Oral histories on the topic 'telephonists'
Meryl Hunter worked as a telephonist in the provisional Parliament House from 1946 to1948. She also talks about her father’s work from 1927 to the 1950s as an attendant and House Keeper, her childhood involvement in the building, and early Canberra from the 1930s to the 1950s.
Topics:
Parliamentary House Keeper, House Keeper’s Flat, Frank Bishop, Jean Cross, Hotel Wellington (Canberra), Ainslie, Canberra (1930s and 1940s), Blandfordia (Canberra), parliamentary attendants, transport officers, GPO telephone exchange, telephonists, Parliament House switchboard, Leslie Haylen, Robert Menzies, Russell Vick, childhood memories of the building, the courtyards, ‘Ho Chi Minh Trail’, the Depression (1930s), Jack Pettifer, Queen’s Visit (1954), Carol (Bunty) Wright, Gordon Pike, Larry Anthony, Canberra Table Tennis Club, Wilkie’s pie cart, Ben Chifley, Bill Littlefield (chef), Arthur Calwell, Charlie Russell, Fred Keane, Michele Grattan, H V Evatt, migrants in Canberra, Aborigines in Canberra, Hotel Canberra, Mal Strachan, Jimmy O’Halloran, Masonic Lodge, Albert Hall
Neil ‘Bluey’ Baker, born 1947, was a telephone technician in the provisional Parliament House from 1973 to 1988 and thereafter in the new Parliament House for many years.
Topics:
Alexandria Training School (Sydney), Arthur Gietzelt, ASIO, Badges, Bakelite, Baker’s Better Beverages, Barry Jones, Bathurst (NSW), Bill Gellatly, Bill Hayden, Bill Rickaby, Bill Snedden, Bob Hawke, Broken Hill (NSW), Canberra, Canberra Times, Catholic schools, Commonwealth Parliament Staff Association, Cootamundra (NSW), Cordial manufacturers, De La Salle College, Don Chipp, Eddie Hunter, Eddie Jones, Factories, Family background, Flo Bjelke-Petersen, Fraud charges, Gambling, Garfield Barwick, General Post Office (GPO), Gough Whitlam, Hansard staff, Hardie-Ferodo car race, Ian Burn, Ian Sinclair, Jim Cairns, John Corkill, Junie Morosi, Juvenile gangs, Ken Fry, Kevin McDermit, Kim Beazley, Leeton (NSW), Letraset, Linesmen, Mal Colston, Malcolm Fraser, Marbles (game), Margaret Reid, Marist Brothers, Marrickville (Sydney), Michael Somes, Mick Young, Mungo MacCallum, New Parliament House, Non-Switching units, PABX system, Parliament’s telephone system, Paul Savage, Peter Hall, Peter Harvey, Peter Horn, Post Master General (PMG), Press Gallery, Provisional Parliament House, Radio, Retired Technician’s Union, Ron Cahill, Rural automatic telephone exchanges, Security, Serjeant-at-arms, Snooker, SP bookmakers, Steve Angelo, Sydney (NSW), Technical training, Technology, Telecom, Telecommunications technicians, Telegram boys, Telephone technicians, Telephones, telephonists, television, The Dismissal (11 November 1975), Usher of the Black Rod, Wollongong (NSW)