Oh boy! When the Americans Came to Town!

A number of  recordings included residents' anecdotes of  U.S marines:  their larger than life reputation for  nylon stocking supplies, Australian women,  better  uniforms,  superior food rations and  a predisposition  towards brawling and disorderly behaviour. Not all accounts were so lively, but here's  Maidie on an encounter with a cheeky U.S Marine on the steps of Coles in Melbourne:
http://www.archive.org/details/BumpingIntoCheekyU.sMarineC1946
To view an amusing extract from an Australia propaganda film circa 1944 with its underlying subtext of encouraging restraint amongst US troops:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm_CjWTKvI0

Hold the Line please!

To hear Maidie on working as one of Melbourne's highest paid telephonists  and about her short return to work as a married woman during WWII, click on: http://www.archive.org/details/MelbourneTelephonistRecallsWarYearsMarriageWork

108 degrees in the Shade

Maidie experiences her first Aussie Christmas; 108 degrees in the shade and not a real snowflake in sight! Cutting off her waist length hair to cope with the heat, she also struggles with the Aussie vernacular:

http://www.archive.org/details/108DegreesAtChristmasTroublesomeAussieVernacular

Changed Names - Unfinished Slippers

The names we were given, christened with or nicknamed  tell a story or two! Sometimes the shoe - or slipper fits - other times not. Here's two vox pops from two Morshead characters!

Maidie retraces the slipper steps of her  Grandmother  - via some embroidery - and talks about the Grandfather who 'renamed'  her 'Wee Maidie.'  http://www.archive.org/details/TheWeeMaidieGrandmasSlippersGrandpasSmokingCap .
While Peggy gives an account of her christened name and her parent's time in England:  http://www.archive.org/details/MercierAsChristianNameAustralia

Maritime Traditions! Maidie Ahoy!

Click here to hear Maidie's views on cruise ships and Crossing the Equator!

For historic footage of  P&O SS Orianna, Part I: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZERzXNfNejY
Part II: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQOwp_K7nio&feature=related

To discover more about the maritime tradition of crossing the equator, click on:
http://museumvictoria.com.au/journeys/equator.asp
And to find out more about the end life of the SS Oriana, from fare cruise ship to floating hotel in Japan, sold on as a restaurant in China and beyond:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Oriana_(1959)

And another loved vessel,  this time a part of Australia's domestic commuter history, the North Head - built in 1913 and making trips between  Manly to Sydney  through the Heads -  for over 70 years. Here she is aground now,  but still with her upperdeck intact: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfaw1pSfuS8

A New Ride for an Old Tram!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPJp2TKPtb8&feature=geosearch


Quite a few of the stories recorded involved journeys  on  a tram in either  Melbourne orSydney. Here's an old Melbourne tram, speeding like a juggernaut out of  the pages of history, through Flinders Station. Click on the link.

Married on Cup Eve!

Click on the link - for Maidie and Doug's nightime wedding reception with 100 guests at Footscray Town Hall : http://www.archive.org/details/MaidieAndDougsNightWeddingcupEve