Moving Experiences

One day we moved from our first house in Briar Hill, to the other end of the street, on the opposite side.

Mum moved our few possessions, including the double mattress, on the old pram during the day, but she couldn’t move the double bed. Mum, Phyllis and I shifted with all our stuff, but Dad didn’t know anything about it, as he’d gone into town none the wiser.

Late in the afternoon Mum and I went back to the first shack and found Dad lying on the wire bed-frame. She had to tell him we’d moved house, and then they had to carry the bed up the street. It must’ve looked great! I was glad there weren’t many houses in the street, as there was a lot of vacant land.

The second house was a bit better, though it wasn’t long till the next shift. Next time Dad helped her with all the stuff. This house was two doors from the Willett family. Our friend Robert Willett was a baby at the time.

Mrs Willett gave Mum a couple of hours housework a week. This was more to help us than them. Each time, before Mum started work, Mrs Willett would have her sit down while she read a chapter from her Bible.

The Willetts had four children: Roy, Ted, Marj and Robert.

Mrs Willett would say to Ted and me, “Take Robert outside in the pram and wheel him and get him to sleep.” But the little blighter wouldn’t go to sleep. So we got wise: we’d turn the pram around so he looked into the sun and then he’d shut his eyes!

Willetts ran a Sunday School and Gospel service in a large marquee nearby on a vacant block. Sunday School was held on Sunday afternoons. Phyllis and I attended regularly.

They used to tie up the marquee entrance when it wasn’t in use. But one day Phyllis and I wandered over and thought we’d sneak inside to look around. So we got under the tent.

There was a huge wooden chest, and being curious, we lifted the lid and looked inside. There were all the Sankey hymnbooks, and, what a surprise! A bottle of wine. “The same stuff Dad drinks!” We couldn’t work out why they had it, when it caused so much trouble in our household. We had no idea it was wine for communion.

About this time we obtained our first radio, or wireless set, as it was known. It was an exciting day for us. Radio dealers had a defined area, and went door to door selling their products. Dad bought a wireless that had a separate speaker, with his pension money. I loved listening to it. It opened up a whole new world.

The trouble was that Dad would run out of beer money between pension payments. When he was desperate, he would unplug the speaker and take it to a pawn shop to raise a few bob. We’d then be without a wireless for several weeks, until he redeemed it and brought it back home. This happened numerous times.

Later he took the whole radio in his army kit-bag and pawned the whole lot. Fortunately he redeemed it again on the very next pension day.