Whatever Happened to the Age?
When I was growing up I had lots of interactions with the Age newspaper.
I remember loads about how it looked, felt, and it's function in society.
Pre-internet (gasp) there really weren't many places you could source content.
You had had the library, you have 3 or 4 TV channels, some magazines, and then the newspapers.
Because all the other print content is so slow, it was not like library books or news agency magazines were spinning on high rotation, it is no real surprise that newspapers were the main source of content.
The writing was often long form, with articles citing sources and fakes, and even having some balance, albeit skewed to a left-wing perspective.
I recall my father reading the Age and also getting a workout. Because the size of the pages resembled laundry sheets, each time you turned the page, you'd need to raise your arms above your head, and turn the page. He was quite the master at that. I never mastered the Age mid-air page turn.
The other memory I have of the Age is the size and chunk.
When I was 11, I started doing a paper round.
If this 'job' was available nowadays, the owners would be put in prison because of slave labor. Here's the conditions. Wake up at 5:30am. Ride a bicycle for a couple of hours delivering newspapers in rain, hail and shine, and get paid $1 a day for that. It really was insane.
You would attach a basket rack to the front of your bike, and fill it up with as many newspapers you could without tipping over. For serious players, you'd doubt basket at the front and the back. It took a lot of skill to ride a bike that way. Imagine an 11 year old running off into the dark, bike weighed down by newspapers ... lol ... For me, it had its charms but was still hard work.
The Age on the Weekend was gargantuan. It was like delivering rock hard pillows of paper. You would both need to double hand and lift, and there would be no post box that you could scroll that one in to.
At the end of the weekend delivery, the Herald Sun was compact and friendly, the Age enormous, you would be covered in Ink.
At the end of my Saturday week, I would stop at the local bakery. They would have just finished cooking donuts, and I'd buy half a dozen, half a Big M Blue Lightening, and sit on armchair and watch Rage, before other people woke up. It was sugary bliss.
The content of the age was better at the time. The articles were more diverse, worldly, and used better vocabulary.
I understand the Age has been sold to the hideous Channel 9 group who are truly vomitous.
This morning I scrolled the internet, and came across the Age.
No huge pages to turn, no ink on the fingers, no substance - material or intellectual.
Instead, it is like a tabloid - full of half truths and silly stories.
Wouldn't it be nice to have some decent news to be able to decipher what's really happening in the Ukraine?
I fear the Age is no longer relevant and can't be taken seriously.
Stil, I have my memories and they will be fond ones.
Have a great weekend everyone.
In Peace and Parallel,
DB
Talk about nostalgia. I remember reading papers on the train. You did have to lift your arms right up and give a mighty flick to fold it over. Sometimes you'd dong the person sitting next to you. The journey home wasn't satisfactory unless you'd completed most of the crossword before your stop. It's been years since I've been on a peak hour train. I imagine everyone ignores each other and are totally plugged into their phones
Hello DB
I like your writing a lot, but this one for me is just really beautiful. I felt a lump in my throat and when I got to the word gargantuan I got tears down my cheeks......
At the end I could picture you as a young boy, a bit chubby.... Maybe because of the donuts.....
I read your story after lunch, I was actually feeling down, but after I finish reading I remembered thing I had forgotten.
after I recovered from the nostalgia I had the strength to keep going with my things..... I just finished...
I am tired, and writing is difficult for me, but I wanted you to know how beautiful your story was to me, and I think you are inspirational........ Even when or if don't see eye to eye on somethings........
Probably my comment has nothing to do with the topic...... For the looks of it that paper is garbage anyway, I get my information by reading between the lines of any article, if the counter argument reinforce the same predicament we are in... Well there you have it..... I also read articles out side the news, but written on the topic.
Impossible to read on a crowded train. The Age was for people who wanted the ”real news”! A far cry from the legendary status my father gave it back in it’s big old days. I could only read it by laying it out on the floor and kneeling over it. Oh the nostalgia!