Tinderbox

Statement of Significance

Tinderbox is the headquarters of the well known Tinderbox brand of herbal products and was one of a number of general stores that were part of the streetscape of the main street of Balingup.

Physical Description

Tinderbox is a single storey shop with a corrugated iron roof behind a stepped brick parapet. The side walls have been overlaid with large mud bricks and the front facade is brick. Internally the jarrah floors remain. There are a number of outbuildings to the rear.

History

The first store at Balingup was part of Edmund Moore’s inn (known as the Nelson Arms, and also as Balingup House) north of the bridge over Balingup Brook. In 1898, the townsite of Balingup was declared and Donnybrook-Bridgetown railway opened to traffic. In 1903, Frank Cleveland took over the store and established it next to the newly built Balingup Hotel. In 1908, he relocated his store to the main street, where a small number of buildings were erected in the next decade. In the 1920s, the post-war Soldier Settlement Scheme brought new settlers to the district, leading to further development in the town. In 1930, there were Balingup Farmer’s Co-operative Store, R. Gutteridge’s general store, a baker, a butcher, and Mrs. McDonald’s refreshment rooms/tearooms, with a grocery section. Following the Depression, expansion of dairying with opening of the cheese factory (1933) led to further development in Balingup. This faltered in the World War II period, during which Wilfred Walter established himself as a storekeeper, taking over existing premises at Part Lot 64. With the post-war resurgence in primary industry and expansion of pine planting, Balingup district entered its heyday. In the early 1950s, there were three general stores in the main street including George Happ’s. In 1955, Walter’s store closed. George Happ invited his brother, Frank, to Balingup to take it over in financial partnership with him, and it became Frank Happ’s store. As the adjoining cottage in which Walter had lived was in poor repair, Frank and Eunice Happ and family lived in a State Housing Commission house until their son Erland ‘Erl’, Happ (later of Happ’s Winery) renovated it in c. 1958. Frank died in 1966, and the store and cottage were sold, but the buyers did not pay and went out of business after a period. The place was vacant for a period until sold to Cassandra and Jochen Menard in 1982, where they established their herbal products’ business named ‘Tinderbox’. It proved successful, and a new workroom for the manufacturing of herbal products was added at the rear of the existing building in c. 1987. In November 1988, the Shire granted approval for renovations to the verandah of the shop (it ws replaced with a bull nose form) and for a transportable building to be erected at the rear behind the existing shed. Other alterations during this time included rebuilding internal walls, the replacement of all windows including the former sheet glass shop front windows with recycled school windows and laying jarrah floorboards on the concrete slab of the retail area. Jochen Menard’s ownership was transferred to Robert Troeth in 1997. Approval was granted for an additional storeroom building to be erected fronting the highway south of the existing premises in 2001. In 2011-12, the well known ‘Tinderbox’ continues to operate from the store.

Integrity/Authenticity

Low to moderate

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.