Adelaide, do you remember... the John Martin's Christmas Pageant?
THE annual Adelaide Credit Union Christmas Pageant is, without a doubt, a fantastic event. But watching it last weekend, I couldn't help but feel the pangs of nostalgia when I thought back to all those fabulous years, from the 1950s through to the 1980s, when the event was known as John Martin's Christmas Pageant.
CHRISTMAS 1977
1977. What a year. Elvis had only just left the building. Source; State Library of South Australia.Source: Supplied
PRE-WWII - CHRISTMAS 1933
Father Christmas' arrival was not as grand back then as it is today. In fact, when the pageant first started, way back in 1933, there were only about 12 floats, four bands and 200,000 spectators, who turned out witness something they'd never seen in their city before. The parade lasted approximately 40 minutes. All participants were staff from John Martin's, Adelaide's largest family retail store at that time. The first pageant ran from Angas Street to John Martin's, in Rundle Street. Early costumes were made of crepe paper, but Father Christmas was still the most important of them all. The pageant did not begin its new route from South Terrace until 1953.
PRE-WWII - CHRISTMAS 1933
Father Christmas' arrival was not as grand back then as it is today. In fact, when the pageant first started, way back in 1933, there were only about 12 floats, four bands and 200,000 spectators, who turned out witness something they'd never seen in their city before. The parade lasted approximately 40 minutes. All participants were staff from John Martin's, Adelaide's largest family retail store at that time. The first pageant ran from Angas Street to John Martin's, in Rundle Street. Early costumes were made of crepe paper, but Father Christmas was still the most important of them all. The pageant did not begin its new route from South Terrace until 1953.
The people whose chimney he borrowed were furious, but Santa brought much joy to the rest of Adelaide. Source; State Library of South Australia Source: Supplied
WE WEREN'T ALWAYS P.C AT THE PAGEANT
WHILE the Pageant as an annual event lives on, there have been some welcome changes over the years. This photo is from the 1937 pageant and is a perfect example of how social mores, thankfully, have changed. The float, based on a controversial nursery rhyme, featured ten people dressed in black face, sitting on a log. It remained a regular feature of the pageant until the late 1960s when, as a reflection of our changing values, it was retired. And rightly, so.
WE WEREN'T ALWAYS P.C AT THE PAGEANT
WHILE the Pageant as an annual event lives on, there have been some welcome changes over the years. This photo is from the 1937 pageant and is a perfect example of how social mores, thankfully, have changed. The float, based on a controversial nursery rhyme, featured ten people dressed in black face, sitting on a log. It remained a regular feature of the pageant until the late 1960s when, as a reflection of our changing values, it was retired. And rightly, so.
A chapter in our pageant history we’re glad is in the past. Source: State Library of South Australia.Source: Supplied
NELLIE THE ELEPHANT
Nellie the elephant broke down almost every year in those days! They've obviously given her a new motor as she seems to get through every year now!
NELLIE THE ELEPHANT
Nellie the elephant broke down almost every year in those days! They've obviously given her a new motor as she seems to get through every year now!
Rumour has it Nellie may be brought out of retirement if the Noarlunga line doesn’t open soon.Source: Supplied
NIPPER AND NIMBLE
Nipper and Nimble have been in every pageant since the beginning and have always been crowd favourites. It was such an honour to be chosen to ride either one!
NIPPER AND NIMBLE
Nipper and Nimble have been in every pageant since the beginning and have always been crowd favourites. It was such an honour to be chosen to ride either one!
Before Cavalia there was Nipper and Nimble! Pageant favourites. Source: Supplied
MARCHING BAND, 5AD, OLD CRITERION - 1957
Ken Taylor sent in this photo of the Christmas Pageant which was taken by his father in 1957 and which shows the Adelaide Drum and Fife Band, of which Ken was a member at the time, marching past the old 5AD building on the corner of King William and Waymouth streets. That building was replaced shortly after this was taken, by The Advertiser building which has since been replaced by the ANZ Bank building. There's the old Criterion Hotel in the background too, now also demolished..
Here comes the marching band. In the background is radio 5AD and the old Criterion Hotel, now gone. Source: Adelaide Remember When reader Ken Taylor. Source: Supplied
Here's Father Christmas arriving at Johnnies, some time in the sixties.
Santa. He was very big in Adelaide in the sixties. Source: Supplied
The Christmas Pageant, in living colour. 1960s. Source: Supplied
SANTA'S MAGIC CAVE
And remember when Father Christmas took up residence in the Johnnies Magic Cave right in the middle of the toy department? When you could actually see Santa while you waited in line for your moment to sit on his knee? When they gave away a free Christmas stocking with a comic, pencils and other little surprises? When you were allowed to take your own photos? When all the department stores filled their windows with nativity scenes and the season wasn't all about making money? When Nipper and Nimble, and the jolly old fellow in the red suit, were where they ought to be and everything in the universe was in its right place? It might not have been as flash as it is today but, oh, what a memory!! And then you could go shopping in Johnnies for all your Christmas presents.
Global warming clearlry was a problem in Adelaide, even way back in the day. That’s why it’s snowing. In Australia. In December. In doors. Source: Source: Supplied
Santa, spiffy in red at this year’s pageant. Source: Supplied
Adelaide do you remember... the places where we used to hang out?
BOB BYRNE
GROWING up in Adelaide from the 50s, right through to the 90s, there were some great fun places to 'hang out' as a kid, a teenager and even later as a young adult.
DAZZELAND
Going to the city has always been fun. But when we had Dazzeland on the top floor of the Myer Centre, that was the place to be! Dazzeland opened in 1991 and had a monster five storey-high roller coaster named Jazz Junction. There were also the dodgem cars, a carousel, giant playground and a train. It closed in 1998.
Sunglasses warning: This place was DAZZLING! Photo: Supplied by a contributor to the Adelaide Remember When Facebook page. Source: Supplied
Dazzeland staff in the 1990s. Picture courtesy of Myer Centre Adelaide. Source: Supplied
MAGIC MOUNTAINThen there was Magic Mountain at the Bay which opened in 1981. It was popular among the young and "young at heart", even though it had a rather ugly exterior which was likened to a "giant dog dropping". Magic Mountain had some serious waterslides along with a carousel, bumper boats, dodgem cars and lots of arcade games. They pulled it down in 2004!
It wasn’t just a fibreglass mountain, it was...... IRREPRESSIBLE! Photo: Supplied by a contributor to the Adelaide Remember When Facebook page. Source: Supplied
It wasn’t one officially one of the Seven Wonders of the World, but it should have been. Magic Mountain, in all it’s glory in August, 2002. Photo: David Cronin, Source: The Advertiser
MARINELAND
Do you have any memories of Marineland out at West Beach? Marineland opened in 1969 and closed in 1988, in rather controversial circumstances. The famous pelican 'Mr Percival' from the movie 'Storm Boy' was a feature attraction, as well as the performing dolphins.
Ah... good times. We give this place the seal of approval. Photo: Supplied by a contributor to the Adelaide Remember When Facebook page. Source: Supplied
DOWNTOWN
Downtown was in Hindley Street (when Hindley Street was safe) and in the 70s and 80s, parents would actually drop off their kids for a Saturday night of roller skating, indoor mini golf, more arcade games, dodgem cars and a Wild West shooting gallery. Downtown was great!
When you’re alone and life is making you bored you can always go... you know where. Photo by Dick Joyner, from archives. Source: The Advertiser
RUNDLE STREET
Even way back in the '50s and '60s there was a big amusement park in the city, on the roof of Cox Foys in Rundle Street (now Rundle Mall) with a giant Ferris wheel and other kid's games. As a kid I remember that Ferris wheel being a lo-o-o-ng way off the ground!!
Let’s go down to Rundle St. All the cool kids are doing it. Photo: Cox Foys on Rundle, 1958. Photo: The Advertiser archives. Source: The Advertiser
Children from the Warrawee Australian Inland Mission, SA Oral School, Ashford House, Woodville Spastic Centre and the Somerton Crippled Children's Home were guests at at Cox-Foys children's roof-top fun fair 30 Nov 1964. Photo from The Advertiser archives. Source: The Advertiser
MONASH ADVENTURE PLAYGROUND
And the kids in the country didn't miss out either. Monash Adventure Playground, near Berri, in the Riverland, was for children of all sizes (we mean adults really loved it, too) with really high, fast and twisty slippery dips, a flying fox and other fun equipment. Monash was built by a local engineering company, and was free for public use. Safety issues in the late '80s led to it being scaled down and it was eventually closed. It was re-opened in 1996 with heavily modified equipment.
The Monash Adventure Playground. Photo: The Advertiser ‘Moment in Time’ series. Source:Supplied
Some things never change. The playground in 2004, still a place of adventure. Photo: The Advertiser. Source: The Advertiser
GROWING up in Adelaide from the 50s, right through to the 90s, there were some great fun places to 'hang out' as a kid, a teenager and even later as a young adult.
Sunglasses warning: This place was DAZZLING! Photo: Supplied by a contributor to the Adelaide Remember When Facebook page. Source: Supplied
Dazzeland staff in the 1990s. Picture courtesy of Myer Centre Adelaide. Source: Supplied
MAGIC MOUNTAINThen there was Magic Mountain at the Bay which opened in 1981. It was popular among the young and "young at heart", even though it had a rather ugly exterior which was likened to a "giant dog dropping". Magic Mountain had some serious waterslides along with a carousel, bumper boats, dodgem cars and lots of arcade games. They pulled it down in 2004!
It wasn’t just a fibreglass mountain, it was...... IRREPRESSIBLE! Photo: Supplied by a contributor to the Adelaide Remember When Facebook page. Source: Supplied
It wasn’t one officially one of the Seven Wonders of the World, but it should have been. Magic Mountain, in all it’s glory in August, 2002. Photo: David Cronin, Source: The Advertiser
MARINELAND
Do you have any memories of Marineland out at West Beach? Marineland opened in 1969 and closed in 1988, in rather controversial circumstances. The famous pelican 'Mr Percival' from the movie 'Storm Boy' was a feature attraction, as well as the performing dolphins.
Ah... good times. We give this place the seal of approval. Photo: Supplied by a contributor to the Adelaide Remember When Facebook page. Source: Supplied
DOWNTOWN
Downtown was in Hindley Street (when Hindley Street was safe) and in the 70s and 80s, parents would actually drop off their kids for a Saturday night of roller skating, indoor mini golf, more arcade games, dodgem cars and a Wild West shooting gallery. Downtown was great!
When you’re alone and life is making you bored you can always go... you know where. Photo by Dick Joyner, from archives. Source: The Advertiser
RUNDLE STREET
Even way back in the '50s and '60s there was a big amusement park in the city, on the roof of Cox Foys in Rundle Street (now Rundle Mall) with a giant Ferris wheel and other kid's games. As a kid I remember that Ferris wheel being a lo-o-o-ng way off the ground!!
Let’s go down to Rundle St. All the cool kids are doing it. Photo: Cox Foys on Rundle, 1958. Photo: The Advertiser archives. Source: The Advertiser
Children from the Warrawee Australian Inland Mission, SA Oral School, Ashford House, Woodville Spastic Centre and the Somerton Crippled Children's Home were guests at at Cox-Foys children's roof-top fun fair 30 Nov 1964. Photo from The Advertiser archives. Source: The Advertiser
MONASH ADVENTURE PLAYGROUND
And the kids in the country didn't miss out either. Monash Adventure Playground, near Berri, in the Riverland, was for children of all sizes (we mean adults really loved it, too) with really high, fast and twisty slippery dips, a flying fox and other fun equipment. Monash was built by a local engineering company, and was free for public use. Safety issues in the late '80s led to it being scaled down and it was eventually closed. It was re-opened in 1996 with heavily modified equipment.
The Monash Adventure Playground. Photo: The Advertiser ‘Moment in Time’ series. Source:Supplied
Some things never change. The playground in 2004, still a place of adventure. Photo: The Advertiser. Source: The Advertiser
Adelaide, do you remember ... the days in the old school yard?
REMEMBER when buying lunch at school was an occasional treat? We'd write our order on the paper bag provided and the lunch monitor would collect all the bags and deliver them to the canteen. Later, the lunch monitor would return with orders filled. Steaming hot pies and pasties, double-cut rolls and kitchener buns.
Free milk at school
Not such a pleasant memory for some of us during school years, though, was the obligatory drink of milk at recess time. In 1950, the Australian Government introduced a scheme for schoolchildren to receive free milk . With no refrigeration available at schools, on a hot Adelaide summer day, the milk would go off and teacher made you drink it, off or not. The free milk program finished in 1973.
Source:Supplied
Schoolyard assembly
Once a week, we would all stand lined up and to attention, on the signal the flag would be "run up". The boys would salute and the girls stand to attention. Then we would place our right hand on our heart and recite "I love God and my country, I honour the flag, I will serve the Queen, and cheerfully obey my parents, teachers and the law".
Cruel and unusual punishment!
Going to school in the 50s through to the 70s was very different to today! In those days the teachers had to be treated with the utmost respect, were always addressed as "sir" or "miss" or by their full title, and generally ruled their classroom with a fist of iron. In most schools it was the headmaster who administered punishment, generally in the form of the cane!
Source: Supplied
Graduation Day
And in our last year of primary school we received our Progress Certificates which allowed us to go on to secondary school. Of course, we all did the autograph thing too, "By hook or by crook, I'll be the last to sign your autograph book". Simple times and great memories!!
Source: Supplied
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