I Remember when I was a Boy

[dads tractor]

. Take my hat off to all of them

The days of iron wills and wooden ships me thinks

[threedogs]

Thought I would dig this out for new members.
I remember going to parties and seeing the record player stacked 15 records high on 45 rpm
then as night rolled on change speed from 33 1/3 or 78 rpm'
this was called non stop hits for the time lol

[TPC]

As a kid my parents ran a fish and chip shop on South Rd Reynella called "The Hop Inn".
I would help out by getting the potato sacks and putting the potatoes in the rumbler that would toss the potatoes around in a cast iron tub to remove the skin.
Would then chop each potato into chips with a hand operated chip slicer, they were then partially cooked before getting the final cooking as they were bought.
They tasted way better than any chips you get now and you could stuff yourself for 10c.

[jack]

I used to do exactly the same TPC, the spuds came in large hessian bags then. Potato cakes were hand sliced from the larger spuds. Everything was cooked twice. The old man made the first electric chips cutter using a Hoover washing machine motor, worked a treat. At primary school we could buy sixpence worth of fish and chips.

[threedogs]

I remember Dad had grocery type store in our back yard, we used to bag up the sugar, etc.
Lolly heaven having milkbar in back yard. Biscuits came in those big square tins. Mum
told me when she was little they would buy a pennies worth of broken biscuits

[The BigFella]

remember when it was cool to buy 10c (minimum) chips and just tear one end of the paper so you could keep them hot for the trip (walk) home.
and when visiting my Nan in Seven Hills (Sydney) the taxi ride although 10x minutes in length only cost 40c, those were the days!

[The BigFella]

Below is an extract from a book I wrote a few years back for my kids, if the mods think it not suitable then please delete.
Over the coming weeks I will post up some more extracts, that is if you enjoy the read,,,,,


“Disobedient Sheep Dogs
And
You Bloody Kids”

By Glenn Forrest
2006-04-29

G’day,
This compilation is some of my earliest memories, from my first two wheeled bike, through my teenage years and well into my adult life.
These memories are by no way totally factual, for a young bloke’s perception may differ from the facts.
“Never let the truth get in the way of a good story!”
Nor are they in any chronological order due to my jotting them down as the memories flooded back.
So have a read, have a chuckle and who knows you may even shed a tear or two. Above all I hope you enjoy the journey, it was fun the first time, and just as enjoyable this second time round. I would like to thank my family for their patience and tolerance through my childhood and teenage years
To my Uncle Chicka, a very big thank you for giving me guidance and teaching me the finer skills or “bush craft” which I still enjoy today.
Dad, thanks mate for teaching me life skills I use each and every day, giving me a childhood I enjoyed then, and appreciate now!.
And mum, thanks for teaching me strength and survival, for no matter what level of diversity you face, if you believe you can, you will!
“I had the best childhood, ever!”

[The BigFella]

"My first Two wheeled bike."

My first bike was red and blue with pedals on the front wheel, from riding in Aunty Yvonne’s hallway to racing down the steep driveway at the Tumbarumba property dad worked on.
Playing with Kevin Wake at “The Glen”, the property owned by the Morton family where dad was a station hand was full of fun and adventure.
On one occasion while Kevin’s dad was separating honey we nicked what seemed like kilos of honey comb. Well I can also remember lying on the hearth in front of the slow combustion stove in mum’s kitchen with the biggest pain in the stomach you could ever imagine.
Kevin and I would play for hours under the tall pines, in the pine nettles building “forts” and “hides” to trap and capture the enemy of the day!

We lived with Uncle Terry and Aunty Yvonne for a while when I was very young, I remember dad had a broken arm and was off work for a while.
I can still remember their daughter Sharon, boy was she a pain.
Sharon would go out of her way to entrap me in what ever scheme she was dreaming up at that particular moment, often ending up with me in trouble with Yvonne and mum. Not the ideal situation to place a young bloke in, hey! So I would just try and stay clear of what ever scheme they were dreaming up.
“keep ya nose clean” was the order of the day!

[TPC]

Keep them coming BigFella.

[The BigFella]

"Broken wheels and a blood scarred forehead!"

I remember we were driving from Tumbarumba to Sydney when we had a head on collision with a HR Holden being driven by a bloke who was pissed, he had just come from the Yass rodeo and had obviously had a skin full. As we stood and looked at the surrounding carnage, there was smoke and steam flowing out of the upside down car, a stranger that had stopped to assist was carrying me on their hip. “Why is our car broken?” I asked while dad was sitting on the ground beside the right hand front wheel with blood streaming down his forehead. I told dad our car was broken ‘cause” the wheels were all crooked and the glass was broken all over the place”.
This led to my first ride in an ambulance, the glass between the front and back area of the ambulance was cracked and I remember telling the driver he had to get it fixed.

“Unfortunately the driver of the HR died instantly,
I guess he left behind a family, I have often wandered how that family would have coped after loosing their dad?”

The hospital staff separated me from mum and I remember making my way in to mum’s room and slipping into mum’s bed with her. The cranky old nurse came and took me back to my room, but I would crawl, slide, and ultimately end up in mum’s bed again. I won, the nurse gave in after several attempts and left me to sleep with mum. My dad still has the scars today.

I was about 3yrs old at this stage,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,