Look & Listen

Oral Histories

Media artist Julia Burns has been assisting Dr Nigel Helyer by conducting interviews with some of Glebe’s longstanding residents who remember the early days of the Wireless House and many other aspects of Glebe’s history.

The City of Sydney has been working with the Glebebytes group at the Mitchell Street Fire Station and will endeavor to update this page from time to time with new oral histories by these local producers. In the future we hope to tell their stories too - in their own words!

Sydney Flour and Aeroplane Jelly Dot Hora sings her favourite ads from the radio Good People Dot Hora remembers the characters of the Glebe community from h er youth Talkback Radio Sadie King talks about her inspiration for listening to talk back radio Political Glebe Max Solling talks about politics in 1930’s Glebe The Wireless House Audience Max Solling talks about how unemployment and the depression meant a lot of hardship and poverty amongst listeners of the Wireless House The wireless house Tony and Frank Galluzzo describe Foley Park in its early days and how important the radio was for them, listening to the Golden Boomerang and The Shadow! The Impact of the Radio Max Solling talks about the impact of the radio on SP betting and gambling life in Glebe The Depression Dot Hora talks about the experience of growing up during the depression and gives some good advice. War Memorial Historian Max Solling describes the decision to create a War Memorial in Glebe in honour of Australian soldiers who fought in WWI. The War Memorial was officially opened on Anzac Day 1922 and remains host to Anzac Day in Glebe. The Dogs Max Solling discusses Greyhound Racing as a popular working class sport in Glebe, with a thriving gambling community. Machine Guns Sadie King remembers assembly machine guns during WWII. "We wore bib and brace overalls and caps on our heads to cover our hair... and we worked 12 hour shifts" Labor Dot Hora: "If a dog was on the corner with 'labor' on its collar would you vote for that? I said 'yes' 'because it had good sense to sit on the corner with labor on its collar'. Italians during the War Tony and Frank Galluzzo describe the issues they faced as Italians living in Australia during the war, and their reason for listening to the Wireless House. Introduction - The Wireless House Project Glebe The Whole Story Gentrification Drunk Under the Tram Dr Foley Dr Foley and the Wireless House Before the Wireless House