As a 5 year old I remember seeing the steam engines pulling the passenger trains of Melbourne`s suburban rail lines and smell the hot oil, the coal smoke and the steam. I can still picture the woven raffia and leather seat upholstery in the carriages plus the doors slamming when the train was to leave the station. I can also remember vividly the men working along the lines as I rode into the city with my mother, as they erected the electrification towers for the electric passenger train system which was to soon supersede steam trains.
Thornycroft Trucks
The trucks were chain driven and the tyres were made of solid rubber. The chains were coated in thick black grease which made a sloshing sound as the chains went over the sprockets. Another monster was the Bussing-Nag steam driven Richmond Council truck. It also had chains with lots of grease plus a coal hopper.
Hansom Cabs
I saw the Hansom Cabs all parked along the South side of Bourke Street from Elizabeth street up to Queen Street and see and hear them with passengers, the clip/clop of the horses hooves and the occasional light crack of the whip.
"Mustard Pot" yellow taxis
They had a sloping front of the Renault style at that time (1924). The driver sat out in the open in all weathers and had a canvas cover to go over his waist and knees when it rained or in the cold weather. The passengers sat behind the driver in a glass screen and a hood over them. Petrol at the time was 1 shilling (10 cents) per gallon which is about 4 and a half litres.
The Depression Days
My father was an Estate Agent in Richmond. Tenants in workers houses couldn`t pay the rent due to unemployment. Owners asked for two and sixpence per week (25 cents) from those who could pay and asked my father to put tenants, rent free, into vacant houses to prevent the weather boards and internal timbers being torn out for firewood. A pot of beer was only 4 pence (4 cents). Butter was one shilling a pound (500 grams). Front stall theatre seats were one shilling (10 cents) and childrens' matinees cost 5 pence (5 cents).
The Baker, Butcher and Milkman
They delivered their orders in brightly painted two-wheeled horse drawn carts. The tin billy would be left out at night by the front door and the Milkman would ladle into it the required amount, usually a pint or a quart (2 pints). Also when the Baker's horse and cart arrived the smell of the bread was magificent and it was great fun feeding the horse with grass.
The Iceman
You could buy blocks of ice for 10 cents off the Iceman and put it in an icechest. There were no domestic refrigerators in the early 1920`s.
Roads
City and suburban roads were sealed but one had only to get into semi-rural areas and off the main country roads and strike the awful bone shaking and leaf spring breaking corrugated roads on which you had to travel at about 5 miles per hour (8 kmh).
Gas Lighting
At dawn the Gas light man would do his rounds and turn down the street gas lights. Just before dark he would do the rounds again and turn up the street lights.
Cable Trams
The cable trams consisted of a Dummy, the four-wheeled front part which pulled the attached coverd Wagon for those who wanted to travel under cover. Seats on the Dummy were for other passengers.
There was a crew of two. A conductor who roamed back and forth over the wagon and the Dummy collecting fares and helping passengers on and off. The "driver" was called the Gripman. He pulled levers to grip the moving cable under the track to travel forward and use the brakes to stop when required. Some parts of the track had sharp angled curves and both Gripman and Conductor would ring a bell and shout "Hang On Around The Curve". Cost of tickets ranged from 1 penny (1 cent) for a short trip and up to 4 pence (4 cents) for a long trip to the end of the line.