Summary

Menu with feline cariacuture on cover once used at the Black Cat Cafe in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, until it closed in February, 2001.

Physical Description

Folded menu made from white card. Front cover has black text and a caricatured illustration of a cat in a cafe interior.The cat holds a cigarette and stands beside a counter on which is placed a cup and saucer and ashtray. In the background posters are on door and walls as well as numerous clocks.The floor design is black and white chequers. Inside the menu the page is black with white printed text listing food and drinks.

Significance

In recent years the Museum has collected, whenever possible, objects relating to the rapid development, since the 1950's, of Melbourne as a `Cafe Society'. Just as the Legend Cafe was one of the pioneer cafes of the 1950's, the Black Cat's opening in May 1982 signalled the shift towards a new type of cafe that catered for a young, arty, alternative set. From the start, it maintained an almost symbiotic relationship with the nearby Roar Studios, a group of studios and associated art gallery that has produced painters such as David Larwill. The Black Cat Cafe has been a significant contributor to the social, cultural and demographic changes that have made Brunswick Street into what it is today. This point has been made in various newspaper articles written about the Black Cat Cafe since it was announced that it was to close in 2001.

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