Durban’s bygone streets: a tapestry of craft and connection

STEP BACK A FEW DECADES

- YOGIN DEVAN

DURBAN'S Grey Street, now Yusuf Dadoo Street, in the 1940s.

(Supplied)

OUR cities are in chains today.

Walk through Durban and you'll see supermarkets chains, fashion chains, fast-food chains, pharmacy chains, electronics chains, bookstore chains, home improvement chains, furniture chains, sporting goods chains, coffee shop chains ... the list is long.

But if you could step back a few decades, Durban's streets - as well as streets in many other cities in South Africa and the world - would tell a very different story.

There were tailor shops, shoemakers and cobblers, the dry cleaner and laundry, bakeries, watchmakers, book shops and stationers, butcheries, record stores, toy shops and haberdasheries selling sewing and craft supplies.

It was when milkmen delivered bottles to doorsteps, often knowing every family on their route.

Durban's streets back then were alive with the hum of local craftsmanship and everyday community life that was far more personal and tactile than today's malls and chain stores.

Shopping was personal then, with shopkeepers knowing customers by name. Goods were often locally sourced, handmade, or prepared fresh daily.

Popular shoe repair outlets in Durban and surrounding areas included Kalidas Shoe Repairs, Makan's Shoes Repairs, Lalla's Shoe Repairs, Madhow Shoe Repairs, Gopals Shoe Repairs (established in 1901), and Giddiah's Shoe Repairs in Clairwood.

Who repairs their shoes today? Yesteryear's leather shoes could be resoled or stitched.

Today, shoes that mostly come from China, are cast aside once worn out.

In days gone by, if your clothes required washing and pressing, there were scores of dry-cleaners for suits and formal outfits that could not be washed with water and detergents.