A look back at… the spring of 1972
Images of 1972: Australian postage stamp commemorating 50th Anniversary of the Country Women’s Association Designed by Val Mason, issued 18th April 1972 with perforation 13½ x 13½; four of the icons for Olympic Games events, the pictograms by Otl Aicher for the Munich Games; inset a typical seventies font; and maxi dresses, mini skirts, knee socks and patterns that started occuring in 1972. Sources: Australian Stamp catalogue website; Super Seventies website; Iconutopia; Huffington Post.
This post will continue to highlight a particular time in the vast history of the Parkes Shire, focusing on the spring of 1972. The main sources will be microfilm of the local newspapers of the time including:
- Parkes Champion Post
- Peak Hill & District Times
- Trundle and Tullamore Star
- Parkes Western People and
- Narromine News and Trangie Advocate
In 1972 the ruling monarch was Queen Elizabeth II. Prime Minister of the day was William McMahon, the 20th Prime Minister of Australia. It was a year of unfortunate events both in Australia and internationally. October saw the Faraday school kidnapping where two men kidnapped six female pupils and their teacher from a one-teacher school in rural Victoria. In November, Ansett Airlines Flight 232 was travelling from Adelaide to Alice Springs when it was hijacked – the first aircraft hijacking in Australia. Fortunately no innocent victims were harmed. This was not the case with the first act of terrorism at an Olympic Games, with the 20th Summer Olympic Games being overshadowed by the Munich massacre in which eleven Israeli athletes and coaches were killed (a West German police officer was also killed, along with five members of the Black September Palestinian terror group).
However it wasn’t all doom and gloom in the spring of 1972. Recorded on the National Archives of Australia website is this quote:
Graham Freudenberg, Gough Whitlam’s one-time speech writer, wrote of the year 1972 producing ‘a brilliant balance between hope for better things and satisfaction with the present; between expectation and experience; between a desire for change and enjoyment of the present. It was a time of general good humour and general goodwill such as Australians have not shared since.’
NOTE: Gough Whitlam would become Prime Minister of Australia on December 2 1972.
The Front Page – then and now!
Front page comparison of Parkes Champion Post in 1972 and 2017. In 1972 the main article is regarding the futility of appointing a regional tourist officer, with the region being too large for one person to promote effectively. Also on the front page are reports on beer supplies being replenished and Parkes resident, John Pizarro, being crowned Australian National Go-Kart Roadrace champion. The contemporary front page is in colour and contains only one article – the launch for Parkes Elvis Festival 2018. Source: Parkes Champion Post Wednesday September 13, 1972 and Parkes Champion Post Tuesday September 13, 2017
Making Local News in 1972
While current television is digital, multi-channels and recordable, back in the spring of 1972 television for Parkes Shire viewers was still in black and white! The report from The Trundle and Tullamore Star states that color [sic] television will come to the Central West the same time as other stations throughout Australia (this would be 1975)
Often regional areas such as the Central West have delays before receiving new technology. However colour television was planned to be implemented simultaneously as metropolitan centres. Source: Trundle and Tullamore Star Wednesday September 6, 1972 page 4
Forty-five years later and daylight saving is still a topic of conversation. This article focuses on the scheduling issues with television programs during Daylight Savings Time. Source: Trundle and Tullamore Star Wednesday September 13, 1972 page 4
Today’s readers may marvel at the cost of grocery items back in 1972. However the comparison between city and country prices continues today. Source: Narromine News & Trangie Advocate Tuesday September 5, 1972 page 3
Chicken had yet to become a common family dinner meal as evidenced here in a local newspaper report. Still considered a luxury item, health authorities were encouraging people to experience the nutritional benefits of chicken more regularly in 1972. Source: Parkes Western People Thursday September 21, 1972 page 5
Real estate is still a topic of conversation although this front page report shows that Peak Hill blocks were being sought by Sydney investors. Source: Peak Hill & District Times Wednesday October 11, 1972 page 1
Parkes has an extensive relationship with musical artists, and this 1972 report showcases new talent from the shire. Parkes Methodist Church Junior Choir produced a record of their singing. Today the Methodist Church is Parkes Uniting Church and records have been replaced by CDs and digital music platforms. Source: Parkes Champion Post Wednesday October 18, 1972 page 3. Photograph is the second long playing record that Methodist Junior Choir recorded in 1974. Volume 1 was recorded in Parkes on Saturday November 16 and available for sale the following month.
The album cover originally appeared in a blog post about Parkes Library’s display for National History Week 2017. Go to https://historyparkes.org/2017/10/03/national-history-week-2017-library-display/ to view this post. Anyone who has a copy or photograph of Volume 1 contact Parkes Library
There are similarities to the springs of 1972 and 2017. Unfortunately it is the lack of rain affecting crop prospects. Richard Gammie was the District Agronomist and his reports were a regular feature in local newspapers 45 years ago. Source: Trundle and Tullamore Star Wednesday October 11, 1972 page 1
Parkes airport saw a special chartered flight to Alice Springs in spring of 1972 – the first time a plane would fly to Australia’s centre from Parkes! East-West Airlines were the carrier, a regional airline founded in Tamworth and at one time “Australia’s third largest domestic airline” Source: Parkes Champion Post Wednesday September 13, 1972 page 4 and Sydney Morning Herald July 9, 1982 page 6
A new attraction to the Parkes Shire, the auto museum opened on September 21st. Established by 16 Parkes men (and two from Dubbo) and assisted by the Parkes Advancement Corporation (PAC) the museum included more than vehicles. Headlamps, radiators, wheels, old petrol bowsers and signs were also on display. Source: Parkes Champion Post Wednesday October 18, 1972 page 6
Other local news headlines
- Lions Club of Trundle to host the second Ampol Amateur Talent Quest
- Johnny O’Keefe performs at Parkes Leagues Club
- Men’s A-grade hockey grand final ends even: Rover 3 – 3 Magpie Whites
- Parkes to host world premiere of feature film Sunstruck starring Harry Secombe
- Two Parkes men drive around Australia setting a new record for endurance driving
- Investigation into possible lake site for Parkes
1972 NEWSPAPER ADVERTISEMENTS
Entertainment in 1972 meant young people headed to the Parkes Leisure Centre. Located in Clarinda Street it was popular but also attracted negative news and complaints to police and council aldermen were regularly made. Source: Parkes Champion Post Wednesday September 27, 1972 page 13 and Parkes Western People Thursday October 12, 1972 page 1
Modern appliances in 1972. This advertisement contains no images, but it is for an electric range (oven) To view an advertisement for a Whirlpool appliance in 1972 head to https://youtu.be/MzKg14xxyOM Source: Parkes Western People Thursday September 21, 1972 page 2 and YouTube
Popular stores, this advertisement was for Howards stores’ Peak Hill site and was usually what readers found on the second page of their local newspaper. Source: Peak Hill & District Times Wednesday September 20, 1972 page 2
Local advertising showcasing Parkes Shire’s sense of humour. Source: Parkes Champion Post Wednesday September 13, 1972 page 2
Motoring advertising in 1972 – featuring more “puntastic” efforts from Parkes Shire business folk! Source: Parkes Champion Post Monday September 18, 1972 page 4
The relatively new Holden one-tonner (building commenced in 1971 and continued until 1984 with a brief revitalisation between 2003 and 2005. Jack Broderick Motors – which became Broderick Motors – closed its doors in April 2017. Source: Parkes Champion Post Monday October 16, 1972 page 8
TV Guide 1972 (left) and 2017 (right). Many programs that debuted in the seventies are now on secondary channels. Gone are the “unique” regional channels with rural television networks aligned to the larger metropolitan networks. Source: Parkes Champion Post Friday September 29, 1972 page 4 and Parkes Champion Post Tuesday October 3, 2017 page 9
If you have stories or memories of the spring of 1972 that you are willing to share please contact Parkes Shire Library via library@parkes.nsw.gov.au so that they can be shared and kept for posterity on this blog. Alternatively you may leave comments on this page.
To view old local newspapers, come in to Parkes Library and speak to Dan who will assist you with operating the microfilm
Click here to read A Look Back At…The Winter of 1932
Click here to read A Look Back At…The Summer of 1945
REFERENCE LIST
- Mason, V. (n.d.). 50th Anniversary of the Country Women’s Association [Replica of Australia Post postage stamp]. Retrieved October 16, 2017, from http://australianstrampcatalogue.com/1972.php
- 1972 logo [Logo of year using seventies font]. (n.d.). Retrieved October 16, 2017, from https://www.superseventies.com/1972.html
- Aicher, O. (2016, August 9). Selection of Olympic Pictograms [Clockwise from top left: Football (soccer), Cycling; Athletics; Swimming events icons used in Oympic Games media]. Retrieved October 16, 2017, from http://iconutopia.com/the-history-of-the-olympic-games-icons/
- Fashion of 1972[Photograph found in Remembering 1972: 30 Pop Culture Highlights From A Glorious Year, Huffington Post]. (2013, July 25). Retrieved October 16, 2017, from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/25/remembering-1972_n_3644395.html (Originally photographed 1972)
- Duncan, J. (2016, April 12). Faraday School Kidnapping: How A Schoolteacher in Long Boots Foiled $1m Ransom Plot. Retrieved October 17, 2017, from http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/true-crime-scene/faraday-school-kidnapping-how-a-schoolteacher-in-long-boots-foiled-1m-ransom-plot/news-story/f986da124117f22a67ccc74c23b26b01
- Ansett Airlines Flight 232. (2017, October 11). Retrieved October 17, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansett_Airlines_Flight_232
- Munich massacre. (2017, October 17). Retrieved October 17, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich_massacre
- Hancock, I. (n.d.). Events and Issues That Made the News in 1972. Retrieved October 16, 2017, from http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/explore/cabinet/by-year/1972-events-issues.aspx
- Parkes Champion Post Wednesday September 13, 1972 page 1
- Parkes Champion Post Tuesday September 13, 2017 page 1
- Orange News Pictorial. (1972, September 6). Color TV Planned For West. Trundle and Tullamore Star, p. 4.
- Govt. Inquiry on Daylight Saving. (1972, September 13). Trundle and Tullamore Star, p. 4.
- Higher Cost of Food in Country is Criticised. (2017, September 5). Narromine News & Trangie Advocate, p. 3.
- Poutry – A Nutritious Alternative. (1972, September 21). Parkes Western People, p. 5.
- Peak Hill Blocks Sold in Sydney. (1972, October 11). Peak Hill & District Times, p. 1.
- Parkes’ Own Recording Artists. (1972, October 18). Parkes Champion Post, p. 3.
- Gammie, R. L. (1972, October 11). Conditions Deteriorate Awaiting End of Drought. Trundle and Tullamore Star, p. 1.
- First Special Tour To Alice Springs. (1972, September 13). Parkes Champion Post, p. 4.
- East-West Takeover: Howard Clears Air. (1982, July 9). Sydney Morning Herald, p. 6. Retrieved October 20, 2017, from https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19820709&id=UdNYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QecDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4966,2654251
- 16 Cars On Display. (1972, October 18). Parkes Champion Post, p. 6.
- 20 Acts In Lions Club Talent Quest. (1972, October 18). Trundle and Tullamore Star, p. 1.
- The “Wild One” Rocks Again! (1972, September 20). Parkes Champion Post, p. 2.
- Bruising Grand Final Ends 3-3, But 1972 Premiership ‘Awarded’ to Rovers. (1972, September 20). Parkes Champion Post, p. 20.
- “Around Australia” Record to Parkes Endurance Drivers. (1972, October 4). Parkes Champion Post, p. 3.
- PAC Still Considering A Lake Site. (1972, October 11). Parkes Champion Post, p. 1.
- World Premiere in Parkes. (1972, October 16). Parkes Champion Post, p. 1.
- Parkes Leisure Centre [Advertisement]. (1972, September 27). Parkes Champion Post, p. 13.
- Fun At The Fun Parlor. (1972, October 12). Parkes Western People, p. 1.
- A Modern “Whirlpool” Electric Range $140 [Advertisement]. (1972, September 21). Parkes Western People, p. 2.
- 1972 Whirlpool Washing Machine Commercial [Advertisement]. (2014, May 15). Retrieved October 20, 2017, from https://youtu.be/MzKg14xxyOM
- Howards Foodland Peak Hill [Advertisement]. (1972, September 20). Peak Hill & District Times, p. 2.
- Crompton’s Parkes Central Butchery [Advertisement]. (1972, September 13). Parkes Champion Post, p. 2.
- The new DATSUN 180B [Advertisement]. (1972, September 18). Parkes Champion Post, p. 4.
- HOLDEN one-tonner – with TONS of ability! [Advertisement]. (1972, October 16). Parkes Champion Post, p. 8.
- Television Programmes. (1972, September 29). Parkes Champion Post, p. 4.
- TV GUIDE. (2017, October 3). Parkes Champion Post, p. 9. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
History Parkes 
My beautiful daughter Melissa was born on November 2nd 1972. What a beautiful spring it was
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Thank you for sharing Heather. And happy 40th to Melissa on the 2nd
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Nice work Dan. Keep ’em coming.
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