In My Day

[Mackka]

I would like to go back to better times, in my opinion!
I grew up in the scrub and my school had 13 students for a better word, it was one weatherboard room with class from Kindy to 6 year. On Friday night my Mum, Dad and I at 4-5 would go to the Pub via horse and sulky, 5 mile. I would get a packet of Smiths Chicken Chips and a Lemon Squash and Mum would take me to the Ladies Parlour where she would have a Shandy. One of Dads mates would come round and give me 2 shillings to buy an ice cream but that was enough for a hotdog( from the vendor outside the pub) and a double ice cream cone. Yep I have had a couple of reds tonight, but these were happy times for me and I was thinking of all OUR FAMILY MEMBERS ON THIS FORUM and the difficulties that 2020 has brought upon them and wanted to share some Happy Times of Long Ago.
God Bless
Mackka

 

[RM Outback]

Great post Mackka erfect: be nice to read a few more paragraphs :Y: To be honest putting pen to paper or fingers to a keyboard to tell these stories is worth every stroke of the pen, strike of a key. I remember my parents reminiscing their life stories but now there a distant memory unfortunately our 2 youngest never met my mother yet were born while Dad was alive even though they have no recollection. To have some of their life memories recorded would have been nice.

 

[Mackka]

RM, my sincere thanks.
I look at my grandchildren and great grandchildren and when I tell them stories of my childhood they laugh so hard they nearly wet themselves and I must admit I add exaduration for emphasis but they cannot believe me.
Putting a shilling into a slot in a public telephone and pressing A to connect and when ya three minutes were up the operator would ask are you extending, if so insert another shilling :lol: :lol: :lol:
Looking back these are great times.
I also remember walking along the railway line with a large paper bag in hand to pick up the pieces of coal that had fallen off the wagon so we/ my zMum would have fuel to fire the stove to cook dinner. Dont tell me about hard times, I was there.
If you like my stories, tell me, if not , be strong enough to tell me. Thats the way we grew up in Australia.
Thanks for reading
Mackka

 

[RM Outback]

Keep posting your stories Mackka :Y: I'm interested :beer:

 

[Nightjar]

Will compare a few stories tomorrow Mackka, it's obvious you are many years younger than me but a few similar memories.

 

[reefer]

Makka..wonderful old memories..gather them together and let the ink flow mate. :Y: Regards ...Rossco.

 

[JD3]

I would like to go back to better times, in my opinion!
I grew up in the scrub and my school had 13 students for a better word, it was one weatherboard room with class from Kindy to 6 year. On Friday night my Mum, Dad and I at 4-5 would go to the Pub via horse and sulky, 5 mile. I would get a packet of Smiths Chicken Chips and a Lemon Squash and Mum would take me to the Ladies Parlour where she would have a Shandy. One of Dads mates would come round and give me 2 shillings to buy an ice cream but that was enough for a hotdog( from the vendor outside the pub) and a double ice cream cone. Yep I have had a couple of reds tonight, but these were happy times for me and I was thinking of all OUR FAMILY MEMBERS ON THIS FORUM and the difficulties that 2020 has brought upon them and wanted to share some Happy Times of Long Ago.
God Bless
Mackka

Yep, good days are gone.
Now when you are in the bush.
4 wd comes towards you, slows, stops.
You say in traditional polite bush greeting (yep my upbringing, pretty lame by today's selfish crew) "hi mate how ya goin!"
They reply "FOUND ANY GOLD"
You say as you just got there "just got here mate, how ya goin?"
Them "HAVE YOU DONE ANY GOOD?"
You "No I just said I just got here, anyway how are ya mate?"
Them "WHERE YOU FROM?"
Im now thinking (bite the tongue, bite the tongue..... .)
My Dad always brought me up bush style to always greet another person in the bush politely, say hi, introduce yourself to another and be civil. He was raised bush style and did so to me. I never ever hunt another detectorist out to pump for info. If I drive past one I just wave or say hi mate. I leave em alone and never stop within eye distance so as not to encroach on where they are. If one stops politely to say hi im more than happy to chat.
Today that is utterly lost, sadly to say.
:/

 

[Guest]

G'day

Yep plenty of memories of what we think now were better times back then, and how things have changed and so have we, at some point comes the realization that we have become our parents, I used to wonder what they did with themselves, but now I know as I am doing those things myself, looking at my grown children and how they are doing in their lives and wondering why they do what they do and again realizing that I did many of those things at that age too, a tip for you youngsters you need to not waste you life hating and dwelling on the wrongs of the world just get on with your life and do everything you want to do now, try to remember not to do anything bad as you may feel remorse for those stupid things you did when you are older, lastly you wont realize how short life truly is until you are near to the other end of it.

cheers

stayyerAU

 

[StoneTheCrows]

Nice one Mackka

I remember the baker and milko used to come in horse and cart.
Was a treat to be the first kid on the block to get a free ride with the baker.
Milk in glass botttles
Mr Spooner was the local vegetable guy who would drive around with his van and stop basically door to door selling fresh fruit and veg.
The Rabbit guy would sell his rabbits hanging off a stick - door to door again.

Sixpence every saturday - straight to the flea pit for cartoons or whatever was playing and ice cream
Also remember a man used to come and collect money door to door for the mortgagae (I think)

Few years later on the pushbike selling papers and every friday 5 cents worth of chips from the tips.
Street cricket every afternoon with the other boys from our area.
How good was cracker night with bonfires and crackers.
Good times

 

[Mackka]

Great memories STC, wow who doesnt remember street cricket.
We also had a greengrocer that came around in his covered Ute with a swinging scale in the middle. His Ute tray was in an triangle shape so all the fruits and veggies were on display in horizontal stages. I remember all these people addressing my Mum as Mrs M. She would choose what she wanted and pay cash. That was the same for the Bread Vendor twice a week . We would walk, no car, 5 miles to town to buy meat and walk back.
The flicks ( pictures) was a real treat. A shilling to me and Mum would pay to get into the flee pit. I can always remember the Kookaburra laughing at the start of Newsreel and everyone stood up for God Save The Queen before Newsreel started. Cartoons, Tom and Jerry. Get times and at Interval, ice cream and a bag of lollies that was so big , you took the rest home for tomorrow.
Stay Safe Folks.
Till next time
Mackka

 

[Jaros]

It was nearly horse and cart everything. Bike it or walk it.

 

[Deepseeker]

I remember in East Malvern in the early 1970's the milk was delivered by a horse and cart. It would stop while the milkman would run along to a couple of houses at a time to leave a milk bottle or two at the gate, and when he needed more milk he would whistle and the horse would walk along further and stop again.

The horse always without fail would poop like clockwork at the beginning of our street, Fountaine ave. I used to race up the road on my pushbike before school and jam the back brake on the poop pile for one hell of a long skid

Until one day, an old lady who lived in the house next to that part of the street came barrelling out from her driveway and grabbed me by the collar, shouting "Do you have any idea how bad the flies are because of the mess you make!!!" I was too scared to tell her that it was mostly the horses fault :8

 

[Jaros]

I can't remember whether the night-cart was horse power or motorised. oop:

 

[Mackka]

Jaros ours was motorised as it was 18 doors. Everyone knew him as Dan the Toilet Man. I can always remember him at Christmas as he would leave us a beautiful printed card on the toilet lid and it was a poem. My Dad would leave him two longnecks every Christmas. Dan would be wearing a leather cape that was only on one side and attached was a cap covering his head . The can was drawn out from a small door at the rear of the toilet and Dan would put a clip lock lid on the contents , put a new can in and hoist the full can on his shoulder and take it to the 18 doors and Flies( old joke, ie what has ....). Subsequently if the lid wasnt on securely, the contents would spill onto his skull cap and cape. **** of a job.
Mackka

 

[sand surfer]

I remember as a kid mum sent me to the mail box to get the loaf of bread, i got a bloody flogging as i had ate the whole inside out by the time i got home, all that was left was the crust :lol: never got sent to get the bread again

WE had the greengrocer call into the farm once a week, he had a truck with all the vegies tiered up and the swinging scales there as well mackka

The best bit was the pie man would call in once a week in school holidays ,that was our treat for the year, no flicks out bush where we grew up (but you tell the kids today that your biggest treat for the year was a "bought meat pie" not home made and they look at you stupidly)

As for the rabbits :drooling: we got or own fresh from the ground :lol: plenty of them around

Street cricket you blokes got spoilt , our cricket pitch was the blue metal driveway into the farm ' :awful: bloody bombs going off every where , :lol: got me buggered how some one was not seriously hurt or killed ,but we did loose our pound of skin plus the lumps and bruises everywhere ,but i think the poor old cricket ball copped the biggest hiding ,no shine on her and chunks missing everywhere and i am sure it would never pass through the ball ring ,poor thing was nearly square :lol:

 

[Deepseeker]

I can't remember whether the night-cart was horse power or motorised. oop:

There was a poem about a night-cart man who was running late, that was still recited by kids in the playground in 1970, that went something like this-

One dark morning, as the sky turned blue,
around the corner, the dunny cart flew.
It hit a bump, a scream was heard,
a man was killed by a flying turd............

Night carts had finished where we lived, by the time we got to Oz in 1970. However, I did have cousins who lived in an old house in Oakleigh in Vic. They still had the old thunder box down the path in the garden, that had been connected to the sewerage. I used to dread using it when we were visiting, as it was a rickety old thing that was crawling with all types of spiders including red backs. God knows how people managed back then, when they were crook and had to run back and forth down the garden path to use the toilet. Plenty of people with gastro wouldn't have made it :awful: :awful: :awful:

Which reminds me of the other schoolyard joke of the time, about the fictional thunderbox book by Willy Maykit & Betty Won't

 

[user 5263]

Talking of Thunder Boxes, I remember a few years ago we were in Burra staying at an old Bakery done up for acc' and my wife was impressed with the solid wooden top on the bathroom cabinet with 2 hand basins one for adults and a smaller one for children. I explained to her the old practice of having a 2 holer so that when (usually ) mum went she took a child with her, and that is where the 2 bowl vanity unit top had come from.

I knew this not from experience but from reading a book titled: The Specialist. A great little read. If you can find a copy have a read.

 

[Harbourmaster]

What about the bloke that used to come around & check if you had a radio & TV license. My mother disliked them intensely. Im guessing all states had them.

 

[numpty]

i hated the thunder boxes, checking for spiders every time you need a sit down visit, i dont miss the smell of phenyle either that's for sure :awful:

 

[Mackka]

Great stories coming out, thank you.
Speaking of blokes turning up, we had a man every month come from H G Palmer to collect his 4 shillings for items of clothing or haberdashery that Mum had on tick. In October we received the Catalogue from Grace Bros with an order form inside. Mum would fill it out and we would get the goods just before Christmas. The best thing I ever got was a new pair of leather riding boots, fantastic.
Mackka