OK, I admit, I was naughty when I posted that ‘Wordless Wednesday’ picture. I kept wordless shtum about who the ‘girl announcer’ was, though many of you guessed…
But I did promise to reveal all on Trove Tuesday, so – ta-daaaaaa –
Here she is!
Yes, it’s my Mum, youngest announcer and first ‘girl cadet’ at the ABC
I was thrilled to find this article about young Patricia Delaney in the Muswellbrook Chronicle of Friday, 18th February, 1944 and in other local newspapers across NSW and Victoria. It must have been syndicated.
I must say that my mother’s ‘confessions’ about life at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation are quite tame, but that’s papers for you, always looking for a sensational headline.
It’s wonderful to come across this piece, thanks to the genealogists’ treasure that is Trove. Although her words would have been tidied up for the published interview, I can hear her voice when I read this article, as if nearly 70 years had melted away. I think I can also hear her comments about being called a ‘girl announcer’, too, though it was a big achievement to be a female cadet at the ABC at the time.
This is a precious find for me. Thank you, National Library of Australia.
A Rebel Hand 
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hmm, try barrier-breaker! Even I couldn’t work it out for a minute 😉
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😉
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What a great story Frances and what a find! Your mother was a carrier-breaker in her time and how wonderful to have her own words describing the joys and challenges of learning her career. I can imagine this story being firmly ensconced in your family archives and memory boxes…I’d guess that had you had simply been handed a copy of the clipping before you may have taken it a little more for granted. I’m so happy for you!
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You’re so right – it was a wonderful discovery, and though I knew the facts in a hazy way, the details and her own words brought it alive. If it had been an old yellow clipping (and I may yet find one of those, who knows?) or a family story, I would, in my ignorant pre-genie days, have gone “Oh, no, not the story about the operator waving a finger again, Mum, it’s so boooooring!”
It makes me wince to think of the gems I must have forgotten. But that’s the way it is.
Thank you for your kind words, Pauleen.
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“… I maintained a superior air of icy indifference, until I realised it was a sign for me to play a record.” What a wonderful way with words your mum had, Frances and what a delight to find this article…
I LOVE Trove too… and can happily while away many an hour in those delightful words of yester- year 🙂
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Haha, yes, she was good with words, and had quite a sense of humour, too. Thank you!
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I did wonder if it was your mother, a beautiful item to find… have to love Trove… She did well to be employed in radio 70 years ago, still not many women were then.
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I love Trove to bits! Thanks – I was thrilled to find this. She was something of a pioneer, I think, being the first ‘girl cadet’ announcer.
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