In the late Middle Ages, Germans were bringing fir trees into their homes and decorating them with apples, wafers, nuts, and candles—symbols of the Garden of Eden and Christian hope.
“Christmas trees” spread slowly across Europe but truly gained international popularity in the 19th century. In Britain, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert—both enthusiastic supporters of the German custom—were famously sketched with their family around a decorated tree in 1848. The image went viral for its time, appearing in newspapers throughout the English-speaking world and inspiring countless households to adopt the tradition.
Once a religious custom, the Christmas tree has been transformed into a secular symbol of the ‘festive season’ in popular culture. Commercial use of the Christmas tree often offer retro lovers and collectors opportunities to obtain historical seasonal items. Image supplied.
German immigrants brought the custom to North America even earlier, but it was the Victorian era’s embrace that transformed the Christmas tree into a cultural staple. Over time, decorations evolved from fruit and candles to glass ornaments, tinsel, electric lights, and the wide variety of styles seen today.
From ancient evergreen symbols to modern festive centerpieces, the Christmas tree reflects centuries of tradition, adaptation, and celebration—standing each year as a glowing reminder of continuity, hope, and togetherness.
On Sunday 30 November 2025, visitors to the will have the opportunity to hunt for retro and contemporary Christmas collectibles, including unique pallet trees handmade by Emily in country Victoria. Emily’s take on the ‘pallet Christmas tree’ include use of recycled doors that have a character unique to each piece of workmanship – weather beaten for with old handles attached or 1970’s style carved doors.
So if you need a unique, handmade and recycled Christmas tree just in time to erect on 1 December, meet Emily at the market this weekend!
And don’t forget, if this is not your style, many of Camberwell Junction’s local traders have a huge variety of the latest Christmas ornaments and trees, including trees with builtin lights for time poor or weary shopper.
Hitting the road for an extended Melbourne Cup Day long weekend? Well don’t forget your trusty road maps, often regarded as works of art before smartphones and GPS.
This 1960’s collectible Shell road map is a classic example for “Sydney and Environs” embraces the happy motoring experience and romance of early motoring. Measured in miles, this map can be dated to the pre-1974 change to kilometres.
The market and surrounding Camberwell Junction shops will be open for the extended Melbourne Cup Day long weekend.
So if you are not enjoying the roads, drop into Camberwell. Maps are only one of a million different treasures to discover at Camberwell Sunday. See you here soon.
Congratulations to recent grant awardees. Not only do we recycle, repurpose and reuse, funds raised go to support so many other worthy causes!
Over sixty community groups that received Small Grants from the City of Boroondara Community Strengthening grant pool.
The Rotary Club of Balwyn contributes around $225,000 annually to the City of Boroondara Community Strengthening Grant pool. Boroondara Council contributes another $302,000.
Balwyn Rotary’s funds are raised at the Camberwell Sunday Market.
The remainder of this grant pool will soon be distributed as Community Strengthening Grants.
The decision 49 years ago, by Balwyn Rotary to start a car park market in Camberwell, has been significant for local, national and international communities.
As a part of Camberwell Camera Club’s tradition, the Club will be setting up a Photo Booth at the Camberwell Market on Sunday, 6th of July. Please come to CCC Photo Booth, get your picture taken and invite your family and friends! As in previous years, there will be no charge for the photos.
Every Sunday morning, this suburban car park is transformed into a vibrant, sprawling hotbed for lovers of trash and treasure.
From records to rings, buttons to boots, as long as it’s secondhand, antique or vintage, it’s sold here at the Camberwell Sunday Market.
Entrepreneur Poppy King, best known for her booming lipstick business in the 1990s, said that her heart would “literally skip a beat” as she approached the Camberwell Sunday Market and contemplated the array of potential purchases ripe for the picking..
The market is a beloved ritual for so many. From the stallholders who have been crawling out of bed in the wee hours of every Sunday morning for decades, to the dedicated shoppers who scour the hundreds of stalls driven by the thrill of finding that elusive item.
The market community here is a close-knit one, and many lasting connections have been formed over the years; between the Rotarians, stallholders and regular patrons.
In 2001, two stallholders who had met at the market were married … at the market! The regular vendors – one who sold home-made bow ties, the other irreverent homemade merchandise – invited a host of Rotarians and market-goers to share the occasion with them.
People love the market for many reasons, including the many buskers who have graced the car park’s various “stages”.
Since its inception, the Rotary Club of Balwyn has supported many buskers and performers who use the market as their stage, to entertain visitors as they browse the market stalls.
Saxophonist Neil Whitford performed at the Camberwell Sunday Market for more than 20 years, and his contribution is fittingly commemorated by the memorial plaque on this walkway. The plaque depicts Neil playing the saxophone with his little grey poodle, Benjamin by his side. Together this duo entertained the crowds in the rain, hail and shine.
Discover a Treasure While many come to the market for vintage clothes, to add to their record collection or pick up a quirky trinket, some people get far more than they bargained for, including unique treasures from all around the world.
In 2002, a shopper bought five dolls that originated from the Pacific islands, for a modest price. The items turned out to be rare fertility dolls from an island off the coast of Papua New Guinea, and within a couple of days had been sold twice. First to a French art dealer, and later to another dealer in Europe.
Two years earlier, a canoe ornament from the Solomon Islands was bought at the Camberwell Sunday Market for several hundred dollars, and soon after sold in New York with an asking price in the thousands. Makes you wonder, what you might find?
There are many examples of opportunistic – or perhaps just plain lucky – shoppers, including a painting being bought for $25 in the early 1990s and eventually re-sold for $12,000.
Whether it’s vintage memorabilia or clothing, jewellery or artworks, you could uncover some treasure on your next trip to the Camberwell Sunday Market.
Collectors and Shoppers Eccentric collectors of all descriptions can be found at the Camberwell Sunday Market. There are the vendors whose stalls bear the fruits of a lifetime committed to collecting weird and wonderful items, and the patrons who descend upon the market with a voracious appetite to build upon their own impressive collections; be it records, vintage clothes or … buttons.
Elizabeth Purkiss, lovingly known as “The Button Lady”, had an incredible button collection that adorned the corner of the market for 25 years. Elizabeth’s passion for buttons was inspired as a four-year-old, by her dressmaker grandmother. Some say there is a collector in all of us, and the Camberwell Sunday Market caters to all of them. Toys, newspapers, tools, records or vintage clothes, there is always plenty to pique the interest of an ardent collector.
Another fascinating collector, Ray Nicholls, has been sharing his collection of newspapers and magazines here for almost three decades. Ray started collecting newspapers as a 12 year old, when he vividly remembers lying in bed, listening to the radio and hearing the news that President John F Kennedy had been assassinated. Later that day, he walked up to the milk bar to buy the afternoon Herald and has been collecting ever since. Visitors to the market are fascinated by Ray’s vast collection and often search for a newspaper from the day they were born, or buy one for friends as birthday presents.
The Retro Fashion As the saying goes, everything that is old is new again.
In her book about the history of the market, Sunday Service, Leah Annette notes that when the Camberwell Sunday Market began in 1976, it was an era when there was a lot of interest in the “old and unusual”. This on-going trend may account for the market’s incredible long-term popularity.
Eagle-eyed shoppers continue to come from all over Melbourne to seek out unique items that will set them apart from the crowd. Whether it’s a luxurious leather jacket, sleek skirt or sharp pair of boots, the Camberwell Sunday Market has enough vintage clothing to satisfy the most discerning fashionista.
In fact, the market features such an impressive range of vintage fashion that costume designers from film and television are often seen trawling through the various stalls to find authentic items from decades gone by.
As this is an institution for vintage die-hards, make sure you get here
Camberwell Sunday Market 