Les Reed retired from what had been a busy, adventurous life. At a loose end, he decided to take up the artist's brush and dabble in oils, which he did with great relish. But his overwhelming desire was to somehow recapture the fun and merriment that had been the Sorrento days, at a lovely house called "The Wattles", where the Reed family holidayed during the late 1920's and early 1930's. Les hit upon the idea of drawing cartoons. He resolved to make each individual (whether Reed family member or friend) instantly recognizable. On this page, Les explains how he managed to do this. So successful was this venture, that Les moved onto the earlier days at 11 Downs Street. That's why (yes, a bit confusing) sometimes Ron is depicted as "Pelaco" and sometimes with his cricket cap. In fact, there are two sets of drawings with the only common threads being Dad's hat, Mum's history book, Ern's push cap, Les's "Twiggy" physique and Bobby's 2 hearts. It took Les 8 years to complete the work. There are some 140 drawings here in the collection, as well as numerous photographs and so on. Thank you, Uncle Les, for being more than wonderful. And I apologize that my father Bobby gave you such a hard time!

Just to add more confusion to the mix, Stan and Reg are featured towards the bottom of Page K.

HENRY MELMOTH REED

Dad: the head of the house (and no mistake). Stern but fair, a good provider of our basic needs and during this period had time to play with us and organise us for the many chores necessary for the maintenance of the house and garden. As I recall Dad nearly always wore a hat so that shall be his symbol.

Les (further notes on Dad): The severe head of the family may not appear in too many of these cartoons, but Dad was not the great lover of Sorrento that we younger ones were. Later, I will characterize some of our early Downs Street days and Dad of course was king there. Whenever Dad is depicted in this series you will know him because he shall always be wearing a hat.

Mum: Of course was unbelievable – truly a saint. Went without many things herself to make us all ladies and gentlemen. And she succeeded too right down to Syd. But I doubt a bit with Les and Bob. Mum throughout her myriad of chores kept remarkably cheerful and constantly sang songs or recited poetry. Mum’s great passion of course was British History and she constantly read and re-read about her beloved England. So her symbol shall be a History book.

Les (further notes on Mum): Mum was of course a beautiful woman, through and through. So for me to try to capture the smallest glimpse of that beauty would be impossible. But let's not despair: cartoonists go for the easy way out. Pick on the weak spot and flog it. Not that Mum had any weak spots, except for the Kings and Queens of England. So having discovered her Achilles Heal, Mum shall always be recognisable by her history book.

Ern: the eldest brother led by example. Scrupulously fair and sportsmanlike he was respected by all who followed. A good literary brain and a passion for good music. A devotee of the musicals of the early 1920’s and also Mo at the Tivoli, Ralph Lyn, Tom Walls, Gus Bluett etc. Ern had no apparent weakness so he is hard to symbolize. But I thought he looked the part in his “push” cap in the Sorrento sketches so at the risk of being monotonous we shall use the cap again. (PS the dressing gown is in mothballs for next summer holidays).

Les (further notes on Ern): We called Ern the "Grand Old Man" or GOM for short. A cartoonist's delight, because even though the face may not always be portrayed with any degree of accuracy, he always wore his push cap. And for good measure, he used to wallow in a brown and beige gown at the beach. So he will be depicted in either or both of these foibles.

Ron: always ready to keep the family happy with his glorious singing, many anecdotes and countless jokes, puns and quips. The first to buck-in and help Dad with the hard work of any outside chores and of course most enthusiastic with anything sporting. Ern and Ron of course were twelve to fifteen years older then me so even at a tender age they appeared grown up and I always remember them in long pants (although I have some recollections of Ron with a navy blue suit with short pants and navy blue socks with red and yellow bands around the top. But I can’t recall the circumstances. But I can clearly recall that Ron wore a navy blue cricketing cap quite a lot during my early days so this shall be his symbol.

Les (further notes on Ron): Ron has a ready-made cartooning tag on him. A great lover of the sun, he really had a Kiwi brown body and of course while playing cricket for Brunswick (and that side desperate for an oppostion wicket) a spectator in the crowd chanted: "Give Pelaco a bowl!" Pelaco was a well-advertised brand of shirt in those days and the caption was "Mine tinkit they fit". So mine tinkit this caption suits Ron for the cartoons and he shall be referred to accordingly (PS but from memory mine tinkit the shorts didn't fit so good). Ron also had a magnificent singing voice and introduced us to those delightful songs from Gilbert and Sullivan. To me this was all part & parcel of Sorrento. The Summer weather, lovely brothers and sisters and Ron's splendid interpretation of G. & S. And "The Wattles" fairly burst at the seams (as you shall see in the cartoons) with glorious renditions of a large range of beautiful melodies.

Dot: the elder sister. A perfect lady and very straight-laced, possessed a good academic brain and a stickler for good manners and behaviour. A good sense of humour for fairly obvious jokes but a bit slow picking up Ron’s subtle humour and absolutely humourless when it came to Len, Syd, Les and Bob’s table manners (excusable). In Dot’s school days she joined in ping-pong and other indoor games with her younger brothers and of course loved amateur theatricals with Els and some of their school friends. Later on she joined a tennis club and we (the younger ones) saw less of her in our set. Then of course she went teaching at outback Manangatang and was there for many years. But my early impression of Dot shown in the sketches is ladylike and with long straight dresses reflecting her sincere and ladylike bearing.

Les (further notes on Dot): My elder sister: straight and always the perfect lady. Sometimes we scallywags strayed into slang, and to make a humourous point, exaggerated this ploy. Dot however (like Queen Victoria of old) was not amused ... Unless the grammar like the joke was absolutely correct. So being the first lady, Dot shall always be depicted with a long dress and often with a hat.

Els was also a perfect lady, always cheerful and understanding, with a great sense of humour and fun, and a gentleness which she maintained all her life. Always just one of the family: no pretence, no ostentation – just Els. Els was depicted in the Sorrento sketches wearing flared skirts which suited her so well, so we will continue to draw her that way.

Les (further notes on Els): Our delightful, cheery, sincere sister who not only was a joy to know but also a delight to see. No airs, no graces -- Just Els! And a lady through-and-through. Whereas Dot had a prim and proper appearance, Els was always just natural. She cheered us up around the piano. A lovely lady.

Len was straight-forward and sincere – no frills. A bit of old Yorkshire in the flesh. He was too young to have a stubbly chin in those days so we shall draw him as we saw him in those days as “John Blunt”.

Les (further notes on Len): Sincere and straight to the point. Len had a wonderful memory for ships: the colour of the hull, funnels, flags and their owners, and what is even more remarkable, their exact tonnage. This was a great contribution to the general scene of Sorrento -- for those were the days of ocean liners, interstate passenger liners and a myriad smaller cargo ships from all round the world. Len, Syd and Stan were also a solid and pleasant core or our family and they were inseparable. Len (like Mum) was a real chunk of old Yorkshire: stubborn and determined. And the pointed chin to go with it. Len was dark with black whiskers and although he shaved regularly, somehow gave the impression that he left the blade out occasionally, so as not to over-work it. So we shall depict Len with a prominent chin, some of the said whiskers and quoting ship tonnages, etc.

Syd of course always had a deep concentration on the subject whether it was school work, cards, sport, playing games or cricket. Also a good organiser of us younger ones and a great inspiration mentally and by deed. We were all lucky to have him for a brother. Although I think it is probably unkind to Syd, my feeble brain could not think of any new way to depict him. So he is stuck with his “randa” over his eyes.

Les (further notes on Syd): Grand chap. Good sport and all-round top fellow. Choir master at the piano and almost impossible to dismiss at French cricket. As well as the "randa" of hair to distinguish Syd, he also had a famous sports coat. It was always referred to as his horse rug, but there is no truth in the rumour that Pharlap once wore it.

I was the lucky one who had such lovely brothers and sisters and have never ever ceased to be thankful for it. I was very finely built in those days and it is said I was the only person (apart from Peter Pan) who never cast a shadow. So I’m the stick man. Like a muse in a play. I’m just there to keep the plot explained and moving.

Bob was the youngest and always a personality. He was always his own man – very independent. Don’t blame the grog form making him a bit peculiar: he had it in him from a very early age. He got up at 5:30 to go to school on his first day (very odd). Of course, I have found out since it was not his thirst for knowledge that made him so keen: it was the thought of all the mischief he could get up to in going to, coming home from and at school. However you all know what a cheery lad he was and so very friendly. He didn’t have to go to the Middle East to prove he had two hearts (we always knew it!) so his symbol shall be two hearts again.

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