The food is well past its use-by date in this store, but German tourists don't seem to mind, writes Christina Pfeiffer.

Tucked away in historic Maryborough, 30kilometres from Queensland's whale-watching capital of Hervey Bay, is a quirky museum that has captured the imagination of German television viewers. German filmmaker Joachim Fuchsberger gave Brennan and Geraghty's substantial air time in his documentary about travelling through Australia several years ago.

The film has inspired many German tourists to detour to Maryborough, say museum staff. The museum has even gone so far as to print brochures in German.

The store was founded in 1871 by Irish immigrants Patrick Brennan and Martin Geraghty, who arrived in 1863 aboard the second immigrant ship to land in Maryborough. Brennan and Geraghty's operated as a store until George Geraghty, Martin's youngest son, died in 1972.

In 1975, the National Trust stepped in and turned it into a museum.

Today it is one of only three museum stores in the world where the contents have been preserved in original condition.

Stepping into the store is like walking through a time portal. The grocery collection contains more than 100,000 relics such as rusty tins of World War II Lucky Hit tobacco and fermented jars of peanut paste. There are tins of Hoadley's boiled sweets, Keen's mustard imported from England, long-forgotten Australian brands like Brasso, Super Rinso and Chief floor polish.

Before the family refrigerator became commonplace, meat was salted, pickled or cured and curry powder was used as a last resort to disguise the taste of meat on the verge of spoiling. Ninety bottles of Bengal curry powder from India - some dating back to the 1890s - are the only food items within Brennan and Geraghty's collection that might be still edible today.

Although tea was usually pre-packaged in one-pound and half-pound packets, Golden Tips Tea was a loose tea that was weighed and packed at the store by the grocer. The oldest grocery item remaining in the store is a packet of Hang Mee tea from China stamped March 20, 1885.

The residents of Maryborough treated themselves to imported figs from Turkey packed in small hand-made wooden boxes like expensive cigars. There are jams, preserves and orange wine produced from Brennan and Geraghty's orchards.

The general store also operated as a pharmacy of sorts. Dr Morse's Indian Root Pills were the magic cure-all for a long list of ailments including biliousness, dyspepsia, constipation, sick headache, kidney disease, liver complaint, jaundice, piles, dysentery, colds, boils, malarial fever, flatulency, foul breath, eczema, worms, female complaints, rheumatism, neuralgia and nervousness.

The main book-keeping area of the store remains in its original state with an ancient typewriter, kerosene lamp and a stockpile of ledgers. You can wander through the back section of the building where there is an antique collector's treasure trove of bottles, boxes and chests.

It is no wonder that the latest visitor's book has entries from as far away as Alaska and Mozambique.

So, next time you are up in the Sunshine State, take a walk through the shopper's memory lane of Maryborough.

TRIP NOTES

Getting there: Virgin Blue and Jetstar fly to Hervey Bay, a 30-minute drive from Maryborough.

Staying there: Try the charming Flora Alba Cottage. Phone (07)41223361 or see http://www.floraalba.com.au. Rates start from $100.

Museum details: Brennan and Geraghty, 64 Lennox Street, Maryborough, open daily 10am to 3pm; phone (07) 4121 2250. Entry $5 (adult), $2 (child), $12 (family).