Snow’s and the Golden Age of Australian Department Stores by Elizabeth Lane

Around the world, the big department stores of the 1920s to the 1950s wielded great power in dictating national tastes and fashions; a visit to any of these stores was an event in itself and an important social outing.

In Australia, Snow’s department store was a household name. Its leaders and their families could be seen as a commercial aristocracy who socialised together, holidayed together, and collectively shaped business and industry. They were pioneers not just in retailing but in politics and other spheres – such as manufacturing, advertising, banking, heavy industry, horse racing and education. Their weddings, parties and business deals were closely watched and widely reported in the press.

Ballarat-born Sydney Snow, the eponymous founder of Snow’s, headed a retail and commercial dynasty that extended throughout Australia and maintained strong trade connections with Britian and Continental Europe. Sir Sydney’s youngest daughter, Elizabeth (Betty), married Richard Lane, one of the three brothers who founded the publishing house Penguin Books, thus entwining two families with a significant place in Australian cultural history.

The story of Snow’s is evocatively told here by Sir Sydney’s granddaughter Elizabeth Lane and historian Stuart Kells in collaboration with Elizabeth’s daughter Louise Lane and art historian Fiona Kells. Lavishly illustrated with photographs from family and public archives, this beautifully designed publication is a proud tribute to the golden age of Australian department stores.

About the Author:

Elizabeth Lane, the daughter of Richard Lane, was born in England into a family of book lovers. She currently lives in Melbourne, where she manages The Lane Press, and works on the Scotch College ANZAC database. Her most recent project was as editor of Outback Penguin: Richard Lane’s Barwell Diaries. She was also heavily involved in the planning and research of Stuart Kells’ Penguin and the Lane Brothers: The Untold Story of a Publishing Revolution.

Stuart Kells is an author and book-trade historian. His 2015 book Penguin and the Lane Brothers: The Untold Story of a Publishing Revolution won the Ashurst Business Literature Prize. An authority on rare books, he has written and published on many aspects of print culture and the book world. Stuart lives in Melbourne with his family.

Louise Lane is the grand-daughter of Richard Lane, a co-founder of Penguin Books, and has worked in digital advertising, strategy, analytics and publishing. In 2015 she co-founded The Lane Press with her mother Elizabeth Lane. With a Media and Communications degree from The University of Melbourne (2004) she has also travelled to The Penguin Books Archive at the University of Bristol to undertake research for Stuart Kells’ Penguin and the Lane Brothers: The Untold Story of a Publishing Revolution (Black Inc., August 2015).

16 Sep 2025
 

Snow’s and the Golden Age of Australian Department Stores by Elizabeth Lane ISBN 9781761452161