Ivor Markman
Uncle Mac's Barrow
MARKET SQUARE: If you wished to go out for a cup of coffee or a snack after a dance or movie in 1930s Port Elizabeth, your choices were limited. One place to which you could go for sure was Uncle Mac's caravan which was parked in Market Square alongside the 1st World War memorial howitzer.
Uncle Mac’s Caravan Kept Hunger at Bay
By Ivor Markman
Nowadays, when you drive through Port Elizabeth, there's no problem finding somewhere to eat.
All around the city, until late into the night and even into the early hours of the morning, well- illuminated signs advertise the existence of eateries and you are sure to find one at virtually any hour.
But during the 1930s, eating out was very different.
Friday and Saturday evenings were mainly when you did your socialising and afterwards you were sure to feel a bit "peckish".
So where to go at the height of the Great Depression?
Of course, you could always stay home and consume one of Maconochie's handy ready-made meals with a generous helping of tender steak, bacon, haricot beans and tomato sauce.
It was ready to heat, straight from the container and it tasted great, delicious hot or cold.
Or you could enjoy a night on the town and hit the high spots.
But after you had watched One Heavenly Night at the Grand or Sin of the Children at the Metro, where did you go.
If you were all worked up after watching the boxing match between "Cordite" Conroy and "Rough Russian" Boganski at the Feather Market Hall, you really felt the need to extend the evening's entertainment.
In 1927 "Uncle Mac" brought a bit of London atmosphere to Port Elizabeth when he set up his hot dog stall in a converted caravan, in Market Square.
It was an absolute mission because he couldn't leave his caravan on the square the whole night and he had to tow it home.
Each evening "Uncle Mac," (nobody knew his real name) would bring the caravan into the square and park next to the Howitzer Memorial, one of six heavy artillery pieces given to the South African Government howitzers by the British government after the First World War.
The weapon used to stand on a heavy granite base and served as a Heavy Artillery Memorial.
During the Second World War, due to the shortage of weaponry for the South African forces, the cannon was recommissioned, but in the late 1920s and into the 1930s, it stood in the Market Square.
After the war it was returned to Port Elizabeth and placed in Park Drive where it stood for many years before being removed, ostensibly to be repaired.
But back to Uncle Mac and his eatery.
As people scurried about on their way to the bioscope or a dance, activities at the caravan were quiet but by midnight, when all the cafes along Main Street (now Govan Mbeki Avenue) had switched off their lights and closed for the evening, there was only sufficient light for stragglers to find their way home.
That's when Uncle Mac's caravan was the place to be seen.
By midnight it was not unusual to find rows of cars, sometimes as many as 20 or even 30, parked on the square besides "Uncle Mac's".
Gone were all the social barriers as folk from all walks of life rubbed shoulders - from high society folk to down-and-outs.
Uncle Mac boasted he could provide a snack or a square meal for anyone.
The menu included curry and rice, single or double hot dogs, pies, American sandwiches, egg rolls, ham and egg, amongst others, and of course coffee or tea.
Uncle Mac was renowned for recounting tales with the "boys"' gathered around his little "barrow" as he called his caravan.
Once the “boys” were in a rather jolly mood and decided to play the fool with Uncle Mac.
While he was busy inside, the high-spirited men started to move the stall but after a few metres, and upon hearing Uncle Mac's pleas to stop, the pranksters though better of the idea and ceased their activity.
The good-natured group then had a quick "whip of the hat" to make good some minor damage caused.
Uncle Mac referred to the majority of his clientele, the late birds, as "toffs," perhaps better known as “dandies”.
These were the late night customers who clustered around the barrow for a half-hour or so after attending a dance or some similar social occasion.
The barrow owner became a psychologist of sorts and often ended up having to listen to the details of domestic altercations.
Over the years he learnt to "sum up" a person, and according to him, he was very seldom wrong.
Occasionally some dishonest person would order a "double" and as soon as they had the hot dog in their hands, they would dash away before paying.
Across the Market Square they sprinted, with Uncle Mac in hot pursuit.
One night there was a sudden downpour and the stall was marooned by a surging torrent.
Fortunately, the caravan remained where it was.
Port Elizabeth's nightlife, he said, was much more in evidence than people realised.
After things quietened down, usually after two o'clock in the morning, up went the shutters and he slowly wended his way home.
He used to leave his caravan overnight in Chapel Street, but one morning it was broken into after he left.
The miscreants helped themselves to the remainder of the hot dogs and coffee.
Source: Eastern Province Herald, December 1932.
