 case spaces and finance was raised for this purpose from shareholders on loan a 4½ %. 

At the Annual Meeting held in February 1951 Mr Hutchinson resigned as a Director of the Society and Mr Louis Ardonia Paganoni joined the Board. 20,000 cases of fruit were packed during the 1950 season and the cool store was little more than half full. The sawmill could not produce output efficiently and lost £1330 for the year. In fact all departments of the Society except Trading showed a loss in this year.

On 14th November 1951 a special meeting of shareholders was held to alter the rules of the Society, providing for a limit on borrowing power. 

62,967 cases of fruit were packed in 1951, and the cool store was filled to capacity. All departments showed a profit for the year. 

In 1952 it was decided to impose a charge of 2d on all fruit submitted for pre-cooling. Other charges were: export pears 9/5 per case; interstate pears 9/1 ½ ; interstate apples 8/7 if full wrapped otherwise 8/1; Melbourne 1/5 ½.

With the intention of reducing the liability to taxation or profits a re-organisation of shares took place in 1952 and amendments to the Rules of the Society were approved at a special meeting of shareholders on 2nd May 1952. Existing 10 shilling shares were divided into two shares of 5 shillings each, credited as paid to 6d. The resultant shares were classified as "A" and "B" shares–the former conferring on the holder the right to storage space on the basis of one case space for every "A" share held, whilst the latter conferred trading benefits by way of dividends and rebates. As it was necessary to do 90% at least of business with shareholders to become eligible tor tax concessions, it was apparently believed that this referred only to the class of shareholding affected by the business and not the business in its entirety.

Following the splitting of the shares 1/- was called up on the "B' class shares.

On 30th September 1952 the Prime Minister Robert Menzies visited the Co-op accompanied by his wife Pattie and daughter Heather. While his visit to Tyabb wasn't recorded by any of the state or national newspapers he was probably in the area for the Flinders by-election.

A pump unit was purchased for the use of the fire brigade and the Society at a cost of £209 pounds. Possibly spurred by the bushfires around the Mornington Peninsula in March 1952. <Hundreds Fight Bush Fires on Peninsula (1952, March 27). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 16.>

In 1950, 1951, and 1952 space was made available to the navy for the storage of potatoes. Mr Turnbull of the CSIRO was invited to inspect the sawmill for suggestions as to how the layout could be improved. 

 The charge for space in store for 1953 was 1/7. Following deterioration in some fruit stored in chambers 2 & 3, one inch slates were placed on walls in those chambers to allow an easier circulation of air.

In June 1954 a new store and offices were completed, financed by money provided by a call on shares. A mobile crane was purchased in September 1954 at a cost of £525 for handling logs in the sawmill. 

In October 1954 the Committee decided to offer a further 5,929 shares for sale a 12/- each including a premium of 11/6. These funds were used to finance the erection of another chamber with a capacity of 6,000 cases. Improvements were effected to the layout of the mill in late 1954 under the supervision of Mr Benton. £150 was allocated for the erection by the fire brigade of a building to house vehicles on the block in Peacock Road.

At the Annual Meeting in February 1955 the Chairman informed members that the Committee had decided to reserve one chamber of a capacity of 4,650 cases for gas storage for the year. This was subsequently filled. Consideration was given at this time to the purchase of a vehicle for delivery as it was felt that sales would be improved. 13,391 cases of fruit were packed for the export market in 1954 of a total of 70,380 cases. 

1955 was a very good year for the industry and 8,000 cases of apples were sold to Batlow. A drum platform was erected at the right of the goods shed. Mr Tindale addressed a meeting of shareholders in June 1955 on benefits which would arise on a revision of storage methods including attention to the stage at which fruit should be picked.

In June 1955 "G" chamber was completed.

Following reports that the condition of fruit was poor when received in Brisbane and Sydney, Mr Jouning and Mr Denham travelled to these markets in June and found that the trouble arose mainly in handing from trucks on arrival. The fruit gassing chamber was opened on 1st July, 1955 and the fruit was found to be in good order.

After inspection later in the month it was decided that the Chamber should revert to air storage from 1st August, 1955. In 1955 89,021 cases of fruit were packed including 14,706 cases of apples and pears for the export market.

In 1956 the output of the packing shed was 400 cases per day although prior to Easter it was averaging 550 per day. On 10th September J. Briscoe was appointed Packing Shed Manager and R. Flood, who was employed in the trading department, was required to lend a hand when required.

Mr. Jouning reported that 1956 was the best for many years.

In 1957 Mr Reg Kilborne joined the staff as Assistant Secretary. On 12 May 1958 a wedding gift was presented to Miss Jean Lucas who had worked in the office for many years. The following year Mr.Bowing succeeded Mr Kilborne.

On 8th August 1960 managers reported that fruit taken from the cool store, both apples and pears, was in excellent condition. The number of cases in storage on that date was 35,000 apples and 7,000 pears; this was compared to 38,000 cases of apples and 10,000 pears the previous year. Packing shed figures for July showed an increase on the same month in 1959, and the outlook for continued demand appeared to be good.

On 12th September 1960 investigations were initiated into the feasibility of an apple processing plant. In June 1961 it was reported that the  intake of logs to the mill for the previous month was 30,000 super feet (the “super foot” is timber measurement of one square foot of timber, approximately 930 metres square).

In January 1963 Werners Ltd. were installing necessary equipment for an automatic control of chambers "A"to"G", this was expected to be completed by the end of January.

Land was purchased from Mr L. Cole on the corner of The Crescent and Frankston-Flinders Road for £5,750 pounds (this is now where the bulk of Tyabb's retail shops such as the IGA supermarket are now located) 

Mr T. W. Brunning was appointed for the un-expired period of the late Mr Borley's term as a Director. 

As of 26th August 1963 the Directors were Messrs. M. O'Sullivan (Chairman), T.W. Brunning, L.A. Paganoni, F.C Renouf, C.G. Benton, R.J. Grant, W.P. Mair, Miss L.J Beale, and manager Mr Jouning. 

In September further talks were held regarding the juice factory. 

On 16th November 1963 Mr Bradbury retired after giving the Co-op excellent service for 26 years. 

On 30th 1964 October Mr Louis Ardonia Paganoni tendered his resignation.

On 28th November 1964 Mornington Peninsula Fruit Processors was formed with Mr M.O'Sullivan as Chairman.He reported that the processing factory had completed two satisfactory trial runs on pie pack, and that orders were in hand for the product. The factory had been erected on land in Peacock Road purchased from Tyabb Cool Store Ltd. 

At the meeting on 22nd January 1965 Mr H. Boorman was elected a director in place of Mr. Paganoni.

On 17th January 1966 the sawmill was taken over by Mr J. Woods. 

In 1966 it was also recorded that the bulk handling of fruit in the packing shed had proved satisfactory.

The controlled atmosphere chamber was introduced in August 1968. <More information:Wikipedia-Controlled atmosphere>

Around 1974 the hardware shop was built on the Frankston-Flinders Road and opened for business.

In November 1977 a further two chambers were converted to controlled atmosphere and Mr Hawkins became Manager.

Miss J. Beale who joined as Secretary in 1963 resigned after many years of service in 1978.

In August 1979 Mr Hawkins resigned as Manager to become manager of the Adam Clark Retirement Village in Baxter. Mr Austin Fouracre was appointed manager of the Hardware Department in September 1979.

On 25th January 1980 Mr. Ross Mair was elected Chairman of Directors and served in this capacity until 1989 when Mr K. Taylor was appointed.

The hardware shop on Frankston-Flinders Road was sold in October 1982.

At a meeting held on 28th October 1983 it was decided that cool store operations should cease as from the completion of the 1983 season. Mr. Hutchinson stated that it was both a sad and historic decision taken by the Co-op but that there was no alternative on the figures presented. It was also stated that they should look forward to the future of the Trading Shop located at the rear of the building. 

In January 1984 Mr. George Walker was presented with a gift of appreciation for his 31 years of service. 

In 16th March, 1992 the original chambers where the fruit was stored was now used to store antique furniture and was rented by 3 or 4 different people. 

The area that was used for grading and packing fruit had been converted into a modern hardware store employing 3 - 4 people. Miss Val Thornell, who started as a junior in 1957, was still there as Secretary.

A comprehensive history of apple growing in this part of the Peninsula can be found in "She's Apples" written by local historian Leila Shaw (who was part of the Brunning family). 

She's Apples is available to read at Frankston City Library and the National Library of Australia.