Cubby House - c1963
Around 1963 Jim Bonaretti wanted to produce something big; something that would be an upmarket play tent, the kind of which A.L. Lindsay’s produced in cotton and steel. Santa Claus had recently brought one of the Lindsay tents to his children and saw how they enjoyed the indoor-outdoor play. Pitched in the backyard on the gravelly grass, the three children spent their summer holiday in it. A little cramped, lazing in deck chairs, they played pop 45s on their portable record player, protected from the sun by the colourful cotton that enclosed them.
Nothing but a single photograph remains of Jim’s prototype Cubby House, but it appears to be substantial. The young boy standing at the door gives an indication of its size. The base would have been approximately 5’ x 6’ (1.5 m x 1.8 m) providing an internal area of about 5’ x 5’ (1.5 m x 1.5 m) and a one-foot-wide verandah. The frame was made of 2” x 2” (50 mm square) radiata pine and had a gable roof. Attached to the frame was ¼” or ⅜” hardboard with windows cut on two sides. The front had a hinged door and, inside, both windows were ‘glazed’ using clear plastic sheeting and hung with curtains made by Ebe. The outside sported fancy flowerpot holders. Both inside and out were painted in non-toxic lacquer and the latest Con-Tact© vinyl adhesive decorated the façade giving it an impressive stone look. Of course, linoleum covered both the verandah and the floor inside. The plan was to supply it unassembled but easy to put erect. Jim showed it at the beginning of the year with his other new items and, while receiving commendations and good reviews, it was never produced. But that was not the end for this prototype…
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For those who don't know what a "record player" is...😉
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An interesting article on Con-Tact© can be found here, however, this product was available in Australia in the 1960s as illustrated above. https://clickamericana.com/topics/home-garden/retro-contact-paper-shelf-liner
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The prototype Cubby House, rather than being dismantled and discarded, was left in the backyard for Nazzareno's children to enjoy.
At around the same time, an injured pigeon had been found by the three children and brought home. Unfortunately, it was unable to fly so they kept it fed, watered and comfortable. Then disaster! One night, a cat got to the defenseless bird! The children were heartbroken. Both Jim and Ebe were sympathetic and, unknown to their children, arranged to have their loss alleviated a purchase from Paddy’s Market – three of them!
Being two cocks and a hen, they now had the beginnings of a flock. But where to keep them safe from murderous felines? The Cubby House! The little-human dwelling was quickly converted to a pigeon condo and the three new pigeons were made very happy indeed. So happy, in fact, that they soon invited other pigeon friends to join them. Before long, the Cubby house/pigeon coop was home to some thirty strays, including a wayward blue bar racer and a white tumbler.
One of the children would open the coop each morning. The pigeons left in a great flight circling high above the factory and would eventually come to rest on the factory roof.
Ebe bought pigeon food from the local produce store (now long gone) on Botany Road: milo, pigeon peas, wheat and corn. They were happy and healthy and produced many young. Too many…
Eventually, the time came to dismantle the coop and make way for the new building that was planned. The birds were given to Celso, Jim’s foreman, and the now-dilapidated cubby house demolished along with the rest of the buildings on the two lots of land.
Afterthought:
When a pigeon’s life ended, the children buried it with appropriate ceremony in the backyard. When the old house and factory were being demolished, the eldest child had recurring nightmares of human bodies being uncovered there—bodies of people she had murdered! It wasn’t until later that she came to understand that the bodies were those of the deceased pigeons and, with that realisation, the nightmares stopped. However, that little scenario was so deeply ingrained that she wrote a screenplay with that theme and named it “The Acorn”.
At around the same time, an injured pigeon had been found by the three children and brought home. Unfortunately, it was unable to fly so they kept it fed, watered and comfortable. Then disaster! One night, a cat got to the defenseless bird! The children were heartbroken. Both Jim and Ebe were sympathetic and, unknown to their children, arranged to have their loss alleviated a purchase from Paddy’s Market – three of them!
Being two cocks and a hen, they now had the beginnings of a flock. But where to keep them safe from murderous felines? The Cubby House! The little-human dwelling was quickly converted to a pigeon condo and the three new pigeons were made very happy indeed. So happy, in fact, that they soon invited other pigeon friends to join them. Before long, the Cubby house/pigeon coop was home to some thirty strays, including a wayward blue bar racer and a white tumbler.
One of the children would open the coop each morning. The pigeons left in a great flight circling high above the factory and would eventually come to rest on the factory roof.
Ebe bought pigeon food from the local produce store (now long gone) on Botany Road: milo, pigeon peas, wheat and corn. They were happy and healthy and produced many young. Too many…
Eventually, the time came to dismantle the coop and make way for the new building that was planned. The birds were given to Celso, Jim’s foreman, and the now-dilapidated cubby house demolished along with the rest of the buildings on the two lots of land.
Afterthought:
When a pigeon’s life ended, the children buried it with appropriate ceremony in the backyard. When the old house and factory were being demolished, the eldest child had recurring nightmares of human bodies being uncovered there—bodies of people she had murdered! It wasn’t until later that she came to understand that the bodies were those of the deceased pigeons and, with that realisation, the nightmares stopped. However, that little scenario was so deeply ingrained that she wrote a screenplay with that theme and named it “The Acorn”.
If it's the sort of thing you like to do, you can access the screenplay here:
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Teaser: While it begins with a depiction of her nightmares, the rest is fiction…almost. There is a small grain of truth in one of the plot points…but which one?