For decades this terrace house (on the right) at 386 Crown Street has been home to a small family business, A&M Perkal Bros, makers of surgical and bespoke footwear. I have never had the need for any such footwear thankfully, but I always notice the building when I walk by because it is covered in old-fashioned hand-painted advertising signs.
The wall of the building on the Albion Street side also had one which seemed to be positioned without much thought or strategy, just simply wherever the sign-painter chose to pull out his brush one day many, many years ago. It read simply: Perkal Bros, Surgical and Bespoke Bootmakers. It always made me laugh thinking about surgical footwear and what exactly that might entail.
Then a few weeks ago, maybe a month or more, a street artist hit the wall with a bright purple, pink, yellow and green stencil piece featuring a city skyline. It was genuinely impressive, but oh, so badly placed: right over the old Perkal Bros sign. Bad move, I thought as I walked by shaking my head in dismay.
Well someone else obviously felt the same way and took action. They covered the piece in white paint, as you can see in the photograph above.
You can even see the fury they were driven by, as the white paint begins in large brush strokes and ends with the contents of the paint bucket being splashed at the wall. Take that.
So thank the archive gods for google maps street view, for here is an online record of the original Perkal Bros sign:
Anyway, if you happen to need some surgical footwear, details here:
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A&M Perkal Bros
386 Crown Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
02 9331 3692
