General News
31 July, 2026
LIKE SHIPS IN THE NIGHT: An unforgettable character
I spent most of my adolescent years in Brunswick Street, North Fitzroy. It was a working class suburb that provided work at the local factories.
Our residence was a former dairy which had several large bluestone buildings at the rear and all the flooring was bluestone blocks.
Incidentally, the street was made of redgum timber blocks that were tarred.
Next door was a grand two storeyed house which was known as “the murder house”.
Two Chinese ladies (mother and daughter) were murdered there. They belonged to a wealthy merchant banker’s family who had fled from the Chinese revolution.
No one was charged with the crime. It was believed that they had a small fortune in gold and jewellery that was never recovered.
Rose, the middle-aged daughter, was a very shy and pleasantly sophisticated lady.
I frequently did small errands for her.
She developed my taste for oriental food by inviting me in to share a delicious meal with her invalid mother.
Her seafood curry was to die for.
After their demise, the house was rented out. The upstairs with a grand balcony was rented to a former American marine who decided to settle in Australia after the war.
His name was Vince, he hailed from Carson City, USA and he was a fascinating character.
Vince had everyone intrigued despite our saturation of all that was American (especially the movies and fashions).
His accent fascinated everyone.
His hair, stark blonde, was cut in an American crew-cut which was mimicked by my cousins Lance and Jimmy.
Vince could have been the twin of movie star Tab Hunter.
Although he was slim and slightly built, he was amazingly strong and due to his marine training, he was formidable in “hand to hand combat”.
Nevertheless he was charmingly pleasant and courteous.
Town hall dances were all the go in the 60s and 70s.
They were packed out with crowds milling both inside and out.
It was the days before entertainment costs spiralled and was affordable for all — students such as myself were half price.
“Bandstand” and “Rock Around The Clock” were popular television shows in its infancy.
Amazingly the stars from these shows performed at the town halls.
Some of these included Johnny O’Keefe, Johnny Devlin, Col Joye, Johnny Chester and the Chessmen, Little Pattie and the Bee Gees were featured.
The girls came to the dance (usually among themselves) with the guys watching on the sidelines.
Most were working up the courage to join in
This wasn’t the case with Vince, whose gymnastic “jitterbugging” was a show-stopper.
Gloreen, his usual partner, highlighted his talent being thrown over his shoulders and between his legs as part of their dance routine.
One unfortunate consequence of the dances was that like today some went with the intention of “beating up” some innocent victim.
Despite the bouncers this was inevitable and I, like most others, was on the wrong side of a beating.
My friendship with Ray Wheeler (later to become a champion boxer) helped protect me from the cowardly assailants.
Not having loads of money, we walked to and from most venues.
Preston for example was an hour’s walk each way. If we were financial we would stop on the way home at the all night cafe.
Archie’s was in St George’s Road and made their hamburgers in front of you.
The malted milk consisted of a full container plus a glass.
We downed this in an instant. I couldn’t drink that much today.
Vince entertained us along the way as we moved towards home.
The group would gradually diminish as some members dropped off to their home.
At last I fell into bed and in an instant I fell into the sleep of the innocent.
Roast day (Sunday) was highlighted by Vince’s magic tricks.
He could make cards appear and disappear and change coins from pence to shillings.
He pulled a florin (two shillings) from behind Aunty Pat’s ear. She was bewildered.
Uncle Jim, who wasn’t a fan of our American allies, didn’t know what to make of his magic.
Vince had an enormous collection of Sinatra records which he played non-stop.
Vince found cricket hard to fathom as he did with Australian Rules.
Because of his baseball background, he had a fantastic arm.
He batted with his bat elevated like most modern cricketers do. If he middled the ball it would disappear into the distance.
Overnight we had an enormous vacuum in our lives when our American mate left.
The real estate agent said he had paid up and was heading north.
He had a motorbike which he loaded up. Our postie said he had packaged up his record collection (mainly Sinatra) and had it posted.
Unfortunately Australia Post couldn’t reveal its destination.
Although I never adopted chewing gum, when I see someone doing so, I am reminded of a wonderful gentleman. I can picture him in his denim jacket and jeans.