Streamers & LSL

[Cabansail]

I remember waving farewell to my grandparents who were sailing back to England. Air travel was not common then so most went by sea.

 

I am not sure where the ship departed but I recall going on board before they left and then leaving before they departed. Then we lined the wharf to wave goodbye. The passengers threw paper streamers which we caught. There were hundreds of them. As the ship pulled away they would break one by one. It is an enduring memory from my childhood. This would have been in the mid sixties. When did this tradition end and why?

 

 

On another point. Many may not know why we have Long Service Leave in Australia. I believe the origin was in the 19th century and due to our ties to Britain and the time it took to travel by sea. A worker who had emigrated would not have enough leave to travel back to the Britain to see their family. The solution to this was to give extra leave after ten years service which would allow time to travel and still have their leave.

[GUT2407]

Not sure when streamers ended. But it was still happening late 60s early 70s.

 

And that was a major reason for LSL.

 

Probably off topic but holiday leave loading started out as for teachers only, to acknowledge that they could only have holidays in peak season.

[Cabansail]

I think Leave Loading was to take into account that when on holidays there would be no shift penalties or overtime.

 

Teachers made up for the peak holidays by getting 12 weeks a year, which is another historic anomaly which goes back much further. The long school holidays were not meant for the children or teachers to have a break, rather it was to allow them to work. One of the main objections to compulsory education is that the children would not be able to work on the farms. The schools would break for summer to let them work and then study in the quieter months.

[Keith1010]

We had streamers in the late 1960's.

 

Keith

[celle]

I emigrated from the UK to NZ in 1968. My parents were allowed on board the ship before it departed from Southampton. Yes, we had streamers then.

[MicCanberra]

On another point. Many may not know why we have Long Service Leave in Australia. I believe the origin was in the 19th century and due to our ties to Britain and the time it took to travel by sea. A worker who had emigrated would not have enough leave to travel back to the Britain to see their family. The solution to this was to give extra leave after ten years service which would allow time to travel and still have their leave.

 

Thanks for the info on LSL, I have been enjoying most of my last allocations on board several ships.:D

Edited March 17, 2016 by MicCanberra

[MicCanberra]

I remember waving farewell to my grandparents who were sailing back to England. Air travel was not common then so most went by sea.

 

I am not sure where the ship departed but I recall going on board before they left and then leaving before they departed. Then we lined the wharf to wave goodbye. The passengers threw paper streamers which we caught. There were hundreds of them. As the ship pulled away they would break one by one. It is an enduring memory from my childhood. This would have been in the mid sixties. When did this tradition end and why?

 

I remember the streams in the seventies (just a lad) when an aunty was going on a cruise and we bade her farewell after having lunch aboard the ship (and looking around the ship).:D

 

The streamers would be seen as a pollutant and not environmentally friendly.

Edited March 17, 2016 by MicCanberra

[Newby58]

I remember the streamers as a child! [emoji6] My family returning to Britain.

[OzKiwiJJ]

I remember friends going on a ship in the early 70s, we went on board the ship and there were lots of streamers.

 

From then on I always wanted to go on a cruise. It only took me another 40-odd years. :D

 

Even the Cook Strait ferries (Wellington to Lyttelton) used to have streamers when I was a kid. Great fun!

 

As well as the pollution issue, these days there would be health and safety issues - imagine if someone threw one of those hard little rolls of paper, let go of the end by mistake and it hit someone! :eek: Also there are very few places, if any, where you can get that close to a cruise ship anymore unless you're a passenger on it.

[Newby58]

If I remember correctly, the colours of the streamers used to bleed when wet which would certainly be an environmental issue these days.

[cruisine21]

I remember family friends going on the Flotta Lauro in the 1960's and we went onboard. For some reason I have always remembered the ship's name. My sister went on a cruise in the early 1980's and we also went onboard.

[MicCanberra]

If I remember correctly, the colours of the streamers used to bleed when wet which would certainly be an environmental issue these days.

 

Definitely would be just one of the myriad pollutant qualities of the streamers. Another would be getting sucked up into engines and intakes and such.

[Bagwhan]

I remember farewelling my Uncle, Aunty and cousins (5 of them) on their posting to the UK. Uncle Tom was in the RAAF and was being posted to the UK for two years (?).

 

I would have been I guess, about 6 or 7 when we went onboard to have a look around, I can remember drinks (young boys about 6 or 7 always remember the treat of soft drink which in our family was a rarity). I do remember the finger finger food (like a high tea, scones etc), and definitely the streamers from ship to shore at the OPT (Sydney). This would have been about 1970-71 and I recall thinking how special my cousins were sailing off in this huge ship, the MV Oriana. :)

[Cabansail]

Is it my imagination or did ship have more romance about them back then?

 

Sure they now have many facilities which were not dreamed of then but that is the same for our normal lives. Back then it would seem that going aboard a ship was a real adventure.

 

I wonder if there would be a market for nostalgia cruises?

[OzKiwiJJ]

I think travel in general had more romance back then. Maybe not the family trek by car to the cabin by the beach type travel, but the big stuff by plane or ship. But that was probably because people travelled less, partly because it was much more expensive. These days we just take travel for granted.

[Mothballs]

My sister went on a cruise in 73 or 74.I think it might have been on the Fairstar. I was excited as my parents took me out of school for the afternoon and we had a look around the ship.

My sister must have had a good time as when she arrived home she fell face down on her bed and didn't move for about 20 hours.

Regards Elaine.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

I think travel in general had more romance back then. Maybe not the family trek by car to the cabin by the beach type travel, but the big stuff by plane or ship. But that was probably because people travelled less, partly because it was much more expensive. These days we just take travel for granted.

 

All travel back then was by ship, very romantic and glamorous for the First Class passengers, but quite a different story for Tourist Class.

 

[MicCanberra]

Air travel was very very expensive so most would have travelled by ship although as mentioned, most of these would have travelled tourist class and not first class.

I still find it very exciting every time I board a ship and as for being romantic, a gentleman never tells.;)

[OzKiwiJJ]

All travel back then was by ship

 

Certainly most overseas travel was by ship, but even some domestic travel had its touch of glamour. I can remember travelling on the overnight ferry between Wellington & Lyttelton in the late 50s and early 60s. It was exciting. When I was young, and if I had been good, my parents would allow me to go with them to the lounge for supper, and I was dressed nicely for that. Dad always tried to get Mum & I a cabin with a porthole and I would be up at the crack of dawn with my head out the porthole watching as we came into the harbour.

 

I also remember my first plane trip, from Wellington to Dunedin. My mother travelled the first sector to Christchurch with me, but then I was on my own for the second flight. I was nine, I think. The flight attendants took me up to the cockpit to meet the pilots, and I was allowed to hand out the sweets before landing. Very exciting for a nine year old in those days.

[MicCanberra]

Why do I now have images of you and Leslie Neilson acting out scenes from flying high.:p

[OzKiwiJJ]

OMG! That movie was soooo funny. ROTFLMAO!

[Cabansail]

a gentleman never tells.;)

 

So true. However how does that stop you? :)

 

 

 

OMG! That movie was soooo funny. ROTFLMAO!

 

Shirley you're not serious?

[OzKiwiJJ]

Shirley you're not serious?

 

I am serious, and don't call me Shirley! :D

[MicCanberra]

So true. However how does that stop you? :)

 

 

Shirley you're not serious?

 

I am serious and don't call me Shirley. :p

 

BTW, I am still not telling.:cool:

 

Over.

Edited March 18, 2016 by MicCanberra

[OzKiwiJJ]

Snap!