The 1925 Club: June 2009

Monday, June 29, 2009

The Queensland Affiliate

Like us, some of the Queensland boys get together on a regular basis for a meal, a few drinks, and a chat about old times. They call themselves The 3R Club (Retired, Redundant and/or Retrenched).

Bevan Harris tells that they number about 14, and they even have an annual weekend away. He has promised a photo or two from that event (being held next month), and has provided this one for starters. It was taken at a function to celebrate Ken House’s 80th birthday in November last year.

Just in case you haven’t seen these guys for a while, they are (from left to right): Bevan, Ron Forte, John Wheatley, Ray Morley, Paul Hauritz, Ron Findlater and Ken House (sitting).

It would appear that they haven’t found the Fountain of Youth either.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

The Unknown Borrower

It’s hard to believe that it has been over ten years since Head Office moved from the 124 & 130 Phillip Street buildings to Carrington Street. So maybe it’s timely to remember the Tom Bass sculpture that was affixed to the front of the 124 Phillip Street building since its opening in 1963, and was commonly referred to as The Unknown Borrower.

The good news is that this important piece of artwork has survived the demolition of the building, and is now displayed in a courtyard off the foyer of the building Deutsche Bank Place (which now stands on the site).

In case you’ve ever wondered, Tom Bass has said that “the AGC Sculpture is an emblem of the hire purchase system represented by a mechanical corporate tree. The branches of the tree represented the various activities of the AGC group of companies, as it existed then. The two top branches represent the dominant lending arm and the supporting arm is insurance, which is an important feature of every hire purchase transaction.
“These two arms support an automobile wheel – the automobile industry had always been supported by AGC. At the base of the tree there are two powerful protective arms, which could also be seen as roots. They represent the importance of security and stability, which are of vital significance in the hire purchase industry. This emblem represents the hire purchase industry as an essential feature of our industrial commercial society, which would collapse if the hire purchase process did not exist.”

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Yesteryear Photo

Unfortunately, the date and venue for this gathering have been lost in the mists of time.

It looks likes it's part of a District Managers' Conference with all the (then) State Office heavies in attendance.

There are bound to be a few faces there that will bring back memories (good and otherwise). And we still see some of those faces (looking a bit different) on a regular basis.