Langley's Cafe. End of an Era.
L to R: Minas Castrlssios, Nick Langley, George Castrissios, Jim Langley
CRHS Newsletter, No. 41, pp. 9-10
John Johnston
The 31st January, 1998 will bring to a close the long association of the Langley/Castrissios families and the old style cafe” which was such an important part of the social life of this city.
The history of the Langley family and their cafe business in Grafton began in 1921 when Jim Langley, together with his cousin Harry Aroney, formed a partnership and opened a cafe at 75 Prince street, where the Health & Bulk Food Store is today.
They traded on this site until about 1926. At that time Jim’s brother, Nick, arrived in Grafton from Greece and while Harry Aroney remained in the Grafton cafe, forming a new partnership with his brother, Jim and Nick Langley moved to South Grafton and began trading as Langleys Paragon Cafe.
In 1940 the Langley brothers purchased a cafe in Grafton, then called The Strand, which had been operating since 1936. The name was changed to Langleys Cafe and both the South Grafton and Grafton businesses were operated by Nick and Jim until 1950, when the South Grafton cafe was sold.
Today much of the internal layout of the Grafton cafe is as it was in 1936. The high backed booths are the originals, constructed in Sydney and shipped to Grafton. The installation was carried out by a local contractor, Mr. Lance Wasson. Minas Castrissios, nephew of Jim and Nick Langley arrived from Greece on 5th February, 1945 and began working for his uncles. The week before the Jacaranda Festival of 1951, Mines brother, George arrived, and began work at the Prince Street business.
Jim and Nick Langley retired in 1961 and Minas and George Castrissios purchased the business on 20th February of that year. Many people will remember “meeting at Langleys” and talking to George and Mines. They will recall the long term staff members like Dorothy Skead and Hazel Fuller, the latter becoming Mrs. George Castrissios. Who could forget Langleys lamingtons, the ‘real’ meat pies, the chocolate cake and the milk shakes?
During the years up till the mid to late 1960’s Langley’s cafe was one of the great meeting places in town. Many of the sporting clubs held committee meetings in the cafe. The Ladies Hockey with players like Dawn Scott and June Allen were regulars, especially after the game for a post-mortem’. The Woolgoolga Surf Club members held committee meetings as did the Grafton Tennis Club. The Church Fellowship groups would come to the cafe each week after their meetings - the Methodists on Tuesday nights, Church Of England on Wednesdays, and the Catholics on Friday nights. As many as 30 or 40 people would attend from each denomination. These groups were very strong during the 1950’s and early 60’s.
For many years Langleys was the meeting place for the Jacaranda festival ‘official party”. The girls would discuss their outfits for the ensuing week. Langleys would always stay open at night until the Saraton and Garden picture theatre screenings were over. Wednesday and Saturday were the big nights for the pictures, and the cafe was a great place to get together afterwards for drinks and supper.
In the days before trucks delivered cattle to the sale yards farmers would drivr their stock overland. This was always a long day and the men
would want to stay at the sale until the last beast was sold. The ladies would be shopping, meeting and then eating at Langley.
Minas has seen every flood in Grafton since 1948, and in the early years, for most shops, floods meant packing up before the water came into town and then cleaning up afterwards. During the 1963 flood, Minas and George had packed up and were camped above the cafe. The shop next door was Scheaeffers Electrical Store which had been built by Pidcocks as a flood-free store. This flood was the first test for this store, and not withstanding some problems was an amazing success. For the small price of two electric frypans from stock, passed via the roof to the cafe, George and Minas kept the staff left behind in ham, eggs and bacon.
Of the many stories each has to tell, George Weiley, their next door neighbour featured prominently. He was a regular customer and his favourite trick , particularly with a new staff member, was to ask for County Council scones.. “the ones with the currants”. Charlie Clare, who worked at the Examiner, would always ask for boy chocolates. “the ones with the nuts”.
Mines and George Castrissios have been exemplary citizens of this city and their retirement brings to a close another family business - one with a very proud history.
