a bit of a 60s reminisce...

I was watching a television show tonight - Roller Derby Dolls - and it took me back to the 60s...

I used to go to Festival Hall in the mid-late 60s and early 70s with my brother to watch the Roller Derby - who could forget Adeline Hocker and Ralphie Valaderez (Valladeres) of the LA T'birds... I loved it!!!!

Australian Action 1966
Ann Calvello assists Adeline Hocker of the T-Birds to score on the Detroit Devils' Midge "Toughie' Brasuhn and Jan Vallow

ahhh, some good old gratuitous violence... entertainment for the masses... it was grouse... they were so skillful, graceful and downright dirty and nasty on skates - I was enthralled - I wanted to be able to skate like that...

but it was never going to happen with the mass produced, crappy, dangerous 'adjustable' skates that were available at the time, and that working class families could afford... but to have a pair of the boot style skates... how you could 'fly' around the rink in those (of course, the nice smooth rink probably made a difference too... footpaths and uneven school playgrounds weren't really conducive to skating well - hence my broken arm!!!)... and now they're even more streamlined... the evolution of skates!!! (Check out the first picture below of 'skating wheels' from 1870 Germany - if you're interested you can click on the pic and read the 'history' of roller skating!!!)

This was exciting entertainment and women were proving they were good at contact sports - they could 'give it and take it'... they were sassy, strong women and strong role models!!!

There's been a 'resurgence' in the last few years - here's a video trailer of the Roller Derby Dolls programme... young women searching for empowerment and identity - the right to be themselves - that age-old dilemma... enjoy...

If you want to watch the whole programme you can view it at ABC iView until September 24th (it takes a lot of bandwidth though!!!)

and Festival Hall - what a 'dive' it was... and it was the 'premier' live entertainment venue at the time...

It was used in the 1956 Olympics for gymnastics and wrestling, it also became the venue for the World Championship Wrestling (and I went to a lot of wrestling matches with my brother too!!!! so sad... but it was fun!!!) The Beatles played here in 1964... we didn't have a lot in the way of large venues in the 60s!!!!

I remember the streets surrounding the hall on any live venue night in the late 60s and 70s being totally jam packed with people... it was an amazing sight and the atmosphere was electric - my how times have changed and I've aged!!!! Dare I say "ahh, they were the good old days"!!!!

more 60s 'stuff' to come soon... (but I'm on holidays for a couple of weeks and I'm going to Malmsbury to stay with a friend for a few days !!)

the 60s... where do I start???

I was five years old, television (b&w thank you) had been introduced and embraced wholeheartedly by the aussie public... by the end of the 50s it was estimated that over two-thirds of families in Sydney and Melbourne owned a television set.

"Television transformed the way Australians received information. It soon became Australia's dominant form of mass communication, taking over from radio and cinema and posing a challenge to print media.

Television transmitted ideas into Australia faster than ever before. Australia's awareness and experience of the rest of the world changed rapidly. Television exposed people to other cultures and world views and provided information that would play a major role in shaping popular public opinion." Interested? read more here.

And this is what we were watching in 1960... according to the Logie awards anyway...

Program Of The Year: 77 Sunset Strip
TV Highlight Of 1959: Shell Presents Series
TV WEEK Special Award: GTV9/ATN7 Interstate TV Link for Test Cricket
Best Male Personality: John Royle
Best Female Personality: Ruth Nye
Best Program: The Phil Silvers Show
Best Male Personality: Don Bennetts
Best Female Personality: Brenda Marshall
Best Program: Father Knows Best
Best Male Personality: Graham Kennedy
Best Female Personality: Panda Lisner
Best Program: In Melbourne Tonight

Menzies was STILL the prime minister, but an election was coming up in 1961 - could he be ousted??? Social change was unstoppable, but political conservatism was stubborn. We were cutting the umbilical cord with England, but we were being heavily influenced by America - and manipulated - 'we' were soon to be fodder in the Vietnam war - but not this year!!!

Women were (as always?!!??) fighting for equality. They were paid only 75% of the 'average' wage. In 'women only' professions such as teaching and nursing women were only getting two thirds of the male wage!

In 1960 equal pay for work of equal value was awarded, although specifically female work was not included and the issue of equal pay for women remained a source of 'hot' debate throughout the 1960s.

Women wanted more than domesticity and motherhood!!!!

Women wanted to experience life - they were sick of living in the background of men's lives.

Women wanted to be seen as - oooh, shock, horror - people in their own right - not someone else's doormat - not a slave, not a wife, not a mother!!!

In 1960 THE PILL was 'released' in the States, and of course that meant it wouldn't be long before it arrived in Australia (January 1st, 1961)!!!

The pill was about to change women's lives - but being 'released' didn't necessarily mean giving access to women - that was dependent on the attitude of the doctor writing the prescription - so it wasn't going to be readily available to unmarried women!! There was still a way to go - and the fight for free safe abortion was still to gain momentum...

The 60s was such a rich, complex, exciting, vibrant decade - so much was happening - people were expanding their consciousness, they were questioning, they were starting to live their lives differently... it was definitely the era to be growing up in!!!

So my 60s post appears to have expanded to a saga!!!!

stay tuned for the next instalment...

Thinkin' about the 60s.....

Okay, okay... I've been thinking about the 1960s - have started drafting my post, but while I'm doing that ('cause it won't be up today!!!!) I thought I'd just give you a taste of the Australian music scene at the time... well, the music I was into anyway... unfortunately there weren't a lot of aussie women 'doing' the music I liked - Wendy Saddington was one of the few women I could think of that really did blues and rock & roll - no doubt Janis Joplin was an influence - and we are talking specifically Australian music here.

There were of course lots of wonderful women singing in this era - Yvonne Barrett, Little Pattie, Pat Carroll & Olivia Newton John (they sang together and solo), Judy Stone, Marcie & the Cookies, Laurel Lee to name a few - I thoroughly enjoyed their music (yeah, I can still sing along with the juke box and boogie to it!!!!) but it wasn't my preferred style of music - and there was a lot of crap music around too!!!

So while I'm working on my next post, I hope you enjoy the music I've put in the playlist....

1960 - a time of transition

1960... it was the end of one era, the beginning of another. I was 5 years old, I'd just started school, my world was about to expand dramatically, and television was having an impact on society - there was a whole other world out there... it was wondrous...

It was the start of the "Golden Era of Television". We were influenced greatly by America and programmes were a 'mixed bag' - from the 'perfect', cutesy, American families the likes of Father Knows Best, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and Leave it to Beaver, the zaniness of Lucille Ball and Phyllis Diller to the larrikan Aussie humour of Graham Kennedy and Bert Newton... they were worlds apart - but we were eager for entertainment and we lapped it all up hungrily.

In January 1960 the "logies" were in their second year and people couldn't wait to vote for their favourite shows. Here's some of the winners (ironic that the awards were yet to be televised!!!)

Most Popular Personality: Graham Kennedy

Program Of The Year: 77 Sunset Strip

(I would start to enjoy this as I moved towards my teens and that unchartered territory called sexuality!!!)

Best Programs: The Phil Silvers Show - Father Knows Best - In Melbourne Tonight

6 o’clock rock with Johnny O’Keefe and Bandstand with Brian Henderson were the popular music shows, and people couldn't get enough...

But I was only 5 at the time, so here are just a few of the shows that I loved...

Circus Boy - I loved all the antics of the circus animals - and I had a crush on Corky (later we'd know him as Mickey Dolenz from The Monkees - yep, an even bigger crush then!!!)...

Mr. Squiggle - I was amazed at what could be drawn with Mr. Squiggle's pencil nose... I could have watched him all day!!!

Lassie - what more can I say... you needed a 'hankie' to watch the movies, and you dreamt about having a loyal mate like Lassie and going on many an adventure!!!!

Adventures of Rin-tin-tin - of course, American 'westerns' were really big - Gunsmoke, Sugarfoot, Rawhide - the list goes on... so "Rin-tin-tin" was going to be a big hit - another incredible dog... I loved "Rinny"...

and my favourite birthday present... my Annie Oakley outfit!!!!

This is only similar to the outfit I had (very patriotic American hey)... mine was green with yellow 'trim' (obviously made for the Australian market!!) - sorry, there's no photo of me wearing it... cameras and film weren't something you always had on hand in those days - well, not if you were working class anyway!!!!

Of course, news was popular - we got to see what was happening in the world- there was so much happening politically - but I wasn't old enough to understand the changes that were taking place just yet... I was just enjoying being a child - and who wouldn't... me mum was the head cashier at Luna Park and the Palais Theatre... the things I got to do and see - it was a wonderful time - it was a great life for a child!!!!

but my world was expanding and the best was yet to come...

it was the beginning of the 60s - there was change in the air - and I was starting to learn and grow... this decade was going to hold rich and fertile learning experiences for all...

to be continued.....