On 1st November 1949, almost 59 years ago, Bollinger Shipping Agency opened for business in a one room office with a staff of three, located in 29A Oxford Street Darlinghurst, owned by our clients White Hall British Products. I well remember the assistance in the early stages given by Mr Fergus Whyte, Mr Norman Hall and Colonel Chauvel.

Our very first clearance was for Mr Johnathen Wilkes of the Venus Pencil Company in the UK. “Sir Jonathen” (as my late wife Joyce called him) later became the Managing Director of Staedtler (Pacific) who are still our close and valued clients. As an American visitor once commented, when told about the long patronage shown by Staedtler; “You guys must be doing something right!”

The duties involved in the role of a customs agency in our early years were very physical. It involved searching for cargo in wharf sheds to carry out verification and sampling to satisfy customs ‘memos’. In those days the bulk of cargo had to be moved by hand trolleys or mobile cranes, long before fork-lifts were in use. I still remember real horse drawn wagons lined up along Darling Harbour and Walsh Bay. Also the little steamers loading for ports down the South Coast , Newcastle and The Northern Rivers.

Years later saw the arrival of the glamorous Matson Liners which berthed on the ‘Finger’ wharf in Woolloomoolo. In March 1969 we saw the revolutionary introduction of cargo containers on the ‘Encounter Bay’ from Tilbury. Since those days we have seen the widespread use of computers, e-mails, the internet, and even the ‘GPS’!

I am ever mindful of the wonderful support by my late wife, Joyce over many years and am so proud of my twin sons Brian and Barry who are carrying on the tradition of personalized service to the third generation of "Bollingers".

Written by: Norman Bollinger

(Founder of Bollinger Shipping Agency)    

      Mr Norman Bollinger and his late wife, Mrs Joyce Bollinger