Welcome!

Areader’s letter about applying for a job as a tea lady, many years ago, took me back. Right back. To when I was a child and my late and muchloved Aunty Mon was a tea lady at a film studio office. It was the closest our family ever came to brushing up with fame as Aunty Mon got to know all sorts of famous people from the Aussie film world. There wouldn’t have been one piece of gossip going around that studio that Aunty Mon didn’t know. And of course, she was adored – not just for her tea and bickies! When I started work in my first office, the tea lady was no more. The closest we got to service was a bent old teaspoon chained to the urn so it didn’t get nicked! But talking about tea ladies got all of us in the tl! team reminiscing about different jobs that were no more – like milkmen. Liz’s fiancé, Frank, used to help his dad Michael with his milk run in Leeton, NSW, in the late ’90s. The young Frank and his mate used to hop on and off his dad’s truck with the clinking bottles and deliver them to the locals. Gill reminded us of another job that’s gone – the bridge toll collector. The last time anyone put actual cash in the hands of a toll collector in

Sydney and Brisbane was 2009. Beth has fond memories of the guy at her local video store who always had the best suggestions for what movie to take out for the weekend or week. While Riah nominated local photo developers and how important they were before digital photographs. ‘It was such a thrill when you finally saw the results of your photography,’ she said. And it was! I’m sure you and your family and friends can expand on this list. What old jobs, now gone, do you remember?