Landing Durban with hot water
Butterworth Productions / Maxwell Carpets: 76 First Avenue
First Avenue in the 1930s and 1940s was still a mixture of private residences and small businesses. Some owners had homes alongside their businesses, most notably the chemist Fleming Johnston who was Mayor of Durban in 1921–22 and again from 1935 to 1937.
One of those who chose First Avenue to open his business was JS Butterworth. With very little capital, he started Butterworth Productions in 1933 making electric geysers in a small shop at 161 First Avenue which he shared with a plumber. Within two years, he sought larger premises at 76 First Avenue, expanding still further in the early 1940s when he bought the home and tobacconist business of Mr Hawkins at 70 and 72 First Avenue. It must have been then that the current facade was built in the Style Moderne with its rounded corners and bands of windows.
His electric heaters were approved by the Durban Corporation and were soon widely installed into hotels, cafes, offices and homes. He proudly highlighted that his heaters were fitted with “On” and “Off” pilot lights with a red warning light when the heating element was “On”. Today, we take that for granted.
The company expanded into catering equipment for restaurants, hotels and canteens. It was also the first company to produce hospital sterilizers made in South Africa, supplying them to over 450 hospitals in Southern Africa. By 1970, Butterworths were the largest manufacturers of sterilizers in South Africa.
The firm remained at their First Avenue address until 1964 when it moved to Young Rd in Pinetown. It ceased to exist in 1991.
Today, the First Avenue premises is owned by Maxwell Carpets, which had tried to buy it in about 1990, losing out to a night club which operated there for about a decade.
When it closed down, Maxwell Carpets managed to purchase the property in 2000. Founded 55 years ago at 36 Carlisle Road, Maxwell Carpets specialises in carpets, wooden floors, artificial grass and vinyl flooring. Mohammed Vawda, the grandson of the founder, recalls that when the Daily News Reader Choice was a “big thing”, Maxwell Carpets was voted the Best Flooring company by readers for 13 years in succession.
With the renaming and renumbering of First Avenue, their new address is 18-22 Mathews Meyiwa Road.
