Town Talk | Memory lane at Canberra House

Last week, I received an email from Peter Chuck. It was good to hear from him, as I hadn’t seen him for some years. It occurs to me that writing this column is a great way of catching up with people from my past!

Hi Marnie.

I was interested to see your article on Canberra House. It has brought back memories of the back laneway off Stewart St that serviced shops facing Maude St and was also the back entrance to Canberra House.

Mr Courtney supplied the restaurant up until he retired, and Arthur Levett (Levett Self-service) underneath Restaurant 223 Maude. I remember Arthur having quite a few stories about the back gate being shut at a certain time each night, so the young ladies had somewhat of a curfew.

I recall when the supermarket left, it became an arcade of shops. John and Jenny Woo had a Chinese restaurant that opened on to High St, and the laneway was used by many of the shops, one being Tommy Freeman’s Bakery and others that opened in that complex and on to Maude St.

Thanks for the memories.

Peter Chuck (Taiwan Restaurant)

Six years at Canberra House

Also, this week, I was delighted to receive an email from Mrs Marjorie Furphy.

She currently lives in Euroa after 54 years in the Shepparton area. Six of these years were spent at Canberra House, so, of course, I gave her a call. In 1947, just out of boarding school, Marje visited relatives here — and, during her stay, her aunt noticed a job that would suit the talented young lady.

The position was a colourist at a photography business. Having obtained the job, Marje booked in at Canberra House and was given a shared room upstairs. She told me there were three levels of accommodation (which I certainly didn’t know). There were cabins behind the main building, which, Marje says, were similar to Nissen huts. The factory and orchard workers were accommodated there.

The ground floor rooms in the building were the next level, with the best rooms on the first floor — both doubles and singles. Many of these girls were school teachers, and one, an older lass, managed Rockmans.

The house was managed by Matron Hope Irvine. The food was fine, and if you were going to be late for dinner, your meal would be put aside. Matron Irvine was strict and liked her young ladies to behave appropriately. If, for example, she caught one of the girls running up the stairs, she wouldn’t fail to remark on it.

And, at the stroke of midnight, she’d be at the door with the key. Absolutely no visitors were allowed. If someone came to the door, the resident would have to meet them outside. A girlfriend couldn’t even come in for a cuppa.

Marje spoke about the good friendships that were formed. The girls would frequently sew for one another or do another girl’s hair. With a ball every Wednesday night during winter, ballgowns were in high demand — as no-one wanted to wear a dress twice. To make sure a gown was the correct length, they used the stairs as a guide. If a girl stood on one step, the next step up was the appropriate length.

I asked Marje if anything had changed at Canberra House during her six-year stay. I was thinking mainly about class consciousness. However, after Marje left, her sister, Nancye, moved into the house, and everything remained the same.

In 1953, Marje married William Furphy. In 1998, after Bill died, she moved to Euroa. She said, “We were farmers, you see. I wanted a peaceful country town, and Euroa has suited me well.” We had a pleasant chat, and I thank her for her contribution.

The 1% Club

I notice there is a new series of this television show ‘coming soon’. If you haven’t watched it, it is worth a try. With most quiz shows, it all depends on how many books you’ve read, how many films you’ve watched and how frequently you study an atlas.

This series isn’t about how much you know — but how you think.

The compère

Jim Jefferies is an Australian comedian who spent quite a bit of time in the United States. I first came across him when strongly recommended by my second grandson; I watched some of his performances. One was all about US gun laws — a sensitive topic. Well, apparently not with Jefferies on stage.

He had his New York audience in fits of laughter — laughing at their own gun laws — because some of them are simply ridiculous. The fact that Jim Jefferies was hosting 1% made it all the more appealing to me — although he is inclined to be more than a bit rude at times.

The questions

There are a hundred contestants, and questions start easy and finish very differently. Here are a couple of examples of the first question.

How many days in December — in a leap year? Five contestants got this wrong — believe it or not. Which of the five vowels is missing from this question? You have 30 seconds, and if you start with A, it will take about five seconds.

Eight of the contestants went out on this question. Feeling better now? Feeling smarter? Feeling younger? Well over three decades ago, my bosses ‘kindly’ offered me an interesting experience. With a couple of workmates, I went to Melbourne to answer hundreds of I.Q. questions.

The test started at 8.30am and concluded at 1pm. No breaks, no coffee, no chat. Its purpose was to discover whether or not we were fit for management positions. However, by 1pm, we were fit for nothing at all.

I think the men took turns driving home, and we were too tired to talk. There was one section with around 30 questions — I knew none of the answers. There were illustrations that might have included, for example, a wheel, a couple of rods, a lever, some cogs, etc. And the question might have been, ‘If you pull the lever, will the wheel turn to the right or left?’ What? I don’t know. Why do I need to know? The left?

I blindly guessed every answer and would be surprised if I lucked one in! The rest of the questions, however, were not unlike those in this television show, perhaps towards the more difficult part, which is why I am reminded of it now.

Must remember to ‘thank’ the boss next time I see him! It put me off I.Q. questions for roughly 35 years. Anyway, The 1% Club is on Channel Seven — sometime soon. I’ll let you know when. Some of you — and I could name you — will love it.

Just nonsense

Writing about questions and answers reminds me — if indeed I need reminding — of some of the nonsense that goes on in this house. A part of the nonsense is my husband throwing general knowledge questions at me. (It amuses him when he is tired of listening to his books.)

However, like me, his memory fails him from time to time, as it did on this occasion.

“What is the first line of — of — that book?” Ah! He has asked me this previously, and I know both the question and the answer. I’m in a good position here.

“What book?” I ask innocently.

“I can’t remember,” he says.

“Call me Ishmael,” I say.

“Yes,” he says, with gathering frustration. “But what’s the name of the bloody book?”

I let his head rumble around for a while because I’m mean that way.

The closest he comes is, believe it or not, Toby Greene. (For the uninitiated, Greene is an AFL player, and someone will write a book about him one day — but it won’t be Herman Melville.)

I finally put him out of his misery: “It’s Moby Dick.” He swears!

The next question: “What is the girl’s name in To Kill a Mockingbird?” I say “Scout”, and I’m right.

“What was the housekeeper’s name?” Oh! Go away and read your book! (Please read — I don’t know that one!)

Just in case you care — the housekeeper’s name is Calpurnia. I just asked Mr Google, and I’m ready for the next round.

That is about it for this week.

Last week, I was short of space, and if the editor says, “I think we can squeeze it in” — well, for me, that means, “You’ve over-written again”. So, last week, I forgot to thank the people who liked the piece about Australia Day. I think I responded to each of you privately, but just in case, thank you.

May it be easy, my friends.

Marnie.

Email: towntalk@sheppnews.com.au

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