Growing up in Perth in the 1960s and 70s
by Greg Mahney
Trenna always liked to tell a story. She knew that her life story was interesting and that some people could find comfort in hearing how she coped with what life threw at her.
We had talked about it for a long time and in April 2018 Trenna asked if we could record her tales. We didn’t have a firm view on what we would do with them. A book was always a possibility, but there was nothing decided.
Trenna knew in 2018 – indeed all her life – that her life was limited so she wanted to get the stories recorded, and she was clear she wanted them published in some way.
So from 9 April 2018 until 21 June 2018 Trenna and I made a series of recordings – 24 of them.
The format was simple, and with hindsight not ideal. We would have the vaguest idea of a starting point, we would sit at our kitchen bench, I would turn on the recorder, introduce Trenna and let her go until she ran out of breath (literally). If she was still talking after half an hour I would hold up a sign to show her that, and then she would stop, or in a few cases just keep on talking. It really depended on how she was feeling on the day.
She asked me not to interrupt as she knew it would interfere with the flow of her thoughts. So when you read the transcripts of those 24 recordings you will see that stories are repeated at times, and there are times when it would have been better to ask for clarification, or to tease an issue out.
However, that isn’t how we did it, and we can’t go back and redo them.
Things to Note
- I’ve used “GM:” to note when I’m talking, and “THM:” when Trenna is talking.
- The recordings were basically one continuous stream of consciousness. It is only later that I have tried to break the transcript into paragraphs.
- Whilst Trenna was alive we never got past the recording stage, so she is in no way responsible for the way I’ve transcribed them.
- We never finished the series of recordings, we just ran out of steam and never got around to recording more.
- Most of the recordings talk about growing up in Mofflyn Homes, at Craig House and as a young woman in South Perth in the 1970s.
- The captions I have used on the photos are a mixture of captions Trenna wrote, and some I have written.
- The Kitchen Tapes are only a small part of Trenna’s story, there is heaps of other material and over the next – year?, two years? – I’ll be publishing other snippets of Trenna’s life on this website.
Finally, I’ll just point out a few things that I hope are obvious.
Firstly, these words are Trenna talking – if she was writing the stories she would have used a different style.
Secondly, she is relating how she felt at the time – not how she would feel if similar incidents were to happen in the 21st century (you’ll see what I mean when you read them).
Thirdly, Trenna was VERY clear that these were her sincere memories. She ABSOLUTLEY knew that memory IS fallible and that things might not have happened exactly as she recalls.
If you think Trenna hasn’t quite got the story right, or if you can add to it, or just add your thoughts or your own memories, I welcome your input in the comments section at the end of each post. Also, feel free to share the stories if you wish. I would love Trenna’s story to get to a wider audience.
I hope you find The Kitchen Tapes (yes, I know they were digitally recorded, but I grew up in the 1960s and 70s!) interesting, and maybe even helpful.
ENJOY!
Also…
If you haven’t already, or if you don’t know Trenna (yet), I suggest you first look at the “About” page.
Here is a link to the first recording. Subsequent recordings in this series will appear on the “Home” page and then on this page. I’m aiming at releasing one “The Kitchen Tapes” transcript per week.