L-R: Flora Wright and Gladys Murrell
with Kerry Wright in pram
1950
Way back in the dim and distant past of the 1950s, people dressed in their very best when visiting the city, even if it was only on a day-time shopping trip. And here's proof. This photo of my mother, Flora Wright (L), and her sister, my Aunty Glad, Gladys Murrell (R), with me in the pram, was taken in Sydney's Martin Place. The iconic northern facade of the GPO (now Westin Hotel) can be seen in the left background.
Mum and Aunty Glad would have taken the 190 double-deck Wynyard bus to "Town", from their home at Narrabeen on Sydney's Northern Beaches. They are both stylishly dressed, complete with hats and, in Aunty Glad's case, a fur stole. I am shocked to see they're not wearing gloves; though, that may be a pair of gloves Aunty Glad is holding in her left hand. Gloves were de rigueur fashion accessories for women in those days.
I seem to recall that Mum only ever visited the city a couple of times each year. One such trip was always in December, to do Christmas shopping at the glamorous department stores of David Jones, Mark Foys and Anthony Horderns. I don't remember my father ever accompanying my mother and I on such occasions. It wasn't something men did back then. The annual Christmas shopping trip also incorporated visits to each department store's resident Santa Claus, as well as viewing the stores' Christmas window decorations and all the Christmas decorations in the city. One particular year, after we'd visited several stores, I remember asking Mum why there were so many Santas. Mum explained that there was only one, but that he magically travelled very quickly ahead of us, so he could greet us as we visited each store in turn.
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