John Williams, Treasures of Nhill & District, Nhill Free Press & Kaniva Times

It’s not actually real glass that clads the “newsagents” shop on the corner of Victoria and Macpherson Streets but a product called Opalite.

Pigmented structural glass was developed in 1900 in the United States and was made by combining borax, cryolite, kaolinite, manganese, silica, feldspar and fluorspar. The fluorides made the glass opaque.

Opalite was a marketing name in Australia and was mainly used as an Art Deco enhancement on buildings and in 1903, it was chosen by architect J.B Barnes for the design of a butcher’s shop for Owen Edwards on the corner block that had become vacant after a fire.

Two other shops facing Victoria Street would be included in the building that would butt up against the Union Hotel.

Nhill builders Arnold and Barnes won the tender and the building, described as handsome, was completed in September 1903 featuring this unique veneer that does not swell or warp, is highly burn and stain resistant, and is colourfast.

It can be curved and in Nhill’s first use of the product, it came in a creamy opaque colour set off with black and red tiles. In the early years, the corner shop was a butchers and smallgoods operation under several names: Owen Edwards, Rodd & Patterson and Lowan Butchers. As a result, the location was known as “Butcher’s Corner.”

Then for most of its life, the shop was a newsagency. In 1925 Max (M.P.) Bussau bought the newsagency from A.E.G. Welch and built up over the decades with his son, a Nhill institution to become “BUZZ’S CORNER”.

The writer and many of my vintage were one of Max’s paper boys. During the 50’s I had two rounds, one west of Victoria Street and another east of Victoria Street.

A canvas bag on the handlebars to accommodate the Sun News Pictorial, the Herald and the Argus. All properly delivered into the letterbox tube…..none of this “throwing” stuff.

You could also buy the paper after normal shop hours, on a Sunday, for example, through a small service window in Macpherson Street.

“Service” is what bellboys provide; hence the two caricatures painted on the Opalite on either side of the window.

The classic design of the uniform was based on late-Victorian British military uniform. And the most notable feature of the classic pageboy uniform was the pillbox cap.

Buzz’s pageboy images are as famous as Nhill’s historical stained glass found in the old shops around town.

Max Phafton Bussau died in Nhill in 1973 aged 71 and had been a patient in the Nhill hospital for 3 and a half years after suffering a stroke.

His son Max Arthur had been brought into the business in 1948 with the business trading as M.P Bussau and Son.

Max Junior (Buzz) died in 1982 aged 57, after suffering heart attacks and strokes for years. His motorised wheelchair was a familiar sight around Nhill.

The Nhill Free Press reported that Buzz was full of life to the end:

He had been driven around Nhill to check the town over and at the Nhill Golf Club, his face was covered with the lipstick of club associates who smothered him with kisses as he sold them Lions mints.

Later at Nhill Hospital, he laughingly warded off nurses who tried to wash the lipstick from his face.

The next morning he was found dead in his bed. He had gone quietly without fuss or bother.

He had spent a similar time in hospital as his father almost three years.

After nearly half a century, the Bussau name was no longer associated with the newsagency when it was sold in 1971 and taken over in subsequent years by the Mclennan’s, Clohesy and Gurry families.

But by 2020, newsagencies had reached their use-by date. It was a sign of the times and the Gurry’s quit the business after 25 years, unable to find a buyer for the agency.

Then along came the Nhill Mart grocery shop and the “sky fell in”.

The entire building, including the precious Opalite cladding, was painted over and the people of Nhill were not happy to see this town icon vanish before their eyes.

An important part of what gives a town character and a sense of community is its history. One way of acknowledging this history is by preserving historic buildings and structures.

It may be argued that if you own something, you can do what you like, but if heritage is involved, you risk a significant backlash even if the property is not “listed”.

The grocery store was a brief bump in the corner shop’s history, but the damage had been done.

But all is not lost. The new owners are Michael and Jennifer Tucker and they have an appreciation for heritage and they own a business perfect for the job of rehabilitating the shop. “The One Cleaning Service”.

Michael says he’s always loved the building but couldn’t put his finger on why it was so appealing until he started scrubbing the paint off the façade….it was that unique glasslike cladding.

Restoring old buildings to their original appearance will not only add character to Nhill but can also help attract tourists if the structures are historically significant.

As of June 2023, the new owners are still deciding on what to set up in the shop to give it a new life.

But you can be sure it won’t be groceries.

This year we can celebrate the “Glass Shop’s” 120th birthday and, hopefully a bright and sparkling future.

This article appeared in the Nhill Free Press & Kaniva Times, 14 June 2023.