ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

I'm the first for the first time.

EARLY MEMORIES.


I can still remember when I was quite young, going with my parents and my sister to the Sydney Royal Easter Show at Moore Park. We must have spent many hours there, but my memory of those visits will only bring back a few particular experiences.

I can just recall,when I must have been about four or five years old and I had the frightening and bewildering ordeal of being a lost child at the show. It happened suddenly in the crowd that I became separated from my parents. I vaguely remember being taken by the hand by some unknown adult and being delivered into the custody of this huge and looming policeman. I could never imagine that, thirty years later, I would be the scary man in the blue uniform collecting lost children at the show.

Visiting the Easter Show with my father was not as enjoyable as I had hoped. My father was a country born fitter and turner so he lingered over the farm machinery, stock and produce displays and managed to stride quickly past the really interesting things like the octopus ride, the merry-go-round and the sideshow alley. But happily, he did take us to the treasure trove of the show-bag hall. There was no point in going to the show without acquiring armloads of show bags. My favorite was the Aspro bag. It didn't contain pharmaceuticals but the bag and its trinket contents were coloured lolly pink. The palette of the early baby-boomers was mostly white, black, grey, brown, cream and navy blue.
To see bright pale magenta was like catching a glimpse of the Heavenly City.

My most striking memory comes from the cattle pavilion.
I was hanging around, wishing that my father would stop looking at cows and buy me a fairy floss, when I noticed a man doing a drawing of a cow. I managed to sneak a look at his work and was fascinated to see that he was drawing with a pencil that made a red line. The drawing was a very good academic realistic study of cattle anatomy , but the thing that interested me enormously was this drawing done with a red pencil, after all I assumed that a black graphite pencil was the normal thing to use for drawings. That's what we always used at school.

For years I had the ambition to acquire the red drawing pencil. The red pencil from my packet of Columbia coloured pencils just never gave the wonderful subtle effect that I had seen at the show. perhaps I imagined that this pencil would be like a magic wand that would impart to my hand the superior artistic ability that I deamt of.

Many years later I found the artistic red pencil in an art shop. A terra cotta drawing pencil made by the French firm of Conté of Paris. This pencil is a cross between chalk and crayon and gives a wonderful fine art effect, especially to portrait drawing; real Leonerdo da Vinci stuff.
I have used the Conté pencil quite often but sadly the magical properties I might have imagined are not found in it.

The Sydney Royal Easter Show moved from Moore Park to the site of the old Flemington Sale Yards.

I've never been to the new look Easter Show and I have no desire to go there.

Neville, reading your recount of early days, I'm reminded of the inkwells we used in school. It was a big deal to be allowed to move from lead pencils to the old nibs and ink,you would try so hard to write neatly so you could be 'promoted'. You had to make sure the ink had dried before you could close the page, hence the use of blotters.And some of those nibs were so fancy. But if your writing became a bit untidy you were demoted, back to the old pencil. It was even more exciting when Biros came in. Oooohhhhh for the good old days.
Sue

Thanks for kicking this off Nevvie ...

My earliest recollections of the Royal Show in Sydney (Moore Park) was when I was about eight years old.
My foremost memory is of the clowns on a scaffolding who painted advertising signs high up on a wall as you entered the grounds. Their displays were for such as Minties, Nestles, Peter's Ice Cream and goodness knows what else. No sooner had one sign been painted and dried they started on another. I think one of the clowns was a bloke named George Wallace. A well known comedian in his day. His non stop commentry kept visitors amused all day.
My most vivid memory was of Smokey Dawson, singing, whipcracking and knife throwing and whatever else he could do. He must have been all of thirty five years old.
Next most impressive was the African Pygmies. Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses. I couldn't believe they were real.
Of course the centre ring held most of our attention with the grand parade and the various horse events and the old style bush rodeo.

Joe

Spent the whole day at the show when we were kids. Never spent any money on food there were enough samples in the stalls to suffice. like Marty collected bottles and lead to cash in and lots of odd jobs so we had a stash. During the day we would collect the empty and sometimes not so empty bottles by walking along under the grandstand and reaching through the slats. I reckon many a patron went to have a drink and found the bottle gone. Then it was back to sideshow alley to waste it on the rides and stalls or the boxing tent.

I used to have show chickens Old English Game Duckwing Banthams I remember the thrill when I got my first ribbon. Still got it in the special box.

Oh Thanks Nev great memories you have started.


Cheers Bob

I was sure Bob you were having a lend of us with your Duckwing bantams - I'm thinking yeah right pull the other leg Mate but it seems you were fair dinkum so here are some piccies.

http://www.cacklehatchery.com/oegbantams.htm#silver

I never actually got to a show until I was about 10 or 11 when we came out here but always loved the chooks and dog sections and then of course the horses. Think taking your kids to the show from an early age should be a given - for it gives lovely memories of good times for the kids to look back on...as long as they get the whole show concept and not just the sample bags and rides. One way - possibly the only way of tying the bush and the city together for a moment in time.

Yep no gammin Mausie i have kept cage birds for as long as i can remember. The silver was my favourite. I had to sell up all my birds when I divorced, broke my heart had finches and quails and beautiful Diamond Doves.

Now I have two chooks and about 20 zebra finches as well as about 5 king quails.


Would enclose the whole back yard if I was allowed.

Chookie

Thanks Manfred. Thanks everyone for the good replies. I remember the inkwells Sue, and I never got to be ink monitor who went round with a stoneware container to fill the inkwells.

Yeah I remember the sign painters Frank.

What about Sharman's boxing tent with the man banging the bass drum and the boxers in silk shorts up on the high platform out the front.

And those enormous produce displays from the country districts that they made into dioramas or pictures. Amazing they were. And I think they still do them.

Really enjoyed reading your memories Neville. Thanks for sharing.

Heather

Last year was the first time i did not go to the Rocky show but did make the effort and went to the local at Yeppoon.

Still all show bags and junk food now.

Bob