Back in 1997, I was running on caffeine, grit, and pure stubbornness - 16-hour days, every day. I’d spend the daylight hours trying to get bellette off the ground, then head over to Colemans Printing in Alice Springs from 4pm until midnight.
That’s where it all began, the very first
bellette deskpad, prepped for 1998. Every time I see one now, I think back to those nights, the racket of the press, the smell of ink, and that feeling of building something from scratch.
At the time, it was just Kate, Bear and me before Jim and Fred came along, living in a one-bedroom flat on Undoolya Road. We didn’t have much, but we had drive, late nights, and a vision that somehow felt bigger than our little desk in that flat. Those were the days of pure hustle, when work meant getting your hands dirty, staying up too late, and believing you could make something out of nothing.
Since that first run, Sno’s Welding and ShadeTech have been on the calendar every single year. The
bellette deskpad has become one of those rare constants, still free, still landing on desks all over Alice Springs, a little piece of Territory tradition in a world where not much stays the same.
The early 2000s were wild - 500 TV commercials a year, Murray Neck Homeworld jingles, dancing car salesmen from Kittles, Peter Kittle’s robust salesman shaking the showroom floor, and Kings and Carla Furnishers battling it out every weekend. I just loved Saturday mornings at Murray Neck Homeworld, the music, the chaos, the buzz of retail in full swing. It was loud, fun, and full of life, when TV, radio, and newspapers ruled the world.
Fast forward to now, post-COVID, no one calls anymore. It’s all texts, emails, and endless notifications. The work’s changed. The world’s changed.
But the deskpad?
It’s still kicking, like that old pair of trackies you can’t part with. Reliable, familiar, and always there when you need it.
Here’s to the 2026 bellette deskpad - 28 years on and still flying. Come and pick yours up today!