The winning combination of friendly smiles and laughter coupled with a variety of street stalls and ticket sellers standing outside West Street retailers, added colour and vibrancy for four hours every weekend.

They were mornings of sociability; catching up with mates while giving a couple of dollars to a worthy cause.

With any number of charitable groups soliciting passers-by to buy an extra raffle ticket for meat, or grocery, handmade dressed bride dolls, or a light, fresh cream and strawberry triple layered sponge cake, it was sometimes difficult to say ‘no, thank you!’ to a pretty seller.

So, you said, “How much a ticket?  I’ll just take a couple, thanks!”

And there would be a lot of big smiles when little girls would spy a Bride Doll wearing a Kathy Swift bridal gown, being raffled.

On any given weekend there would be quest entrants, sporting clubs, hobby enthusiasts, social welfare groups and community service clubs vying for your attention, money and a friendly ‘Hello! Would you like to buy a ticket in ...”?

Most prizes were fresh and tasty for a weekend treat in time for a family barbecue – if you won.

And while women chatted, the men would often find themselves gravitating around the block for their own amber refreshments courtesy of the Top Pub, Bottom Pub or Boydies.

West Street was the hub of activity on a Saturday morning.

And to be part of this vibe it was taken for granted that you would dress with respect; clean and smart with footwear; to do otherwise would draw undue attention to yourself and a few heckles.

It was an era when swearing was not a regular occurrence in public and to hear anyone utter a profanity would draw sideways glances to the culprit.

West Street readily lived up to its moniker of the ‘main street’ as it was the centre of expenditure for disposable cash after the utilities bills and groceries were paid for.

The Man’s Shop (Alf Wellington), Tadman’s Jewellers (Frank Tadman), Boys’ World, McCarthy’s Mens Wear, Mark Anthony’s, The House of Fashion (Mrs Kivakoski), Bevelee’s Fashion (Margaret Smith), P.W. Burke (George McCoy), Taylors Furnishings, Lindsay’s Haberdashery, Polmeer’s Men’s Wear, lived up to their city counterparts, bringing personal and house fashion trends to Mount Isa.

Along with Coles Chain Store, Shepard’s News Agency and McCarthy’s New Agency, Playtime, Menzies Chemist, Central Store, and Joe’s Time World joined the ever-changing face of retail in the street.

When English model of the sixties, Jean Shrimpton, scandalised Australia’s arbiters of good fashion by wearing her new dress length to just above the knee, Mount Isa women quickly joined the shortening brigade and up went hemlines; all the more leg to showcase as they promenaded along West Street on a Saturday morning.

But alas! Then as today, short hemlines ‘mini skirts’ did not suit everyone.

These Saturday mornings were regular family outings too, when not only did mum and the children enjoy an ice cream but men could regularly be seen drinking a double thick shake from The Dairy Queen, the original Burger Chief, Tip Top Milk Bar, or Click’s Café.

And with street centre car parking, teenagers always seemed to have plenty of car bonnets to sit or lean against as they casually watched their mates’ cars trawl up and down the street or cheekily wolf whistled girls.

No squeals of sexism in those heady days, as it was more the case if a young woman heard a whistle, then her inward smile at the compliment would be juxtaposed with a nonchalant amble down the street.

Music was never far away once Colour Radio 4LM started broadcasting from their studio upstairs at 17 West Street; they had a speaker over the doorway which again added atmosphere to communal Saturday mornings in West Street.

As is inevitable when a community grows, people invest in business to cater for any number of services needed to build the infrastructure of their towns and industries. Mount Isa has seen more than its fair share of businesses open and close.

While many of these businesses have closed for any number of reasons, there are success stories that have quietly continued to trade in West Street over countless years One such business, Playtime, has been a major part of the Mount Isa fashion scene for 65 years having started in a small shop in West Street on October 10 1950.

As the business grew so too did the need for larger premises which the Beard family built at 9 West Street before again moving to its present site across the road to 12 West Street (formerly Coles chain store). Mr and Mrs George Beard opened Playtime in the belief, that no matter that Mount Isa was predominantly a mining community, there was no excuse for poor dress sense.

And accordingly stocked their store with all the latest Australia fashion labels for both men and women and later children. Mrs Beard always believed there no excuse for not being well dressed, clean and tidy, while living out west.

In community spirit, Playtime along with other retailers would employ extra staff to man their own street stalls of fashionable bargains, adding to the carnival atmosphere each Saturday morning in West Street. Today, Playtime, is the sole retailer in West Street that has been continuously owned and operated by the same family for over 68 years. If you were looking for to catch up with friends on a Saturday morning, you had to look no further to find them then along - West Street.

Researched and written by Kim-Maree Burton. www.kimmareeburton.com. Photographs supplied by NQHC and the North West Star. Information sourced from the archives of the Cloncurry Advocate, Mt Isa News, Mount Isa Mail, MIM publications, and the North West Star.