Newtown is an Old Town (That I Love)

 

Previously I posted about Albert Francis Lenertz, aka Albert Leonard of Marrickville. He was the originator of Marrickville aircraft noise prior to jet engines, and when Mascot aerodrome was just a paddock. He created the Aeroplane Jelly jingle. It was played incessantly over radio, becoming Australia's first marketing mass saturation song.

I was going to write a bit of a bio on him from what I had found from looking at online archives, but have since found another couple of sites that may be better at doing a more concise biography. They are The Mayor of Newtown and Newtown Project.

I'll throw this over to the Newtown sector as it's more relevant to their realm, and because Lenertz wrote an ode to Newtown circa1923; and I also just blog to myself, albeit publicly. I think he deserves a Wikipedia entry, where the sources need to be referenced and the entry written properly. With appropriate references that professional historians will get off upon. Go Historians.... here's some history porn ! ;)

A start, I'll do this in point form with the references I've found.

• Albert Francis Lenertz (1891-1943) was a grocer and wine/spirit merchant on Sussex Street Sydney.
• He composed songs for piano and vocal. One was "Billy Hughes" that didn't get anywhere on the Steampunk Countdown chart. ARIA didn't cover music halls at that time, but Larrikin Records seem to think that they did. That song was later reworked as the Aeroplane Jelly song.
• This other guy, who has more names than an nineteenth century phone book; with names that hint at  European conquering, lineage and gentry, was Adolphus Herbert Frederick Norman Appleroth (1886-1952). It would be fun to have your tombstone epitaph as "Jelly Manufacturer". Jelly set in tombstone. Or vice versa.
• Adolphus made jelly in his bathtub and trammed it throughout Sydney. No trams, no jelly. Maybe Dulwich Hill can become a jelly capital if the proposed light rail extension goes ahead.
• Newtown is an Old Town song performed with Miss Patterson. Frank was President of a club, and was making sure everyone knew it.
• In 1926 Adolphus partnered with Frank and created Traders Ltd. Frank was the MD
• 1927 they chose a hi-tech name, "Aeroplane". Groovy, organic and boring to us now....yeah yes, but the best marketing line "above all".Almost as good as "I'm on a horse".
• Moved to Alice Street in Newtown. (Now this reference is Sands 1932, but look at Alice Street Northside between 41 and 49)
• So they made stuff, imported stuff, and made a bit of jelly. Glad I wasn't a neighbour. As gelatin is from the collagen of skin and bone. I think that Enmore Road is now the Goth Zombie area. Hello Ladies, look at me ; look away, then back to me again.Old Spice is Enmore Road.
• Nom nom nom
• N'yet

Banana Tree

Just had a Polynesian guy knock at the door ... not what you expect at 9:45 on a Tuesday night, asking if he could get some banana leaves from the tree in the backyard. He's after it for a hāngi. Fuck I love this suburb !

He'll get them fresh on Saturday :)

Sydney Seasons

At this time of year, for the last two years , there has been media reports about a concept championed by Dr Tim Entwistle. He's the executive director of the Botanic Gardens Trust in Sydney. Through studying the botanical environment around him, he's concluded that the traditional European classification of seasons is not suited to Sydney, and that we should have at least five seasons. He suggests seasons based around the chart above, with two month Autumn, Winter and Spring; a new two month season before summer, and a four month long summer.

Anyone with a garden would probably agree with him, as most flowering non native plants start to flower in August, which is the traditional winter.
 ABC Report

Cooks River Dam and Lime Kiln

This is now a traffic conduit, The Prince's Highway - Highway 1 that circumnavigates the Australian continent. Back then, it was just a road to Wollongong, and the Illawarra coal reserves. I think there is a "Have Longer Sex"  billboard from this viewpoint now. I'll have to check it out, as my comment may be premature.

Tempe Recreation Reserve is the peninsula on the left, better known as Newtown Jets.

Image credits are a hard to ascertain. I got this image from http://www.lachlanhunter.deadsetfreestuff.com/JB/geo-sitesT-U.htm , but changed the contrast so as to make it more viewable.

Aeroplane Jelly Song

Aeroplane Jelly became an Australian icon in the early days of radio, mainly due to a very catchy simple jingle and some savvy marketing. It is apparently the longest running advertising jingle in Australia. It was written in 1930 by grocer Albert Francis Lenertz who was a composer and managing director of Traders Ltd, which produced the jelly. Albert was also known as Frank Leonard of Marrickville. According to the National Library of Australia's cover page to the sheet music, Frank Leonard lived at 284 Victoria Road, Marrickville. This is now Marrickville Liquor Centre. Now I can't go past that bottlo without getting an earworm of that jingle. It goes to show that Marrickville's association with aircraft noise is a lot older than most suspect.

And the current policy of sharing aircraft noise also goes back to then. Originally recorded by a music hall entertainer called Amy Rochelle, who did child impersonations, the song was re-recorded in 1938 after a NSW statewide competition. Seven year old Joy King sung the version that has persisted for over 70 years. What a legacy that woman had to carry. "Grandma, do it again...."

The jingle was Australia's first taste of mass saturation marketing. Frank Leonard also announced and produced radio shows on 2KY and 2SM , where it was his signature tune (Now I can't pass up an obvious Mrs Slocombe moment - KY Jelly, SM Jelly *snigger*). The song ended up being played over Sydney more than a hundred times a day. Now that is aircraft noise that would have a few people in Summer Hill wearing out their fountain pens.

I'll endeavour to find out more of Albert Francis Lenertz, aka Frank Leonard of Marrickville. He and the founder of Traders Ltd, Adolphus Herbert Frederick Norman Appleroth (!),  had a store on Alice Street, Newtown. Lenertz also composed "Newtown is an Old Town that I Love". More later.

Sources: Australian Screen, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Library of Australia