I Remember When /
Jean Grimson is a fount of local history
Jean Grimson, 89, remembers a Christchurch well before the earthquakes, when public transport, radio and cinemas ruled, when shops were closed at weekends,
and today’s ‘mod cons’ were few and far between.
Jean Grimson remembers a time when life wasn’t always easy – but when there was also much pleasure in little things. She has lived in the same Hoon Hay house, the one she built with her late husband Stan, for nearly 70 years. She has never travelled outside New Zealand. Remarkably, in an age when families are often scattered around the world, her family – two daughters, one son, five grandchildren, and five great grandchildren under two and a half – all live close by in Christchurch and Canterbury.
Precious memories surround her in her cosy living room: a photo of Stan in army uniform during World War II, indoor bowling trophies, and a few other mementoes.
Born in Oamaru in 1930, the family moved to Christchurch, where her father worked in the tramways workshop in Moorhouse Avenue. He died in 1939, while
Jean was still a young girl, leaving her mother to raise three girls and two boys on her own. ‘I was the oldest. We never went hungry, I can assure you of that,’ says Jean. ‘Mother had a widow’s benefit. I think it was 10 shillings for each child. Amazing, isn’t it?’
Michael Joseph Savage, the Labour Prime Minister who ushered in the social welfare state, was her mother’s hero. The family lived in Packe Street, off Bealey Avenue. ‘Everybody rode bikes, there were very few cars, and the trams were one of the main forms of transport. Everything was rationed. If you got bread sandwiches you were lucky. I don’t remember much about fruit – the odd orange, but that’s all.’
Girls left school at 15, because in those days they didn’t have long careers. ‘I worked in a shop, a nice little shop by Ballantynes, Stocking Box. It was the only job I had. In my day, once you got married, you left work.’
Her future husband Stan served at the naval base in Auckland. He did plumbing work on American troopships, was transferred to the army and went to Japan as part of J Force, staying there for a couple of years after the war ended in 1945. ‘He didn’t want to stay in Auckland. When he came back he came to Christchurch, and I met him, so that was the best thing he ever did!’ Jean says with a grin. ‘We went to the pictures with another couple on a blind date.’ The couple married in 1950, and decided to build a house.
‘This was the first section opened up after the war. It was a racetrack when we came to look at the section. We came and watched the horses going round. We paid £360 for the section. My mother thought we were going into debt. Look at land now!
‘The wharfies’ strike was on and we had to pay £100 to get wood over from the West Coast towards building the house. That was a lot of money. The house cost £2,000. A tradesman’s wages were only £8 a week then. We would have liked bigger of course, but we built what we could afford.
‘Stan had got a rehab loan coming out of the army and that was only three per cent and you just didn’t pay it off, because they rolled it over, so we just let it dribble out till we retired.’
Everybody had to put up their own fences and paths. It took 12 years before a sewerage system was installed. The ‘nightman’ came. There was no fridge, just a cupboard food safe, and no washing machine, just a copper.
Stan had sold his car to put the money towards buying the section. The Grimsons bought their first car in about 1955, a little two-door ‘Series E’ (a Vauxhall). Few houses had garages but they built a garage and workshop.
‘The bus came down Hoon Hay Road, and then we had to go to Lincoln Road for the tram. But we thought it was great. It cost a penny for children to go on the bus and about the same for the tram. We went into town on Friday night. The crowds of people that used to go in on a Friday night!’
Cinemas such as The Grand and The Regent did a roaring trade. ‘They were one and six [1s 6d, or about 16 cents]. You can’t compare, can you? The way of life is all different now. Oh yes, we appreciated it. There used to be lots of friendship clubs and things like that.’
Before they got married, Stan and Jean enjoyed dancing at The Caledonian and old-time dancing at another place in St Asaph Street. People didn’t drink as much. ‘They didn’t have the money. That’s the downfall today, isn’t it? And drugs.’
‘The paper was so important. No television. We listened to the radio, all round the open fire – that was the entertainment.’
Crime was rare. Jean remembers biking into the Square to get a newspaper to read about the hunt for Stanley Graham, who shot and killed seven people including four policemen, in 1941. ‘The paper was so important. No television. We listened to the radio, all round the open fire – that was the entertainment.’
The dairy, the Self Help store, and the butcher’s shop were highlights. ‘Well, we thought it was wonderful! You could all meet up and get big parcels of meat on a Friday, then it was closed for the weekend. Not like now, supermarkets are open all the time! They gradually closed because the supermarkets took over. There used to be queues out the door Friday morning for the weekend.
‘We’d never miss a Sunday roast. I used to make a roast, then I’d make a sponge, and would then go and visit my mother. I couldn’t tell you the last time I made a sponge.’
Jean is flabbergasted at today’s food prices. A leg of lamb used to cost about 3s 6d. ‘Isn’t it amazing? Now they’re $40,
aren’t they? Absolutely incredible. Butter makes me really cross! And cheese. But $5 or $6 for butter! No wonder the young ones don’t bake today.
‘Milk was fourpence a pint. You see, our prices didn’t change, butter was one and six for years, milk was fourpence, but now they change weekly, don’t they?’
Jean says she has kept very healthy. ‘Just living normally and not overdoing it. A glass of red wine when I go down to the bowls on a Friday night. It’s the only alcohol that’s ever touched my lips.’
She has played indoor bowls for over 50 years and is a foundation member of the Hoon Hay Presbyterian Church. ‘My daughter Jocelyn used to teach Sunday School and she had 30 in her class; now they haven’t got 30 in the congregation.’
Another change is the weather: ‘If it was hot in February, you’d have a picnic. Now the weather is very unpredictable and you have three seasons in one day.’
Stan died in 1994, and Jean has outlived all her siblings. But she is determined to keep living in her own home. ‘Age means nothing because every day is a bonus.’
‘We went into town on Friday night. The crowds of people that used to go in on a Friday night!’