This hard cover book dominated by photographic portraiture and captioned with stories of older Australians’ lives is a gem.
The collection of life stories informs readers of a time passed by.
It’s introduction, an extract of which follows, lays down a mud map of what is contained in its beautifully bound pages.
A hundred years ago, life in Australia was very, very different.
Horses are carts were the main form of transport.
It was a time before motor cars rules the streets.
Information was shared via letters, delivered officially by telegram, or run up the street by children in short, handwritten notes.
There was no email.
No internet.
Few phones.
There was no electricity at the flick of a switch.
No refrigeration with the push of a plug.
There was no iPod, iPhone, or Facebook.
And there was certainly no TV.
Kids made do with what they had. They occupied themselves with simple games, like marbles, a skipping rope, or two cans and a piece of string.
It was a time when children were familiar with life’s basic skills. They helped grow and cultivate vegetables in the garden, they carted water, they chopped wood, they did their chores – lots of chores.
Rural kids could milk a cow, separate the cream and turn the butter if needed – all before going to school in the morning.
Joyce from Allora was one such kid.
When it comes to her childhood, she has a swag of great memories, from swinging off willow trees down by the creek to yoking the horses and riding one, two or three on the back, off to school in the morning.
She relives her childhood memories with great fondness, enthusiasm and hilarity.
But not everyone had it good as a kid.
A hundred years ago, life changed so dramatically for Edna that her story is hard to believe.
Motherless, left with strangers and her siblings taken away, her childhood became a living nightmare.
Tossed from pillar to post, unloved and unwanted, she scratched out an existence in doorways and basements, among the rats, cockroaches and dogs that she slept next to.
It’s a lonesome, tragic tale, but somehow Edna found strength.
There’s a lot to be gained listening to an older generation talk about the moments that make up their lives – hearing stories of their youth and walking barefooted to school, riding a billy cart to the local shop or leaving school at 14 to get a job.”
This collection of tales is available from the Rural Book Shop, phone toll free 1800 025 308, fax 02 4570 4649 or got to ruralbookshop.com.au