Many baby boomers reached their teenage years from the mid-60s to the early ’70s, and what a glorious time it was to be a teenager! In 1964, Adelaide really came of age when over 300,000 people turned out to welcome The Beatles, and the local music scene was bubbling with enthusiasm and talent. Every weekend […]
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“You’re Not Touching the Kingswood”!
Remember Kingswood Country, the Australian sitcom that screened from 1980 to 1984 on Channel 7? The show featured real Aussie humour and although it was seen by many as racist and sexist, it was in fact meant to mock those attitudes held by many Australians at the time. “Ted” Bullpitt was played by Ross Higgins, […]
Customer Service, When the Customer Ruled.
Whatever happened to the personal customer service that was provided by the local shops and businesses in the 1950s and the 1960s? Most of it came to an end, of course, with the spread of the big supermarkets and shopping centres around Australia from the mid-1960s. Self-service with products stacked on shelves, shopping trolleys and […]
When Mr Whippy Played Greensleeves
On a hot Sunday evening in Adelaide, back in the 1960s and 70s, the street would suddenly fill with the music of “Greensleeves” and from every house, kids would rush out to buy an ice cold soft serve ice cream. Dipped, sprinkled or plain, it was the highlight of the weekend! The original Mr Whippy […]
Off to the Local Deli for a Milkshake.
As a kid growing up in the 50’s and 60’s, do you remember going to the deli or corner shop with a mate after school, or as a teenager with a group of other teenagers, just for a milkshake? I’m not sure where the milkshake stands today in social culture but back then it was […]
Adelaide Oval and the David Bowie Concert, 1978
With the Rolling Stones due to hit the stage tomorrow night for what is sure to be a massive concert at the Adelaide Oval, who can recall one of the other most memorable concerts ever held there, in 1978? David Bowie’s concert on November 11th that year was made more even memorable by the fact […]
The 60s, The Decade That Rocked.
If ever a decade could be described as one of change, it was the 1960s. It was the era of the Cold and Vietnam wars, and Australia was changing economically and culturally. As the excitement of the rock’n’roll music of the ’50s began to dim, the world discovered the sounds of four lads from Liverpool, […]
Adelaide’s Tidal Wave. The One That Never Happened
Adelaide made world headlines briefly back in 1976 when Melbourne house painter and amateur clairvoyant John Nash, reported he’d had a vision in which Adelaide and its 800,000 inhabitants were obliterated by an earthquake and tidal wave. Mr Nash claimed that doomsday would be between 10.30 a.m. and noon on 19th January. He was so […]
The Shaggin’ Wagon – Cars From Our Youth
The ‘Urban Dictionary’ defines the shaggin’ wagon as “A pimped out 60’s – 80’s van usually comes with a couch, waterbed, strobe lights, lava lamps. Used for the specific purpose of getting laid and/or high.” Shaggin’ wagons were basically panel vans, painted in bright colours, fully decked out with a carpeted cargo bay (some had […]
Service Station Attendants, A Bygone Era
Remember when you would pull up at the local petrol station and an attendant would rush out to fill the tank, check your oil and tyre pressure and wash the windscreen? Then he or she would take the cash inside and bring back the change. Back then you did not even have to step out […]