As I had written about Mum's connection with the GPO in Sydney earlier this month I thought it pertinent to reshare this post I wrote ten years ago.
Showing posts with label GPO. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GPO. Show all posts
Monday, June 28, 2021
Monday, June 7, 2021
In Elsie's Footsteps
Last week we ventured into the city to attend a function where Mr GeniAus was recognized for being a member of his professional body for fifty years. The compere described my husband as "a sprightly old chap"!
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| Mr GeniAus (centre) with his award |
As the function was held in the Fullerton Hotel in Sydney we booked our overnight accommodation there. The Heritage wing of the hotel is the former Sydney GPO where my mother, Elsie Duncan, worked as a telephoniste during the 1940s. On booking in I noticed that the hotel was offering free 90 minute tours of the GPO building so I immediately signed up.
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| The Heritage GPO wing is connected to the new tower block by walkways and an atrium |
Friday at 10:00am saw us join Tour Guide Alex and three other couples for the tour. We commenced with a little history lesson before venturing out into George Street to look closely at the exterior of the GPO building. Alex asked us if we had ever looked up at the carvings and statuary decorating the building, we all agreed that we looked ahead not up when walking around the city.
Stopping on George Street we raised our eyes and saw Coats of Arms and various other carvings.
Turning into Martin Place we admired the long colonnade and glanced up once more to admire the many carvings along the facade. Above the entrance door was an impressive sculpture of Queen Victoria.
Before turning into Pitt Street we visited an art gallery in the former public telephone area of the GPO. The ceiling in in that room is decorated with gold leaf.
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On entering the hotel we stopped to look at the atrium that covers the former courtyard of the GPO. The magnificent replica grand staircase that takes one out of the building under Queen Victoria's sculpture dominates the northern end of this area.
On the first floor of the old building we saw the rooms where the telephonistes worked. The males on the western wing and the females on the eastern wing. These rooms are now used as function rooms. Standing in the area where my mother spent her days was spine-tingling.
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Last stop on our tour was the basement of the old GPO building where the horses were stabled and where the Tank Stream was encased in a concrete pipe.
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| The old stables |
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| The Tanks Stream flows through these pipes. |
I hadn't thought much about the work Mum had done at the GPO until I saw some old photos of telephonistes at work in the basement audiovisual display.
The purpose of our trip to the city was for Mr GeniAus to reflect on his long and successful career, I am so proud of his achievments. The unexpected outcome of being able to walk in Mum's footsteps topped off our excursion to the city.
Saturday, June 28, 2014
28th June 1946
Recycling a post from June 2011
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28th June 1946
Sifting and sorting through a box of filing yesterday I was faced with a small booklet with that June date printed on the cover. As June 28 was only a day away I investigated further and found that it was one of my mother's mementos. A timely find for a blog post today.
During the Second World War and until she married Mum worked as a telephoniste at The GPO (General Post Office) in Martin Place in Sydney. It appears that she had a busy social life with her workmates and tribe of sisters. They attended many functions organsed by The Postal Institute.
The booklet I had found was the cover of the souvenir program for The Victory Ball organised by the Postal Institute to celebrate the end of World War II that my mother had attended along with some of her friends. Checking out the autographs, written in pencil and now faded, on the back cover of the program I saw some familiar names.
Roma Bannon was a country girl who boarded with my mother's family in Sydney. Until her death she remained a close friend of my mother's and was a treasured member of our extended family. Arthur Johnson was another boarder from the country who lived in my grandmother's crowded house at Kensington. Arthur boarded with my grandmother for around 30 years until she became too feeble to manage a home. Kath Tuohey a friend from my mother's hometown, Cobar, is still a friend of my mother's today. I would be surprised if some of Mum's sisters were not at this event but their names so not appear in her list of autographs.
The inside cover and first page of the program contain a message from the President of The New South Wales Postal Institute, J.M. Hotson and a list of committee members.
The venue, The Grace Brothers Auditorium, was part of the flagship Broadway store of the Grace Brothers retail empire. It was a major venue on the Sydney social scene. I remember attending children's birthday parties and seeing Santa at the grand Christmas display there as a youngster and, as a young adult, I enjoyed a number of balls there. The store was closed in 1992 and reopened as a shopping and cinema complex in 1998.
Although my mother's dance program is empty I am sure that she did not miss a dance. She still enjoys a twirl round the dance floor whenever the occasion presents itself.
The remaining pages of the program tell of the "Telegraph Service" that had been set up in the ballroom and gives a list of attendeeswith apologies to those not on the list. (Mum and her friends are missing.)
At the top and bottom of each page of the program are humourous quips that include:
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| Cover- PO Victory Ball Program |
The booklet I had found was the cover of the souvenir program for The Victory Ball organised by the Postal Institute to celebrate the end of World War II that my mother had attended along with some of her friends. Checking out the autographs, written in pencil and now faded, on the back cover of the program I saw some familiar names.
Roma Bannon was a country girl who boarded with my mother's family in Sydney. Until her death she remained a close friend of my mother's and was a treasured member of our extended family. Arthur Johnson was another boarder from the country who lived in my grandmother's crowded house at Kensington. Arthur boarded with my grandmother for around 30 years until she became too feeble to manage a home. Kath Tuohey a friend from my mother's hometown, Cobar, is still a friend of my mother's today. I would be surprised if some of Mum's sisters were not at this event but their names so not appear in her list of autographs.
 |
| Autographs - PO Victory Ball |
The inside cover and first page of the program contain a message from the President of The New South Wales Postal Institute, J.M. Hotson and a list of committee members.
The venue, The Grace Brothers Auditorium, was part of the flagship Broadway store of the Grace Brothers retail empire. It was a major venue on the Sydney social scene. I remember attending children's birthday parties and seeing Santa at the grand Christmas display there as a youngster and, as a young adult, I enjoyed a number of balls there. The store was closed in 1992 and reopened as a shopping and cinema complex in 1998.
Although my mother's dance program is empty I am sure that she did not miss a dance. She still enjoys a twirl round the dance floor whenever the occasion presents itself.
At the top and bottom of each page of the program are humourous quips that include:
- It is a poor heart that never rejoices
- The forward girl often looks backward
- Blondes are always lightheaded creatures
- The cost of living is a soar point with us
- Eve introduced the first loose leaf system
- Blessed are the innocent - for they have a lot to learn
- Tie mail matter securely - use a parson
- Lost patrners will be locked up in the Drunk Exchange until called for. Last clearance at 1 am.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
28th June 1946
Sifting and sorting through a box of filing yesterday I was faced with a small booklet with that June date printed on the cover. As June 28 was only a day away I investigated further and found that it was one of my mother's mementos. A timely find for a blog post today.
During the Second World War and until she married Mum worked as a telephoniste at The GPO (General Post Office) in Martin Place in Sydney. It appears that she had a busy social life with her workmates and tribe of sisters. They attended many functions organsed by The Postal Institute.
The booklet I had found was the cover of the souvenir program for The Victory Ball organised by the Postal Institute to celebrate the end of World War II that my mother had attended along with some of her friends. Checking out the autographs, written in pencil and now faded, on the back cover of the program I saw some familiar names.
Roma Bannon was a country girl who boarded with my mother's family in Sydney. Until her death she remained a close friend of my mother's and was a treasured member of our extended family. Arthur Johnson was another boarder from the country who lived in my grandmother's crowded house at Kensington. Arthur boarded with my grandmother for around 30 years until she became too feeble to manage a home. Kath Tuohey a friend from my mother's hometown, Cobar, is still a friend of my mother's today. I would be surprised if some of Mum's sisters were not at this event but their names so not appear in her list of autographs.
The inside cover and first page of the program contain a message from the President of The New South Wales Postal Institute, J.M. Hotson and a list of committee members.
The venue, The Grace Brothers Auditorium, was part of the flagship Broadway store of the Grace Brothers retail empire. It was a major venue on the Sydney social scene. I remember attending children's birthday parties and seeing Santa at the grand Christmas display there as a youngster and, as a young adult, I enjoyed a number of balls there. The store was closed in 1992 and reopened as a shopping and cinema complex in 1998.
Although my mother's dance program is empty I am sure that she did not miss a dance. She still enjoys a twirl round the dance floor whenever the occasion presents itself.
The remaining pages of the program tell of the "Telegraph Service" that had been set up in the ballroom and gives a list of attendeeswith apologies to those not on the list. (Mum and her friends are missing.)
At the top and bottom of each page of the program are humourous quips that include:
|
| Cover- PO Victory Ball Program |
The booklet I had found was the cover of the souvenir program for The Victory Ball organised by the Postal Institute to celebrate the end of World War II that my mother had attended along with some of her friends. Checking out the autographs, written in pencil and now faded, on the back cover of the program I saw some familiar names.
Roma Bannon was a country girl who boarded with my mother's family in Sydney. Until her death she remained a close friend of my mother's and was a treasured member of our extended family. Arthur Johnson was another boarder from the country who lived in my grandmother's crowded house at Kensington. Arthur boarded with my grandmother for around 30 years until she became too feeble to manage a home. Kath Tuohey a friend from my mother's hometown, Cobar, is still a friend of my mother's today. I would be surprised if some of Mum's sisters were not at this event but their names so not appear in her list of autographs.
|
| Autographs - PO Victory Ball |
The inside cover and first page of the program contain a message from the President of The New South Wales Postal Institute, J.M. Hotson and a list of committee members.
The venue, The Grace Brothers Auditorium, was part of the flagship Broadway store of the Grace Brothers retail empire. It was a major venue on the Sydney social scene. I remember attending children's birthday parties and seeing Santa at the grand Christmas display there as a youngster and, as a young adult, I enjoyed a number of balls there. The store was closed in 1992 and reopened as a shopping and cinema complex in 1998.
Although my mother's dance program is empty I am sure that she did not miss a dance. She still enjoys a twirl round the dance floor whenever the occasion presents itself.
At the top and bottom of each page of the program are humourous quips that include:
- It is a poor heart that never rejoices
- The forward girl often looks backward
- Blondes are always lightheaded creatures
- The cost of living is a soar point with us
- Eve introduced the first loose leaf system
- Blessed are the innocent - for they have a lot to learn
- Tie mail matter securely - use a parson
- Lost patrners will be locked up in the Drunk Exchange until called for. Last clearance at 1 am.
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