[Editor: This poem, an advertisement for the Charles Gilbert store (tailoring and outfitting) in Brisbane, was published in The Brisbane Courier (Brisbane, Qld.), 27 October 1897.]
Charles Gilbert
Is the merchantman of credit and renown,
who dwells hard by Victoria Bridge in Famous Brisbane Town.
While others’ prices all go up, his prices all go down.
Not so his values, for they stand far higher than of yore.
In newest goods, for men’s attire from many a foreign shore,
and whilst the quality goes up the price is as before.
And visitors from countryside from Centre, North, and West
agree, upon fair trial, that his goods will stand this test:
that, while no man’s e’er were better, yet Chas. Gilbert’s wear the best.*
Source:
The Brisbane Courier (Brisbane, Qld.), 27 October 1897, p. 5
Editor’s notes:
The advertisement was published as a single block of text; however, the text has here been separated into lines so as to give a better sense of the poem.
A search of the Trove site (National Library of Australia), as at 12 March 2022, shows 20 instances of this advertisement appeared in several newspapers from 27 October 1897 to 13 November 1897.
The word “Famous” is capitalised in some copies of this poem, but uses all lower case letters in others.
It is assumed that the asterisk at the end of the poem is an indicator that the text is an advertisement.
Charles Gilbert = a tailoring and outfitting store in Brisbane (Queensland)
See: 1) “Charles Gilbert”, The Brisbane Courier (Qld.), 11 December 1907, p. 6
2) “Charles Gilbert, Limited”, The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. ), 13 December 1921, p. 9 (second edition)
Chas. = an abbreviation of the name “Charles”
e’er = (vernacular) an archaic contraction of “ever”
yore = in the past, long ago (as used in the phrase “days of yore”)
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