The Palms Café, Brisbane

The Palms Café, established in 1951 by Jerry Palmos, was located in Brisbane's CBD at 171 Queen Street, next to the Regent Theatre.

Born in Greece in 1905, Jerry Palmos came to Australia from Ithaca at the age of 16. He originally settled in Sydney, working as a prawn fisherman, before moving to Brisbane where he met and married his wife, Elizabeth McNeil. Between 1937 and 1941, Jerry Palmos purchased his first shop, located on the corner of Lytton Road and Heidelberg Street at East Brisbane. In partnership with his brother George, he later acquired the Day Dawn Café in Queen Street, the South Pacific Café in Stanley Street South Brisbane, the High Hat in Fortitude Valley, the Black & White Milk Bar on the corner of Queen and Edward Streets, and the Colony Club in Edward Street.

In her 2019 book, Brisbane's Greek cafes : a million malted milks, Toni Risson describes the interior of The Palms - "The Palms was a narrow café with a carpeted floor and stylish modern cubicles along both walls. On the back wall, overlooking the café, was a mural that featured an arched mirror clock flanked by palm trees". The Palms was sold in 1958.

Exhibition - Meet me at the Paragon

State Library's latest exhibition, Meet me at the Paragon explores how the creation of American-style cafes enabled Greek migrants of the early to mid-1900s to carve out a new life in a foreign land. The exhibition runs from 27 September 2019 until 15 March 2020.