Two sections: 'GUESS WHO'S COME TO DINNER?' about bringing home an Aboriginal man, and 'FERNTREE GULLY' about buying first house in Melbourne area in late 60s for $8500.
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What the page says
GUESS WHO'S COME TO DINNER?
Pat tells the story about the evening I brought home an Aboriginal man to dinner unexpectedly. She opened the door and got a surprise. The poor fellow had had polio, didn't dress very well either and had no hope in finding someone to give him a lift home to Buchan. It was unplanned, it just happened; I picked him up and he turned out to be alright. After tea I gave him a ride to Buchan, but on the way he wanted grog so I took him to a hotel. I gave the owner the eye not to sell him any grog as I knew it was the wrong thing to do. It was just a spur of the moment thing that turned out well.
FERNTREE GULLY
After the time at East Sale I got posted to the Department of Support Command in Melbourne, in the inner city. We bought a home at Ferntree Gully in Messmate Street. This was in the late 60's and we paid $8500. for our house, the first house we owned. I took the train into the city, either from Boronia or Bayswater, just depended which station I fancied on the day.
Will wasn't born yet!!! Not yet!
I had a desk job, didn't like it very much either. I didn't like it all, to be honest! However, I did the job for quite a while. Then I carried on about it at one stage and got kicked out of the group. I took my complaint upstairs and took care of it in the new area.
People: Pat, Derek, Will
Places: East Sale, Department of Support Command, Melbourne, Ferntree Gully, Messmate Street, Buchan, Boronia, Bayswater
Interesting facts
The title is a film.Guess Who's Coming to Dinner came out in 1967 and is about a white family meeting their daughter's Black fiance. Borrowing it as a heading in Australia around 1970 dates the passage, and its assumptions, precisely.
1967, and what it did not do. The referendum that year let the Commonwealth legislate for Aboriginal people and count them in the census. It did not grant citizenship or the vote, both of which already existed federally, and it changed daily life far more slowly than the numbers suggest.
