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

SBS Television

SBS Channel 0

I'll comment on this later. Just parking the memories.

It's Basia Banowski, who is one of my gods.

Caught Out

This image has nothing to do with Marrickville, but I feel like posting it as John caught me out.

John : Have you seen this image before?
Paul : Yeah, that's Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald.
John : Look at it
Paul : Ooops... LOL.

I can't give a pic credit for it, but John found it in his travels of collecting old vinyl B-sides.
The back wall graffitti points to a Dead Kennedy's fan mash though.

I find it intriguing that we interpret images in a nano-second without seeing the detail.

Boulee Cam

Yes, it's a bit of a weird present, but I love it. For my birthday John gave me a Pet's Eye view camera. It is a camera that affixes to your pet's collar and can take 48 images at intervals of 1, 5 or 15 minutes. So here's Boulee as a photographer:

I particularly like the last image - it is actually the ball, inflight, that Boulee is chasing.

Annette Kellerman Aquatic Centre

The redevelopment of the pool in Enmore park has been given the go ahead as the development application has been approved. I expect that the current pool will soon be a big sandpit. The pool was originally to be the same size as the existing 33m one, but vocal community members convinced the Council to blow their budget and rebuild with a 50m pool. The main argument was that Marrickville Council does not have a 50m Olympic pool, as the Fanny Durack pool in Petersham is 25m. Marrickville, being a large and relatively affluent council, conceded the argument.

Here's a Google Earth capture prior to construction.

DAGround Floor Plan (PDF)

DA First Floor Plan (PDF)

Maudeville

This is an 1927 interior shot of 22 Newington Road, my old street. The house hasn't existed for years, and is now townhouses called Newington Mews. I found this photo from the Marrickville Library archive :

" Interior photograph of "Maudville", 22 Newington Road, Marrickville. Believed to be taken in 1927 by Melba Studios of Sydney. Portraits on table shows two of A P Donney's daughters, Alice and Ethel. Carved timber arches were removed when building was converted into offices."

I love the hat stand with the bear. Sort of kitsch Addams family.

Waterplay Park

When we first moved to South Marrickville, there was talk of building a waterplay park in Steel Park. That was a few years ago, and now it looks like some progress is being made as a DA has been submitted. A waterplay park is basically a series of waterfeatures and fountains with which you can interact.It is a way for Marrickville Council to provide some form of water recreation for families without building a swimming pool. Just trying to update the existing Annete Kellerman Pool in Enmore Park proved a struggle for the council, who finally agreed to rebuild with a 50m pool. That means that available funds were reduced and a waterplay park is financially more attractive.

I made a small submission to the council regarding the DA, requesting that inthe rebuilding some of the Cooks River bank that some allowance be made for launching kayaks. Currently, it's bloody hard launching off the rocks.

Development Application

Cook's River Festival

Sustain festival took place over the road yesterday. It's a showcase for local eco groups plus food and entertainment. It's not a huge event which gives it a good community feel. John, being a postie in Dulwich Hill, ran into numerous people from his beat.

The best thing is being able to get food without having to leave home - I went for the Turkish Gozleme.

The band, The Bakery , were a great mix of humour, reggae/roots beats and spectacle. And there was a lot of them!

My only gripe was with a woman from the State Emergency Service. She was helping to man the SES tent, so I asked her for advice about possible Cook's River flooding. With my home being on the floodplain, it's sensible to prepare for the worst. "I wouldn't buy there. I just wouldn't live there" was her response. I know that the SES are volunteers, but those with no PR skills should perhaps be shepherded away from SES information kiosk.

And if you were wondering, there was a cow there - but no yellow Wellies.

Dead Gran = Savings

Here's a garage sale ad that John found in Dulwich Hill. Obviously a much loved granny .I love the illustrations.

Back Fence

This is not a rural scene, but actually my back fence. It has a great rustic charm that looks great in photos, but is not practical. And of course there's the obligatory cameo by Boulee.

The time has come to sadly suburbanise the perimeter - Colourbond fencing to the cliff. Chris, from next door, I think has been wanting a full fence for some time but the previous owner couldn't, or wouldn't, afford it. I believe that they had some disputes about boundaries.

Now what should have been a single day job ended up having complications. There was very little soil up near the cliff face, meaning a specialist drill was needed to get through the sandstone. Below you can see one of the sandstone cores that was removed from a post hole. It now makes a handy doorstop.

You also get a good view of Chris's chooks - just a part of his avian managerie which includes cockatoos and pigeons.

Art Department

This is the lovely art department, my work colleagues. Jo, Hazel and James. Hazel and James are both Londoners, and Hazel is about to head home as she misses the drizzle and warm beer. Or something like that. James hates drizzle and warm beer, and so is staying put. Or something like that.

Cool Plumbing

 

Here's some quirky plumbing from Milsons Point, where I often swim. If maintenance was easier, I'd love to see trailing plants cascading from the planters.

Murder and Bashing

Excerpt from The Australian:

A TEENAGE boy charged with the murder of a 30-year-old chef cried when he faced Sydney Children's Court in front of his family this morning.

The emotional youth was one of two 16-year-olds arrested yesterday over the murder of Daniel Owen, who died outside his Marrickville home in June.

Owen's body was found in the driveway of a home on Illawarra Road with head injuries shortly after midnight on Sunday June 15.

Shortly beforehand Ms Gay, 26, was struck in the head from behind in Steel Park, Marrickville, by two male youths who demanded her handbag.

Ms Gay, who plays nurse Gabrielle Jaeger in the Seven Network hospital drama All Saints, suffered minor injuries, including swelling and bruising to her head.

Police also dealt with the assault and robbery of a 20-year-old man a short distance away on Illawarra Road on the same night.

Link.

These extremely disturbing events occured in close proximity to my home - the Ms Gay bashing being a few houses away. John and I were home as well, but didn't hear a thing. The first we knew was when the police doorknocked.

My little bit of Marrickvile is sort of out of the way of any entertainment, pubs and the station so is generally pretty quiet; which makes serious crime here even harder to comprehend.

8 Central Avenue

This is where I'll be working in 2010. Pacific Magazines and Channel Seven will relocate to Australian Technology Park in Eveleigh. I can't wait as my travel time to work will be halved, and more reliable as I won't have to catch two trains. This is the start of a twelve storey building.

A Dog With Wings

Sam is a recalcitrant dog.
She likes to jump on to the roof and bark her lungs out at the passing world.
Sometimes I want to do the same, but I'm not as comfortable with heights as she. This is a semi regular sight alonh Illawarra Road. Repeated attempts by Bill, her owner, to block her access to the roof has obviously failed. She is friendly but out of control.

Ello Nina

Nino has left the building and El Nina seems to have settled in. Sydney has had drought for the past eight years, and it may be breaking. These are some pics from about 10am last Sunday - the front of my house. I live on a flood plain, but this is purely stormwater not escaping; not a river breaking it's banks.. I'd hate to know the outcome if the river floods and we get an extreme downpour. The house is about a metre above the road, but the shop next door is not.

After 15 minutes, the water dissipated.

Experimental "Rain Gardens" up the road had been installed to filter rainwater, and may have had an influence on the flash flood, but I doubt it. The drains below the rain gardens were overwhelmed (The Rain Gardens are meant to be a reticulation basin for plants to filter excess stromwater). I hope the gardens weren't the cause, as I support them. But if they are behind this, they need tweaking.