Giuseppe Franco Simonetti 1957 ‘Joe’ amongst the Bathurst Bur weeds in front of the fruit pickers hut, Gattuso orchard at Cobram
Mother packed my newly sewn wardrobe and I followed Father to Australia. From the age of eight, for five years beginning in 1956, I tagged along with my father’s and uncle’s itinerant work lifestyle between the cane fields of Far North Queensland and the Murray Valley orchards. My late start in Australian education meandered into high school, followed by tertiary studies in Pharmaceutical Science. My career has been in the marketing and sales of High-Tech instruments for Research and Development. In 1994 I founded www.scientex.com.au a business still operating successfully. Since my ‘50s, modest wealth has freed me from old-age financial encumbrances, enabling a catch-up in literary pursuits. My writing articulates the intensity of my life’s experience.
Our paternal grandfather died when Father was only six years old, leaving the family to struggle through the Great Depression. The snippets of oral history did stimulate imaginings of what it may have been like. Father’s internment in Germany, after Italy signed the Armistice with the Allies, remained a niggling mystery, somehow needing to find a sense of closure.
I have lived in Australia most of my life, schooled here and mainly exposed to Australian and British History. Some years ago, I realised that there was a great imbalance in my understanding of the history of my native Italy, in comparison to that of Britain/UK. In family interactions,‘Italia’ was talked about, however, any input I may make would be limited to recollections of an eight-year-old child, before immigrating to Australia. What I could relate to, being Italian was based on family hearsay. I felt I should give attention to better understanding the land of my birth and searched for a way to improve and develop my knowledge base.
I did not wish to become a Historian, which is a lifelong pursuit but simply wanted to be adequately knowledgeable of Italy in discussions that may arise amongst family and peers. Due to the need for researching specialist interest topics, the fascination with history on multiple fronts has become more intense over the last five years. The need to articulate accurately historical events has enabled my accumulation of such knowledge layered over a lifetime career
Pre 1961 Gallery
Memories flocculate from the new social paradigms being synthesized from the ethereal planning to create wealth and return to Francavilla in sacrosanct ‘Italia.’
Demands for Incremental Adjustments
Father arrived with an Italian wardrobe which included a double-breasted suit, buttoned down collared shirts and narrow ties, all being atypical of that time in Australia. These were European styles, quite in contrast to the short back-and-sides haircuts, wide ties and baggy pants worn by the Anglo’s which the young Italians relished in pointing out amongst themselves. Michele, Tommaso, and Franco were representative of the youth that poured into Australia with adequate bluster to contend with whatever ethnic taunts Australians could throw at them. A little irony does come into play over the vestments; these were quite appropriate for temperate climates, however, were out of place in a tropical environment, but still new arrivals persisted with their wear, to attend church service on Sundays. For the brief time we spent in Melbourne, the wardrobe did fit in well when mingling with the café bar set. Leisure time was spent in the ubiquitous cafés to play cards and bocci. Queenslanders’ fashion was to sport long sleeve shirts folded up to the biceps for the strong man look. The new arrivals preferred to sport their shirts in the more casual look; fold up shirt cuffs, midway up the forearm.
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1955 Michele Simonetti in his Sunday best
Testimonial
In 2012 I went on a nostalgic train trip from Melbourne, Victoria, through Albury on the Murray River, Sydney, Brisbane ending in Cairns. The Journey reinforced memories of my childhood travels with my father, Michele and Zio Pietro during seasonal changeovers between their cane cutting and fruit picking in Cobram, Northern Victoria. The experience of my 1956 to 1961 life tagging along is narrated in “Where Were We”, Book 3 When Australia BeckonedÂ