Dandenong Market

Dandenong Market, for 150 years poised between the road to Melbourne and the gateway to Gippsland, has a vibrant and chequered history. From its creation, which made the settlement of Dandenong into a market town, through two world wars, the post-war economic social boom and into the 21st century, the story of the market is the story of a township that grew into a major industrial and multicultural metropolis.

The market has always been at the heart of Dandenong and in the hearts of the thousands and thousands who have worked and shopped there since that first day, 10 October 1866. Its growth, from a lively stockyard with many farm-produce stalls to the market of today, is a fascinating tale of true grit and imagination. Always, in the face of time and circumstance and incredible delays, the essential spirit of the Dandenong Market has been maintained.

What’s fresh? What’s new? What’s beautiful? What’s worth buying today? These questions have echoed down the ages. This book is a tribute to all those who have asked and answered them. It is also a chronicle of Dandenong Market’s fabulous evolution and its primacy as one of Victoria’s most cherished institutions.