Stories Above the Street heritage signs being created by Kaboom Toons
Heritage • Art • Local Stories

Stories Above the Street

A streetscape of stories from Cue, Day Dawn, Big Bell and beyond.

Bringing local history back into view

The stories were always here. The signs put them back above the street.

Stories Above the Street is a Shire of Cue heritage project that brings the district's commercial history back into the streetscape through traditional hand-painted signage.

The project draws on the businesses, trades and personalities that once shaped life across the Shire — from Cue to Day Dawn and Big Bell — turning fragments of local history into a visible, walkable story.

The project
Commissioned by: Shire of Cue
Signwriters: Kaboom Toons
Approach: Researched, designed and painted by hand
Stories from: Cue, Day Dawn, Big Bell and across the Shire
Purpose: Heritage interpretation in the streetscape
Researched, designed and painted by hand

Jason and Felicity Trevenen — the people behind the signs.

The Shire engaged Jason and Felicity Trevenen of Kaboom Toons to research the businesses and stories represented in the project, develop the designs and then bring each sign to life by hand.

Jason is a Perth-based illustrator and caricaturist whose background includes eight years with Walt Disney Animation Australia, where he worked as an Inbetween Character Lead on traditional hand-drawn animated films. He has also taught drawing and delivered art workshops across Western Australia.

For Stories Above the Street, Jason and Felicity have worked together across the project — researching local businesses, developing the visual treatment, painting the signs and returning to Cue as the collection has grown. Their work combines historical research with the character of traditional signwriting, so each sign feels individual rather than like a standard reproduction.

Kaboom Toons hand painting one of the Stories Above the Street signs
Traditional signwriting

Every sign is an original piece of work.

The lettering, borders, shadows and decorative details are painted by hand rather than printed as modern reproductions.

That matters because the project is not only preserving local stories — it is also using the craft and visual language that once made shopfronts such a distinctive part of country streets.

History, not imitation

They are not all replicas of signs that once hung on those exact buildings.

Some signs are based on surviving photographs, advertisements or historic lettering. Others interpret real businesses from elsewhere within the Shire.

A sign displayed in Cue may therefore tell a story from Day Dawn, Big Bell or another part of the district. The aim is not to suggest that every sign once occupied that exact shopfront.

Instead, the streetscape becomes a place where the wider commercial history of the Shire can be seen together — businesses and trades that were genuinely part of this district, brought back into public view.

From archive to streetscape

Research first. Design second. Brush and paint last.

The project was built around the history itself, with the signwriting following the story rather than the other way around.

RESEARCH

Find the story

Historical photographs, newspaper material, business records and local knowledge help identify the people, trades and businesses worth bringing back into view.

DESIGN

Give it a visual identity

Lettering, colour, shape and layout are developed to suit the era and character of the business while making each sign distinctive in the collection.

HAND PAINT

Make it by hand

The finished artwork is laid out and painted by hand, retaining the human character of traditional signwriting rather than the perfect finish of a digitally printed panel.

A collection of Stories Above the Street signs being hand painted in the Kaboom Toons workshop
A collection of signs taking shape in the workshop — each researched, designed and painted individually for the Stories Above the Street project.
One streetscape • many places

Cue, Day Dawn, Big Bell and the wider Shire.

The project reaches beyond one street and one townsite.

Businesses that once operated in Cue, Day Dawn, Big Bell and elsewhere across the district now sit together as part of a single heritage story — a reminder that today's quiet streets were once part of a much larger network of mines, shops, hotels, workshops and services.

Behind the painted names

Every sign opens the door to another story.

The research behind the project has uncovered much more than business names and dates. Newspaper reports, photographs and government records reveal the people behind the shopfronts — and some wonderfully unexpected details of everyday life across the Murchison.

J S Hince bakery delivery truck in Cue
Cue • Baker

J. S. Hince

Hince's bakery story survives in more than a sign. A remarkable photograph shows his delivery truck with BAKER — J. S. HINCE — CUE painted in huge letters along its side.

The baker later became a member of the Cue Road Board and a Justice of the Peace — a local businessman whose role in town extended well beyond the ovens.

Read J. S. Hince's story →
L C Etalides Ladies and Gents Tailor heritage sign
Cue • Tailor

L. C. Etalides

Born in Constantinople and trained as a tailor, Etalides later bought a country store at Miling. With the store came an unexpected extra job — responsibility for the local post office and telephone exchange.

The arrangement reportedly lasted only a few months. His working life eventually brought him back to tailoring and to Austin Street in Cue.

Read L. C. Etalides' story →
Bicycle race preparations outside Bowler's Belvedere Tea Rooms at Big Bell
Big Bell • Tea Rooms

Bowler's Belvedere

The Belvedere was part tea room, eating house and accommodation business — serving meals, cool drinks and ice cream while also taking permanent boarders.

At Christmas 1937 a shipment of Dongara crayfish even made its way inland to Big Bell for the Belvedere's supper trade.

Read the Belvedere story →
More than decoration

A reason to look up, stop and ask who was here before.

The signs are intended to spark curiosity. A name above a verandah can lead to a newspaper article, a family story, a lost business or an entire chapter of the district's history.

Preserve stories

Names and businesses that might otherwise disappear from everyday memory are returned to a visible place in town.

Preserve craft

Traditional signwriting becomes part of the interpretation, not simply a way of displaying information.

Invite discovery

The signs encourage visitors and locals to explore the streetscape and discover the stories behind the names.

Stories Above the Street

The signs are new. The stories belong to the Shire.

By bringing together local research, traditional signwriting and the history of Cue, Day Dawn, Big Bell and the wider district, Stories Above the Street turns the streetscape itself into an open-air record of the people and businesses that came before.