| Summary |
Folkloric recording. Pheeney recalls her birth and the early life of her immediate family, her school days in Mallacoota which then had no more than about 30 people, the variety of games that the children played despite the lack of organised sport, how lessons were held outside, how Mondays had a flag ceremony where patriotic songs were sung at school, school then was until 14 years of age and some would undertake a commercial course for the next two years, slates used for writing, predominance of female teachers during the War years, describes the social life in Mallacoota then, dances during winter when the fishing fleets were in, Sundays were for walking with women sewing as they walked and men went rifle shooting, fishermen who could play musical instruments would form dance bands, the various dances such as the Lancers, schottische, etc., how she learnt to play the gum leaf, social events such as card parties, regattas, nail driving competitions, wood chopping.
Pheeney discusses why the Depression had little impact on their community, commercial goods available through hawkers and catalogue shopping through Sydney and Melbourne stores, lack of night lighting and identifying fishing boats returning by the sound of their engines, the importance of salmon fishing which was packed and sent to Narooma, radio programmes for night entertainment, the type of sweets her Irish grandfather gave her, what they ate at school, their dependence on steamers for transport, how grandfather Brady established a road into the town, describes her grandparents in detail.
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