Every so often, you stumble across something on the internet which triggers those nostalgic feels and sends you on a trip down memory lane. For me, it was this Reddit thread posted by u/kidkym which asked Sydneysiders: "What prominent things about Sydney do you remember that have since changed?"
The responses hit me with a wave of nostalgia that made me long for the days when times were a bit simpler and I didn't have as many responsibilities as I do now.
A similar question was posed to Melbournians in this Reddit thread, too. So I've gathered up the best and most nostalgic responses for Australians to enjoy and reminisce about.
1. "Myer was called Grace Bros. with a red and white colour scheme."
—u/grimlock81
3. "I remember when petrol used to be under 80 cents a litre."
—u/blastoise36
4. "Southern Cross Station was Spencer Street Station."
—u/Billywig99
5. "You could stand at the open doors of the train (Red Rattler) as it was in motion."
6. "Being handed an mX newspaper at the train station on the way home from work each evening. When I'd arrive at my destination, the bins were full of those papers."
—u/JukejOint20
7. "I remember when Sunnyholt Road through Blacktown to Parklea was just a two lane, curb-less road surrounded by chicken farms. As a kid, I thought that was the border of Sydney and nothing existed west of it until you got to Perth."
—u/vinegarbaby
8. "Australia's Wonderland."
9. "No electronic signage for train stations is a big one for me."
—u/iobeson
10. "I remember when the pedestrian lights at signalised crossings read "WALK" and "DON'T WALK" rather than the red and green man. The buttons didn't beep/vibrate either and had a big black box with a small button with a red window that read "WAIT" when you pressed the button."
"Also:
1) Coles supermarkets were branded as "Coles New World"
2) The dominant hardware chain was BBC Hardware before the big green sheds were a thing. Near the end, they had big white sheds with three colourful balls on masts out the front.
3) The Warringah Expressway just spat everyone out onto Willoughby Road, where the Naremburn Fish and Chips shop is.
4) Phone cards were flexible plastic cards that had holes progressively punched into a strip at the top to signify credit use.
5) Six digit phone numbers.
6) The Tiny Teddy shop next to McDonald's and Sega World
7) Healthy Harold."
12. "Sega World."
13. "Sydney's monorail!"
—u/starcaster
14. "Needing a Kodak film canister with small change for the Sydney Harbour Bridge toll. Chucking the change into the white plastic catcher and watching the toll paid amount count up (or was that down?) as each coin registered in the machine."
"And toll gates that you had to stop at!"
—u/kidkym
15. "TravelTen bus tickets that were hole punched in the city, but marked with a pen on Hillsbus/Westbus, so you could keep the one marked off with a pen out west and then use it in the city, thus getting 20 trips out of your TravelTen."
—u/starla_
16. "When Woolworths in Victoria was called Safeway."
17. "I remember when a good night out was getting to Bar Century at 10pm, getting shit-faced on $3 drinks, nightclubbing until 5am and then getting a shitty NightRider home."
—u/B6Tcs3KJ5G44
18. "The Hydrofoil to Manly being the superior choice that you only went on for a special treat."
"Also:
1) The Mt Druitt Waterworks.
2) It was completely normal to walk around the grounds of a school out of hours or on the weekend, and use their sports field to play soccer or cricket with the other kids in your street.
3) Going up to the counter at the corner store and asking for specific individual lollies (two of those and three of them) and spending a total of 20 cents and taking up two minutes of the shopkeeper's time.
4) That old style of bistro, usually at an RSL club or similar, where you would grab a wooden tray and slide it around a metal shelf and collect prawn cocktails, sandwiches, slices and desserts in little bowls with cling wrap on them, from various fridge cabinets and then queue up to pay for them.
5) Being able to go to Centrepoint Tower [now called Sydney Tower Eye) and just pay a couple of dollars for the token to go in the elevator, without there being a photoshoot and 4D movie as part of the 'experience' that somehow makes it worth $50pp.
6) Touring LEGO WORLD displays in the main Pitt St Grace Bros. store every year.
7) Stepping in dog poop about twice a week because nobody picked up. The poops that didn't get stepped in turned white after a week, which apparently used to be a thing because dog food had ground-up bones in it and doesn't anymore."
19. "Going to Twister in St Kilda on a Saturday night, stumbling out at 8am and sitting on the beach until the trams started running."
20. "I remember when Opal cards gave you free rides after the eighth trip."
—u/JoeSchmeau
21. "On a hot summer's day, the tram doors were left open. The brave traveled on the running boards."
22. "I remember waiting in a long queue on Monday mornings in order to buy a weekly train ticket (aka hell on earth)."
23. "The morning that everything had turned eerily orange from the desert dust blowing in overnight and thinking the world was ending."
24. "I remember when the cinemas on George St weren't connected, so you had to check each one separately to see what was on."
—u/kidkym
"Also, checking the newspaper to see what time movies were on."
25. "Tram conductors. They'd walk up and down the tram checking/punching tickets and you'd hold your finger over the date they punched last week and show the date you punched in class today. Also, three hour tickets that lasted four if you got it timed right."
26. "Big Day Out.
—u/Onthetins
27. "Shops closing at noon on Saturdays and no shops open on Sunday (including supermarkets). Only little corner shops (of which there were plenty) could remain open."
—u/albert3801
28. "Dining in at Pizza Hut or Sizzler for all-you-can-eat."
—u/GoodBaron
30. "30 cent cones at Macca's. I still call them that when ordering."
31. "Those Met Cards things! You could travel to multiple shopping centres or destinations in a day and only pay $2.70 for a full day out, but now a single trip and back is about $3."
—u/and1metal
32. "Old Sydney Town! Can't believe they let school kids see people get fake whipped."
—u/gunnertah
33. "Timezone, Playtime and Galaxy World on George Street at the cinemas. I spent many days jigging school to play games there."
34. "Smorgy's."
—u/Rphoid25
35. "$5 movies at Waverley Gardens Cinema. Perfectly matched with a $5 pizza beforehand."
—u/auntyjames
36. "Jam Factory had the huge Borders in it and you could basically spend all day in there reading, listening to music and eating at the in-store cafe."
—u/puddleduck3
37. And finally: "Meeting at Town Hall steps because there were no mobile phones."
—u/Novel-Truant
Reddit submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
Since these threads were mainly based on Sydney and Melbourne, what other nostalgic memories do you have if you're from another Australian city?
And Sydneysiders and Melbournians, what else do you remember from growing up there?