In pictures: Għar id-Dud Chalet, 1926

Had fate been kinder to it, next year we would have celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Sliema Chalet.

Born in the flush of the 1921 self-government mini boom, the elegant art nouveau landmark, commissioned by the businessman Carmelo Axisa and designed by the British military engineer, Major Benjamin Cordwell of the Royal Engineers, became the major venue of bourgeoise entertainment in Sliema, where the elite centre of gravity was shifting.

A Chalet front-view postcard issued in the late 1920s by Giuseppe Grech Mifsud.

The Chalet retained its lure, as an open-air café and as a dancing venue with live music, throughout the years, until it shut its gates in 1963 and, eventually, had to be pulled down some 20 years ago.

This photo of the Chalet was reused in postcards issued by various publishers.

Repeated attempts to revitalise that indelible centre of nostalgia to older generations never really took off. Great pity, as its demolition also marked the loss of a pioneering example of reinforced concrete on the island and of one of the very few graceful art nouveau structures that had somehow survived the war of empires and the insensitive greed of developers.

The unstudied postcard editor GBC published this pre-war side view of the Chalet.

Not at all surprisingly, the majority of interwar postcard publishers included views of the popular Għar id-Dud Chalet in their productions – Geo Fürst, Salvatore Lorenzo Cassar, Alfred Vella Gera, Richard Ellis, GGM (Giuseppe Grech Mifsud), the unstudied GBC, Cefai & Co., Joseph Galea & Sons, Psayla, the Result Studio and many others, almost invariably in mono­chrome but occasionally colourised. 

Another publisher, Cefai & Co, issued this early postcard.

A Chalet postcard by the Result Studio, Sliema, used in 1930.

A wide-angle view of the Chalet by Richard Ellis, 1930s.

Geo Fürst’s stunning interwars series of postcards includes this Chalet image.

The photographs mostly document the architectural ensemble from the front and from the sides. A few of these images show the interiors and even fewer the leisure activities taking place inside.

A unique night-time photo of the Chalet by Alfred Vella Gera.

But, to compensate, the bustle of well-dressed Sliemiżi strolling in front of the Chalet, taking advantage of the sun and the sea-views, somehow makes up for this deficiency.

A card by Alfred Vella Gera showing a busy scene in front of the Chalet.

Most images are from the author’s collection.

A post-war postcard of the Chalet by Alfred Vella Gera.

A Chalet postcard produced by Joseph Galea & Sons.

A view of the Chalet from the Fortizza side.