Message to would-be time-travellers: try an old newspaper. Our time machine of choice today is the Redcliffe Herald and our excursion is to 1959.
The Redcliffe of 66 years ago, were you to land there unexpectedly, would be vaguely familiar to you but with some disconcerting differences. Given that it was before decimal currency, prices in shops would be a conundrum to the modern eye. What, for instance, would you make of Mr Barton the butcher’s prices, advertised in January 1959: pork chops at 3/10lb and a leg of lamb at 3/4lb? (translation: pork about 40 cents for 500 grams; lamb about 50 cents for 500 grams – for us, a very affordable barbecue).
Real estate prices, of perennial interest in 2025, are easier to compute, although the contrast is equally startling. In February, a block of four holiday flats (fully furnished, septic, two tennis courts attached) at Queens Beach was advertised by real estate company, Gelling and Hodgkinson, for £11,000 (about $22,000). While prices like this and those of most services and commodities seem attractively low, remember that the average weekly wage for an adult male in those days was around $30.
If you could not afford a holiday place at Queens Beach, at least you could take in a movie and, undeniably, Redcliffe cinema-goers were better off in 1959. For a start, there were no fewer than three picture theatres – the Pier at Redcliffe, the Renown at Margate, and the Bay at Scarborough – all showing seven double-bill sessions a week, that is, 14 different films (among which was, in January, Love Slaves of the Amazons, in case you missed it).
Modern Luxuries Were Still Just Dreams
This cinematic largesse would not long survive the arrival of television, but in 1959, TV sets were a novel luxury. Advertising reveals a very different attitude to their ownership. For example, Maunder’s Electrical urged, “You only buy one TV … so buy the best”, and, “Test view in our Teletorioum in lounge room comfort”.
A major improvement in the life of peninsula dwellers in 1959 was the inauguration of the sewerage system. As he pushed the button to start the water flowing, the mayor boasted that “Redcliffe is now the first seaside town in Queensland to have a sewerage system”. This development, along with the provision of town water and better drainage, would be instrumental in Redcliffe’s evolution from sleepy holiday destination to desirable dormitory suburb.
So, 1959: an attractive time travel destination? Probably not, bearing in mind the rarity of TVs and sewerage. For the ardent cinephile, though, possibly worth the trip.
[With thanks to MBRC,Image courtesy of Moreton Bay Regional Council, reference number RMPC-100\100116.]
Read more stories from our Redcliffe Guide print magazine here:
- Reddy Roundup: Updates from the Community
- What’s Hot Around Town
- Local Book Series Teaches Literacy
- Harry Potter Forest Experience Casts Spell on Brisbane
- Podcast Review: It’s Storytime with Wil Wheaton
- Organic Gardening in June
- Brad’s Business Tips
- New Art Exhibition Inspired By Nature
- Brad Flynn’s Book Gets Back to Business
- 99.7FM Bridge FM Open Day
- Redcliffe Floral and Art Festival 2025
- Redcliffe Hospital Giving Day Returns to Deliver Double the Impact
- Rock Out for Free With IN2XS
- Soulful Tunes at Jazz & Shiraz Newport
- Moreton Bay Food + Wine Festival Dishes Up Biggest Event Yet
- Musical Mornings at Theatre 101
- Redcliffe’s non-stop show of entertainment
- Run to Raise Funds: REDDY Fun Run
- Snapper Chrysophrys auratus
- Rockin’ 4 the Homeless: Live, Loud and Free
- Local Theatre Earnestly Important
- This is Where We Belong
