Remember when we referred to George as a gorilla? George was an orang-utan and was always one of the most popular animals at the zoo, but growing up as kids, we always talked about him as a gorilla. He was a real character whose favourite possessions were his old hessian bag and an Australian Rules […]
Back in 1979, Brian Doddridge was just 14 years old and thought that pigs might fly. Well, at least his pig. Brian had entered the Channel 10 annual Adelaide Birdman Rally and, with the help of some friends and family, had created what he planned to be a giant pig that would fly. The rally […]
Following my column in the Advertiser ‘Boomer’ magazine recently on Rowley Park Speedway, Advertiser photographer Barry O’Brien wrote in to the paper with his own memories of “those adrenalin-pumping nights at the dirt track”. Barry started photographing Rowley Park, also known as “the pughole”, for the newspaper in 1958 and attended the track on regular […]
Did you grow up in an Adelaide suburb that no longer exists? It might have been Finchley Park or Washington Gardens or perhaps Little Chicago or Sassafras. Adelaide has lost many suburbs over the years when the name is changed, for one reason or other, or the suburb is swallowed up by a larger suburb. […]
In yesterday’s blog post I wrote about jobs that have disappeared over the past 50 years, one of those jobs mentioned was tram/bus conductor. Last year Adam McCaskill shared a memory on our FB page about growing up in Adelaide. “Does anyone know anything about the old bus/tram conductors who used to ride on the […]
Is the first job you ever had still in existence today? Telegram boys, lift operators, milkmen, comptometrists, typists, tea ladies, linotype operators, petrol pump attendants, tram conductors, manual switchboard operators and the lavatory man have all disappeared as jobs since the 50s. I started my first job at 15 working for the PMG delivering telegrams […]
Just recently I came across a newspaper article (from a website called “Johnny’s Pages”), which was written and published in the early 90s. It posed the question; “Was life better in Adelaide in the 50s”? It got me thinking about the way we live today, how hectic and complicated life can be with all the […]
One of the truly great pleasures of hosting the Adelaide Remember When Facebook page and blog is reading the hundreds of emails I receive each week from regular followers, sharing their own memories of growing up in Adelaide during their childhood and adolescent years. Julie Stokes wrote recently of memories about some of her favourite […]
Metro Theatre One of the most beautiful Art Deco style buildings in Adelaide, the Metro in Hindley St, was built by MGM. It was the only MGM Metro Theatre in Australia to be equipped with fittings sent direct from the USA and was designed by noted American theatre architect Thomas W. Lamb, in association with […]
How many old picture theatres can you remember from the ‘golden era’ of when going to the pictures was a special event. I’ve already touched on the wonderful Regent Theatre in Rundle Street, now the Regent Arcade. But can you also remember the Rex or the Savoy, how about the Metro or the Majestic. Here […]
