Fred Tritton: Renaissance man

Guest blogger: Mary Howells - 2022 Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame Fellow

Fred Tritton’s furniture business focused on creating beauty in the homes of Queenslanders. He employed artists and craftsmen and was an advocate for the arts.

Fred and Eliza Tritton became involved in the arts through Eliza’s presidency of the Brisbane Women’s Club from November 1930.  The Club supported the Queensland Art Fund, established in 1927 by artists Vida Lahey and sculptor Daphne Mayo. Both women curated an exhibition of loaned works from Sydney and Melbourne in the Queensland Art Gallery (Executive Building) in July 1930.(1)

Brisbane businessman John Darnell, who died in 1930, had left generous bequests to the University of Queensland and the Randall Art Gallery, as well as an offer of £10,000 towards establishing a National Picture Gallery in Brisbane, provided a matching amount was raised through public subscription, within five years of his death.  In May 1934, Fred Tritton challenged Brisbane businessmen to match his offer of £100 towards fulfilling the requirements of the Darnell Beqest. (2). The fund raising was successful, culminating in a ceremony at City Hall in June 1935, where a cheque was handed to the fund administrators, Queensland Trustees Ltd. (3)

Concurrently, Fred Tritton devoted wall space on the fourth floor of his recently extended showrooms, to an art gallery. While exhibiting local artists such as Caroline Barker, Melville Haysom, and Vida Lahey, Tritton also displayed Italian works procured on his overseas trips. Prospective purchasers could enjoy the gallery, while perusing a plethora of imported goods to decorate their homes.  The gallery proved to be so popular that Tritton began promoting it in the Melbourne Age newspaper. (4)

Trittons celebrated its Golden Jubilee in March 1936, with yet another creative series of events. A weekly radio review was staged, featuring orchestral performances, a chorus and a number of male and female entertainers, aired from the ballroom of the Belle Vue Hotel in George Street. The review was broadcast via radio stations 4BK Brisbane, 4AK Oakey, and 4IP Ipswich, with the entertainment changing weekly. Each episode presented different elements of the story of Trittons. (5)

The Courier Mail feature article on Trittons praised the company and its excellent professional reputation. Statistics from the 1934-35 trade figures indicate that 52 furniture factories in Queensland had generated £350,749 income. Trittons, according to the Courier Mail, was at the forefront of manufacturing, with 99% of the goods sold, manufactured at its South Brisbane factory using Queensland timbers, principally silky oak, maple, and walnut. (6)

Trittons new factory at Vulture Street West End was built during 1936 and was part of an important wave of construction for Brisbane. Between January and August 1936, building approvals had soared, almost doubling the value of works of 1935. Brisbane City Council stated that Tritton’s factory, designed by Ashley Shaw and built by Hutchinson Builders, was the most important building of the year. Located near the West End State School, it was 36.6m by 79m, with a brick front and concrete piers, comprising one of the largest single floor buildings of its type in Brisbane at the time. The interior layout was influenced by the design of Henry Ford’s factory, observed by Tritton in his 1926 American tour. Once operations had begun at West End, the Russell Street factory, became a bulk store. (7)

The publicity surrounding the completed factory provided the opportunity to highlight the manufacturing accomplishments of the company and promote the range of goods available from Trittons, including the latest designs from overseas. Fred’s son Cyril Tritton focused on importing the best of radio, refrigeration, and electrical goods. Carpets, linoleum and furnishing fabrics were available and Trittons were agents for ‘New Home’ sewing machines. Trittons then acquired further real estate with the purchase of the adjacent building on George Street, occupied by a hairdresser, shoe repair shop and the soon to relocate Johnsonian Club. (8)

By 1940, Trittons were offering the services of Interior Decorators - always going just that little bit further to provide inspiration to beautify the homes of their Queensland clients. (9)

Mary Howells

The Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame is an initiative of QUT Business School, State Library of Queensland.

Other blogs by Mary Howells

• Fred Tritton - From Second-hand Dealer to Furniture Manufacturer (1886-1910)
• Trittons - Gold Medal Manufacturer (1910 – 1930)
• What Depression? Trittons prosper during the early 1930s
• From Austerity to Prosperity: Trittons in the 1940s.
• Trittons: Flourishing through the fifties
• Tritton’s Legacy
   

References

1. ‘Art Collections, Establishment of Fund in Queensland’, Daily Standard, 12 May 1928, p.9; 'Art Milestones, Governor’s Hope, Display of Loaned works’, Brisbane Courier, 23 July 1930, p.15. ‘Brisbane Women’s Club, Brisbane Courier, 21 November 1930, p.19; ‘Clubs for Women, Mrs F Tritton Emphasises Their Value’, Brisbane Courier, 4 February 1933, p.20; Lahey, Shirley, The Laheys, pioneer Settlers and Sawmillers, Taringa, self- Published 2004, pp.416-417.
2. ’19 wanted to give £100’, Daily Standard, 17 May 1935, p.2; [£100 is $200, roughly equivalent to the annual salary of a factory worker at the time. The Trustees then initiated another project of creating the ‘Golden Book of Gifts’, showcasing Queensland artist, poets and those who made donations to the Bequest. This lavish gold-plated book adorned with Queensland gemstones was never completed and has found its way to the The Wolfsonian–Florida International University Library in Miami Beach, Florida. Fred Tritton is not featured in the book. (Cathy Pemble-Smith, (former Senior Librarian at QAGOMA) https://blog.qagoma.qld.gov.au/the-golden-book-of-gifts-of-queensland-artistry/; ‘Art Gallery Fund, Golden Book of Gifts,’ Courier Mail, 12 November 1934, p.15.)] ‘£100 for art fund, Tritton’s Offer Conditional on Others Doing Likewise’, Telegraph, 16 May 1935, p.2.
3. ‘The How and Why of the Darnell Appeal’, Telegraph, 30 May 1935, p.7; ‘John Darnell Bequest’, Telegraph, 26 January 1935, p.15; ‘Darnell Fund Triumph’, Telegraph, 8 June 1935, p.1. (Ultimately, 235 works have been purchased for QAGOMA through the Queensland Art Fund and the Darnell Bequest.)
4. ‘Art Gallery and Exhibition, Attraction at Trittons’, Nambour Chronicle, 7 June 1935, p.12; Classified ads, The Age, 17 February 1937, p.1
5. ‘Trittons Golden Jubilee’, Telegraph, 20 March 1936, p.3.
6. ‘Building beautiful furniture’, Courier Mail, 3 August 1936, p.13.
7. ‘Building activity almost of pre-depression scale’, Telegraph, 4 August 1936, p.4; ‘New Factories to be built’, Courier Mail, 15 September 1936, p.18; 'New Factory is handsome’, Truth, 24 January 1937, p.23; ‘Conditions in America, Mr. F Tritton’s Impressions’, Telegraph, 18 December 1926, p.5.
8. ‘New Factory is handsome’, Truth, 24 January 1937, p.23; ‘In the business world, Mr. Frederick Tritton’, Courier Mail, 30 April 1938, p.4; ‘Trittons Acquire New Property in George Street’, Telegraph, 26 January 1937, p.8.
9. ‘Trittons Interior Decorators’ Advertising, Courier Mail, 26 April 1940, p.24.