Diary 1936 - Age 14/15

In 1936 Dad would have been 14 and 15 years old.
I have chosen some interesting excerpts.
Another editor might have chosen very differently!
Enjoy! I did...

K Powrie
68, Goldman St.,
FLORIDA.
2nd January 1936.

Personal Memoranda:
Lists details of Watch No., Season Ticket No., Bicycle No., Telephone No. (135 by the way!)
Size in Gloves, Hats, Boots; Weight, Height; and Train times.

There is a list of dates and cinema visits to M (Metro) and P (Plaza) and FTH (Florida Town Hall) B (Bijou) with the films seen on each occasion.
Films seen:
Mutiny on the Bounty
Passing of the Third Floor Back
The Tunnel
High Jinks
Fancy and Clow
King of the Damned
Rhodes of Africa
The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes
The Perfect Gentleman
Trouble for 2
The Werewolf of London
Romeo and Juliet

There are schedules of cash accounts:
January totalling 8/9d
February totalling 13/1d
March 13/4d
and no financial records for the rest of the year...

Excerpts from the diary itself:

Thursday 2nd January:
Cyril, Duggie and Porkie came up.
Went down to sideshows at lake (Florida Lake).
Got this diary from Miss Donovan.

Sunday 5th January:
Eric (little twerp) pinched 2/- from us.
The boys went down to the lake for a swim.
Terence and Eric left at 5:40pm

Memo for that week:
Never had such a hopeless weekend in my life.
"Mutiny on the Bounty" a good picture.

Wednesday 8th January:
My free gift did not come in Triumph (Magazine I gather)
Eclipse of the moon.
Did some more cricketers.
Eric stayed late at work.

Sunday 12th January:
Played cricket in pm and scored 40.
Those boys came.
Roy and I made cocanut ice.
Played Lexicon with aunt Millie.
Made motor car.

Memo for that week:
Had a jolly nice time at Roy's!

Wednesday 12th February:
New teacher came - Mrs Hattingh.
Was changed to IVc.
Started learning shorthand.

Saturday 21st March:
Went to school sports with Eric.
Many records broken.
Bought that awful hair oil.
Eric came for weekend.
Audrey and Helen came in evening.

Thursday 9th April:
Just read all day.
Cat ate 1 lb. of fish.

Tuesday 14th April:
Started school again (late hours).
New master Bosman came.
Did experiments in lab.

Saturday 18th April:
Went down to Roddy's in morning and we lost ball.
Went again in the afternoon and we played Hell Driving.
Took back the books I borrowed.

Sunday 19th April:
Finished "My Best Animal Story" for one.
Lay on lawn most of the day.

Tuesday 21st April:
Rode round the house a lot on my bike.

Saturday 25th April:
Broke window.
Played Tests at Roddy in am and pm.

Sunday 26th April:
Counted cars on verandah in afternoon.
Raymond and Pixie (sister) and Ma had row.
Wore my longs all day.

Tuesday 5th May:
Mrs Eicenhofer came.
Census taken today.
Eric phoned in evening.
Betty (sister) brought home all that paper.
Got my hair cut.

Friday 8th May:
Had a hang of a lot of rain at about 5pm.

Monday 11th May:
Jolly cold all day. Had a fire in evening.
John came up in evening.
Wore my jersey to school (2nd time)
Raymond got job on Durban Roodepoort.
Got new hair oil 2/- (Cobril)

Saturday 23rd May:
Had a miserable day because it rained all day and I couldn't go out.
Pixie and Betty (sisters) went to "Merry Widow"
" " " " " Lily's 21st.

Monday 8th June:
Had to do punishment for Fair. (teacher)
Roddy came up in pm and played golf.
I went rould in 84-84.
Fair gave me book "Roland Ross"

Tuesday 9th June:
Put new tins in golf course and went round 77-84.
Helped Ma fix up back gate posts.
Pixie did Betty's (sisters) birthday cake in evening.

Sunday 14th June:
Played golf in morning.
Pixie played in tournament in Maraisburg.
Betty went to picknick with Mrs Simmonds.
Ma and I went for walk over veld.
Put up new post box.

Friday 7th August:
Played tennis at school with Roddy.
Went down dorp at 7am for cigarettes.
Promoted from 2 - 1 platoon.
Ma made bread for first time.

Monday 24th August:
Roddy came up in pm for a bit.
All went up to Murdoch's in evening.
Hang of a cold night.
Sharpened the axe and knives.
New girl Mary came.

Wednesday 2nd September:
Went down to Roddy's in pm.
Harold came in evening and played bridge.
Roddy lent me "Popular SE"
Had my brown shoes dyed black.

Monday 7th September:
Used Card table for 1st time.
Started getting "Star" (newspaper)
My "Champion" came because of Stirling breaking record.

Saturday 19th December:
Started work at JJ Bisset at Stock Exchange.

There were several windows broken by the boys and lots broken in a hail storm. All were replaced by themselves.

At the end of the diary a list of
BOOKS READ with their Authors:

My best Animal Story
William's Crowded Hours - Richard Crompton
Ship's Company - WW Jacobs
Twice Lost - HG Kingston
Four-Square Jane - Edgar Wallace
The Young Revolutionist - Pearl S Buck
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes - A Conan Doyle
Mystery Mansion - Herman London
The Thirty Nine Steps - John Buchan
The Twister - Edgar Wallace
The Man who bought London
The New Arabian Nights - RL Stevenson
Blackshirt - Bruce Graeme
The Mystery at Tudor Arches - Leonard R Cribble
The Yellow Arrow Murders - van Wyk Mason
The Return of Blackshirt - Bruce Graeme
Night Drums - Achmet Abdullah
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - A Conan Doyle
The Picaroon in Pursuit - Herman London (I'm not sure of the correctness of the title)
William's Happy Days - Pichmal Crompton (Doesn't sound right...)
Tropical Waters
The Man from Bar 20

I was interested about how relatively simple life was for him then.
By this time his father had been dead for four years or so.
I was reminded of how many things they learnt to do themselves - fix windows, build fences, mend their bikes, scrape their cricket bats. They walked where they wanted to go, or went by train.
I was struck by the several times "Counted cars from the verandah" was an entry, as well as probably every hairdut noted on the day.

I enjoyed entering into a little of the life of my father at aged 15 and 16.
I wondered where he went to high school - no record in this diary.