I Remember When with Milton Rendell

Do you remember when having a phone in your house wasn’t common, I grew up in a house with no phone and if I wanted to give someone a call I used to have to go to the old red phone box on the corner of Waylen and Swan Street in Guildford.

There once were couple of phone boxes also near Guildford Grammar that were busy with the lodgers at the school giving their families a call during the week, so there used to be a cue. It’s hard to imagine paying five cents a phone call. When I call things a phone “It’s all now mobile, Dad! No one owns a phone!” I am told by my daughters.

Imagine trying to explain to them what a telegram is. My good mate John Di Marco’s first job was a telegram boy working for Telecom in the City. I made the slip the other day and called a radio a wireless when telling them footy season is back on and explained how I used to sit with Mum and Dad by the old Metters wood stove and listen to the “wireless”. Mum would be yelling at radio and Dad would look at me with a smile as Mum got into it.

Gee the footy is different to watch recently with the no crowds but so happy to hear our old club, Swan Districts start playing soon. When watching the footy the other day I said to my wife, the jumpers these days are a bit different to my day. I remember we had woollen jumpers and boy when they got wet they were heavy and itchy.

I don’t think the pretty boys of today could handle the stuff we had to deal with and funny our games seem to have more rain, bigger puddles and if you played say on Midland Oval lots of stinking mud.

The player’s today hair gel wouldn’t handle what we used to play in. Yes things have changed but on reflection we were pretty lucky to grow in a less complicated world at times. Our footy heroes were local people just like us with jobs and easier to connect with.

– Milton Rendell, CEO – Real Estate Plus Group