The Reed Family Picture Album (as drawn by Les)

This is a photo of a Berliet from around 1925. It would be similar to the one which Ron proudly owned as the vents were vertical. Later Berliet's had horizontal vents.

The 2 containers are marked "Orange Saline" and "Lemon Saline". Here we find: Syd, Len, Bobby, Les, Reg (with the "W" on his cap), Ron, Ern and Stan. Reg: "Don't go without me, Mr Starter". and Ron sings: "Tip it, tip it in Tip it in Tip it in Tip it on." Les entitles this one: "Lining up for our 'Coke'".

"We've told you a hundred times, Bob, there's no chance of catching fish off the pier." (I sometimes still wonder).

Les bowls his unplayable super top spin leg brake and Pelaco hits it nonchalantly for four. I think that Pelaco is the nickname for Ron, as he does not appear quite so often in the drawings in his usual cap when the Reeds grow older. Perhaps his studies had taken him away, just as Dot's teaching stint took her off to the bush (?) Les is off to the right (out of shot) with his arm twisted around and around. Peter Meyer says: "Oh! Cli! He won't eat tripe at home but he serves it up all day long at cricket." Syd, Stan, "Pelaco", Ern, Peter, Len (with the after-5 shadow) Bobby, Els or Dot and Les (arm only).

Len shivvering while drying his little finger. Len's passion for ships and statistics was legendary. Here Len remarks: "That is the 'Marella'. 15,721 and a quarter tons. Burns Philp line. The captain weighs 13 stone 2 lb and she trades between Australia and the South Sea islands."

Today no-one cares if you drive during the daytime with car lights ablaze. In fact, it's often advised. In the Sorrento days, however, passing motorists shouted out of their window "Your lights are on mister!" and Bobby humorously offered them sixpence for their trouble. Syd calculated: "That makes seven hundred and eight-five pounds sixteen and six."
Les: Returning from Sorrento in Ron's Berliet with lights blazing and torn hood in the semi-down position. Rumour has it that a tree backed into the hood.

During WWII, the Reeds were terribly proud of their two soldiers (Syd and Bobby). Les could not go with them (much to his chagrin): he had been diagnosed as a child with a heart condition. Mum and Dad were warned that he would not see his 21st birthday. But Les fooled them all and lived well into his 70s. Les writes: Syd and Bob give up six years of their lives so that millions of other generations may have their "Sorrentos".

Now, Peter Meyer married Dot (if memory serves) and he begins to appear in the Sorrento drawings. His task here is to explain the intricacies of making a Maltese cross to Bobby, who knows just how to make a Maltese cross: "No! Just poke him in the eye!"

Aboard the Talawar, Sorrento. As the Reeds board from the pier, Reg (in the cap with "W" on it) remarks: "We'll now ask the 'Oo' question. The wind is in the Heast and Oo's going to pay for this lot?"


At Downs Street, Brunswick: Bobby on a bike.	In later years, Ron and Les

At Sorrento. A good summer. Syd (a backstroke specialist) -- but a bit slow. Stan in the striped blazer: "Splash, splash. Do you think Syd will make it to the jetty? Splash, splash." Len: "Oh yes. No trouble. We still have two weeks of our holiday left yet."

Early morning walks. Sullivan's Bakery. "Got any stale cakes today, Leo?" In these days of use-by dates, one forgets that the staple for many poorer families during the Depression was food that had gone past its freshness. Here are the cadgers: Bobby, Syd, Les, Len and Stan.

This photo appeared in the collection and might just be the Berliet, but what I know about vintage cars can be etched onto a postage stamp. Dear Reader ... do you recognize this auto?