The 1950's: A Time To Grow

By Jon Peasey

The 1950's ushered in a tremendous time of change as Australia emerged from the post World War 2 years and began rebuilding for the future. As the decade rolled on, outer western Sydney gradually changed from its rural setting and steadily became urbanised. Some very early recollections of my childhood and then a description of my home town Smithfield sets the mood for the rich variety of events that unfold; as I grew from early childhood into my teenage years.
'The 1950's - A Time To Grow' is based on recollections of incidents in my life; growing up in Smithfield, in what was then a rural area in outer western Sydney, Australia. The Smithfield of today is vastly different to the Smithfield of the 1950's.
All the events depicted in these memoirs certainly added spice and variety to my childhood; such things as: as playing in the bush, our pets, the bad condition of roads in the area and growing our own vegetables. Other activities included going to Sunday School on a bus, picking blackberries and mushrooms, swimming in a local dam and building a fort in the bush. Then there were scouting days as a Boy Scout, driving my friend’s micro midget speedcar and being present at a cave in. Come along with me and enjoy the journey.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jon Peasey
• Release date: Aug 29, 2012
• ISBN: 9780987379221

Jon Peasey

I am a retired male nurse, married with three grown up sons, who have all left home to pursue their own interests in life. My wife and I moved from Toowoomba in south east Queensland in October 2015 to Brookfield a suburb in Brisbane Queensland (QLD). We made the move to be closer to family. In December 2018 we moved to Nundah Queensland to move even closer to family.Brisbane is the capital city of Queensland. Queensland is famous for the Gold Coast and the Great Barrier Reef. Brisbane is situated on the Brisbane River and is known as the 'River City'. It is a vibrant, cosmopolitan city.I am a Christian and I fellowship with like minded Christians. I enjoy writing, reading my Bible and Christian books. I tend to read non-fiction books in my spare time. My interests are my family, writing, bible study, beach walking, car touring, gospel preaching and bible teaching.

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The 1950's - A Time to Grow

By Jon Peasey

Published by Peasey Publications

at Smashwords

Copyright 2012 Jon Peasey

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Cover photo: Smithfield Public School - Classes 1 & 2 - Year 1951

Table of Contents

Preamble

Early Recollections

Smithfield

Primary School Days

Changes Afoot

Spot

Scouting Days

Starved

Sunday School Bus

Blackberries And Mushrooms

The Fort

Screaming Stump

The Outing

The Vegetable Gardens

Cave In

The Great Australian Dream

Great Escape

Lawson

The Water Hole

Going To The Flicks

Transition

High School Days

Family Tensions

The Paper Run

The Murder

Tragedy

Micro Midget

The Kart

Willy Willy

Epilogue

About the author

Preamble

The Bible tells us that, To everything there is a season. And a time to every purpose under the heaven. (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Verses 2-8 lists 28 different occasions in life starting with A time to be born... A natural progression from being born is growing up, from a baby into childhood; then into a teenager and finally into an adult.

Cities and nations similarly go through growing phases. The 1950’s ushered in a tremendous time of change; as Australia emerged from the post war years and began rebuilding for the future. Migrants flowed into the country from Europe. Factories churned out products, vainly trying to keep up with the demand for goods and services.

The housing industry was booming. Sydney looked to its western areas to house its expanding population. The ‘baby boom’ which began after World War 2 also fuelled the increasing demand for housing. Jobs were plentiful. The addition of migrants to the workforce allowed for rapid expansion in the manufacturing sector.

As the decade rolled on, outer western Sydney gradually changed from its rural setting and steadily became urbanised. The 1950’s and 1960’s manifested huge changes. The city of Sydney tried to keep pace with the expanding population’s voracious appetite for new housing and infrastructure.

It was in this atmosphere of expansion, I grew up. I watched my home town at Smithfield emerge from its rural setting and transform itself into modern suburbia. As I grew from early childhood into my teenage years, the city of Sydney grew and expanded rapidly.

Some of my recollections of growing up in the 1950’s are reflected in the various chapters. These chapters are organised in approximate chronological order. The incidents are real; the stories are based on actual events. Life in the early 1950’s moved at a slower pace. As the decade came to a close, the pace of life started to pick up. The 1960’s brought enormous changes to Australian society.

The 1950’s: an era that moved us into 'rock and roll' and later evolved into the carefree 1960’s.

Early Recollections

I was born Jon Ralph Endicott at Helenie Private Hospital, Church Street, Randwick in New South Wales, at 5:05 p.m. on the 31st October 1944. My birth weight was 6 pounds 2 ½ ounces and my height was 18 inches. My parents were Roy and Anne (Nancy) Endicott. I had brown eyes, fair complexion and a small birth mark on my upper left thigh.

My earliest recollections were living in Earl Street, Randwick. The earliest memory I have is being in a cot, and looking through the vertical wooden slats at my Mum and Dad. We lived in an old house with my uncle Jack Endicott, his wife Dulcie and their two small boys Terry and Alan. My nickname was Spike because my fine textured hair stood straight up. My sister Lynette was also born at Randwick.

We played either in the backyard, or in the large lounge room. An old abandoned utility truck was in the backyard. We used to climb up on the tray and jump off. Earl Street was on a hill. We would sometimes take our scooters and tricycles out on to the footpath and ride flat out down the hill. If someone had been in the way it could have turned out quite nasty. A Bus Depot was located somewhere up off the top of the street. We often saw buses driving up and down Earl Street.

Centennial Park was located only a few blocks away. Mum used to take Lyn and me to Centennial Park for picnics. Lyn would be in her pram and I would walk with Mum. Occasionally, Mum would take us to nearby Clovelly Beach on a bus. Clovelly Beach was a nice sheltered beach for children. I remember one day eating an ice cream cone, then the wind began to blow very hard and my ice cream cone was covered in flying sand particles. I remember crying because my ice cream tasted horrible and gritty.

Next door to our house was a small shop with a residence behind. Today we would call it a 'Convenience Store'. It was bulk milk in those days, we took a billy can into the shop and had it filled up. Biscuits were weighed out from bulk cartons into brown paper bags. It was cheaper to buy the broken biscuits. Fruit and vegetables were wrapped up in newspaper. String bags, or large brown paper bags, were used to carry items. Parcels were usually wrapped up in brown paper and string.

Meat was only available from the Butcher and was wrapped up in white Butcher’s paper. Offal and bones were much cheaper than the meat cuts. There were no large supermarkets back then. Australian currency was in pounds, shillings and pence.

Sometimes, Mum would take us to visit our paternal grandparents Nanna and Pop Natoli at St Leonards. They lived above their Fruit and Vegetables shop on the main road through St Leonards. It was an exciting trip for us. We got on a bus at Randwick and then we caught the electric train from Central Station to St Leonards. The train went underground and came out on to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. There were no huge high-rise buildings and no Opera House. Down below you could see the ships and ferries on the blue water of the harbour. You could also see cars and trucks on the bridge. Electric trams also used the bridge. We got off the train at St Leonards and had a short walk to the shop.

[Neil, Mum, Jon & Lyn]

I don’t remember much of my dad Roy, as he didn’t seem to be home much. Life for a little boy was happy, and full of fun playing with my cousins. But things were about to change. The reason Roy wasn’t home much was that he preferred to be at the horse races or playing golf; rather than working, or being with his family. I did not know it at the time, but Mum was forced to pawn her wedding ring to put food on the table due to Roy’s precarious financial position. The last straw came when Mum became suspicious and caught Roy in bed with another woman. Mum was pregnant with my brother Neil at the time. She packed up and moved us to her mother’s home at Smithfield. I don’t remember the move to Smithfield.

Not long after we moved to Smithfield my brother Neil was born at a private hospital in Fairfield. Our father Roy made one or two visits, after that, I did not see him again until I was a grown man. The reason he never came to see us again was because he never paid any child maintenance; even though there was a Court Order against him. He was never caught because he changed his surname to the name of the woman he was having an affair with. Men got away with non-payment of child maintenance back then. The Government did not have good systems in place to catch evaders.

Nanna Jackson, my maternal grandmother, had a low set, three-bedroom, fibro house on brick piers, with a steel Custom Orb roof. The house had casement windows. The inside walls were fibro. Cement paths went around the house. A cement path ran alongside the driveway to the front gate.

The driveway was grassed and had a large gate which swung inwards. The front fence was a picket fence, the side and back fences were barbed wire fences. Two large Coral trees (with thorns) grew in the front yard. Vegetable gardens and a Chook pen were in the backyard. Bush bordered the fences on the left side and the back of the block. A galvanised iron rainwater tank was located at the front left hand corner of the house. In front of the house was