Radiograms and chimney fires

Ian Symons (1965) shares stories of his father Neil Symons’ time at Ormond in the 1930s.

Neil Symons entered Ormond in 1934. He had heard about College initiation ceremonies from his brother Mac who had entered Ormond four years earlier. Certainly some aspects were far more demeaning than would be acceptable today. Freshmen were expected to wake up senior students, fetch their hot water and serve them supper, for example.

Students were encouraged to grow moustaches to make them look more mature. Sometimes the moustache was so wispy that it had the reverse effect.

At that time discipline was tight. Students were expected to attend roll call at 10pm on weeknights at least five nights per week and on Saturday morning. The Master, D. K. Picken, took pride in knowing each man by name and Vice-Master H. W. ‘Digger’ Allen looked at each face and marked off its owner, so that it was virtually impossible to be absent and have someone to answer ‘present’ on your behalf.

To ensure men were not distracted from study, on weeknights wirelesses could only be used during the ‘music hour’ between 10pm and 11pm.

Neil bought a mantel radio which became a constant source of entertainment. Unfortunately he and Bruce Kennedy, his ‘wife’ (the student with whom he shared a study room), became addicted to radio serials. Their days had to be precisely organised so that they could listen to as many episodes as possible. 

To extend his listening hours, Neil decided to acquire a radiogram (a wireless combined with a record player), as gramophones were exempt from the ban on melodies outside music hour. Neil’s gramophone was a truly Ormond creation. A dental student named McKinnon assembled the electrics and the exterior was built by Frank Sadler, a ‘theolog’ (theology student) who had trained as a cabinet maker.

Neil and his ‘wife’ were listening to the wireless one evening when the Master knocked on the door and entered simultaneously, no doubt expecting a breach of the ‘no wireless’ rule. Fortunately, there was a record on the turntable, though it was not revolving. ‘Humph! A gramophone!’ he said and retired without further ado.

In Neil’s time (and for many years afterwards) open fires were the main means of heating. Ormond seemed to be a fire trap and it is amazing it was not burnt down. There were scores of chimneys and in winter there would be a wood fire in every fireplace. When Neil and his ‘wife’ occupied a ground floor study with a fireplace, their chimney caught fire. Ablaze for its entire length of about 80 feet, it was only extinguished with great difficulty. A day or two later a great cloud of soot and ashes and bits of broken brick descended without warning, to the extreme discomfort of the poor man who was standing in front of the fireplace.

After graduating, Neil went on to a career as a solicitor. Amongst his achievements was developing the legal framework to enable clothing company Fletcher Jones to be partly employee owned. He later succeeded that company’s namesake as its Managing Director and later Executive Chairman. Neil passed away in 1997.