[Ted Parsons Home Movies: Reel 6]

Ted Parsons was a keen amateur filmmaker of the 1940s to 1960s. Ted’s films feature life in and around the Victorian regional city of Wangaratta post-war. This was a period of prosperity and optimism largely due to a successful textile industry that took Wangaratta from a small country town to major rural city, declared in 1959.

Ted captures the many sporting and social events, venues and clubs, holidays and travel along with scenes of everyday life. The collection also shows the broader issues faced by country people such as the regular flooding events around the Ovens and King Rivers.

Wangaratta’s success story as a manufacturing town traces the path of post-war migration and the accompanying growth of Australia’s economy, which makes these films particularly interesting.

The Ted Parsons Home Movie Collection has been donated to ACMI by the filmmaker’s grandson Barry Parsons. The films have been made on 16mm film.

This film consists of a range of scenes filmed throughout the 1950s on various holidays. It features travels to Melbourne for the Royal Tour, a trip to Beechworth for a town parade and snippets of travels to Queensland and New South Wales.

A highlight of the film is footage of the Royal Tour in 1954, showing crowds of people in the streets of Melbourne and Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip driving past.

Selected highlights list:
00:00:02:00 ships in Port Melbourne with flags flying
00:00:30:00 crowds gathered at the railing
00:00:39:00 the ‘Princess of Tasmania’
00:01:11:00 large crowds of people in the city street, running and waving as the cavalcade passes by
00:02:21:00 panning across Melbourne city buildings and bridge across the Yarra River including advertising for ‘Bushells’ tea on a building
00:02:42:00 Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip pass by in an open car, waving at the crowd
00:02:59:00 crowds at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in the King’s Domain, Melbourne
00:03:46:00 sign reads ‘The Sir Colin Mackenzie Sanctuary’, Healesville, followed by scenes of wildlife in the sanctuary
00:06:40:00 a visit to a farmhouse, views of horses in the country paddocks and women horseriding
00:07:10:00 a foal feeding from a mare
00:07:44:00 a woman in a printed sun dress holding a skittish foal by the bridle
00:08:17:00 Parliament House, Melbourne
00:08:18:00 flooded river with fallen trees after a storm
00:08:40:00 scenes of countryside
00:09:10:00 a family on a rocky outcrop surrounded by gum trees, pointing to the view
00:09:13:00 woman feeding peacocks
00:09:34:00 seaside scenes, sailboat on the water
00:10:20:00 cherry trees
00:10:41:00 garden with a sprinkler
00:11:00:00 parade through town centre of Beechworth, with people dressed in the fashion of the gold rush era
00:11:17:00 woman dancing in emerald green dress and bonnet, showing her white bloomers
00:11:24:00 man with wheelbarrow and sign reading ‘Melbourne to Beechworth or bust’
00:11:41:00 parade crowds with advertising signs and shopfronts behind: ‘The Dolphin Coffee Parlour’ and ‘Peters Ice Cream’
00:11:46:00 people in parade dressed as gold prospectors in stereotypical Chinese outfits
00:12:02:00 a group of people wearing a dragon costume
00:12:16:00 a child in a blackface costume
00:12:57:00 lovely printed dresses on women in the crowd
00:13:00:00 members of the parade dancing in costume
00:13:38:00 a Shetland pony harnessed to a small carriage with young girl seated inside
00:13:59:00 close-ups of flowers, butterflies and bees
00:14:38:00 beach scenes including people wearing printed bathers
00:14:48:00 Galapagos turtle
00:15:11:00 dolphins playing with balls in the Pet Porpoise Pool, Coffs Harbour
00:15:28:00 toll booths on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, with sign reading ‘Lane changing prohibited’
00:15:32:00 driving across the Sydney Harbour Bridge
00:16:08:00 bulldozer clearing a path on a country property