© 2018 Greg & Sylvia RAY
Read more about the article Nudes, beer and pasta in 1960s Newcastle
Copy of a Goya nude in a Cessnock Hotel, February 1962. Photo by Ron Morrison

Nudes, beer and pasta in 1960s Newcastle

In the 1960s a nude picture on the wall of your pub or restaurant might have caused strife with the authorities: unless of course it was a copy of a nude by an old master, which is a different thing altogether. In a Cessnock pub, for example, a local artist daubed a copy of Goya's Nude Maja for the edification and titillation of Coalfields drinkers. I don't know which pub was so gorgeously adorned, nor the name of the copyist, nor the fate of the copy. Here's a link to the original, so you can judge…

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Read more about the article A pleasant personal coincidence
My father on exercise with RAEME at Gan Gan, Port Stephens, in 1960.

A pleasant personal coincidence

WHEN my Dad got called up for National Service he ended up in a section with two other blokes named Geoff. The sergeant didn't like that. It was inconvenient having men with the same names. So one Geoff got to keep his name and other two were renamed on the spot by the sergeant. My Dad's name became "Sam" or "Sammy". Funny how the name stuck. Years later when I met blokes who been in the Royal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (RAEME) with Dad they honestly believed his name was Sam. Dad in uniform at…

Continue ReadingA pleasant personal coincidence
Read more about the article How Neville got Bill Haley’s autograph
Neville Goodwin's autograph book, with his drawing of Bill Haley

How Neville got Bill Haley’s autograph

When rocker Bill Haley turned up at Newcastle Railway Station in 1957 young teachers college student Neville Goodwin was there waving his trusty autograph book. Neville, who was 78 when he told me this little story a couple of years ago, had drawn a picture of his favourite star and was keen to show Bill. According to Neville, Mr Haley was quite impressed. “He looked at my drawing of him in the book and said, ‘Hey kid. Did you do this?’ He suggested that if I went  with the group to the Great Northern Hotel he’d…

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