WHEN Andrew Watts - father of Jack - was presented with a special loan, he was absolutely delighted.
Coming down the line through friends and Melbourne supporters, it is a colour copy of part of a larger scrapbook, carefully assembled during the 1963 season, and bringing another era to life.
Headlines within are eerily familiar, and yet significant to the day - ‘Demons Dominate’, ‘Big Moment for Young Demons’ - and characters playing out another season of finals appearances grin broadly from the pages within. Ron Barassi, John Beckwith, Hassa Mann, Brian Dixon, John Lord - kicking, marking, chasing, travelling - all are there.
They did not know then what would happen, and the vivid pages bring their story to life.
It was a memorable season, was 1963. Narrowly defeated by Hawthorn in the Preliminary Final, the team became the VFL jetsetters, heading off on an end of season trip to Honolulu and the US, where exhibition games against Geelong were played.
Flicking through the pages, it is also possible to note that this - and many, many others like it - are not just playing histories of a season. Nor are they simply a supporter reflection. Here is where the two cross, and Watts’ comments that ‘it’s a great story of a season’, are most apt. Scores are underlined. Favourite player names shout off the page in bold colours.
Occasionally, past the newspaper articles and magazine clippings, there’s a treasured player card. Dates of games are written in carefully.
In effect, the scrapbook is an insight into the red and blue community of its day.
Coming down the line through friends and Melbourne supporters, it is a colour copy of part of a larger scrapbook, carefully assembled during the 1963 season, and bringing another era to life.
Headlines within are eerily familiar, and yet significant to the day - ‘Demons Dominate’, ‘Big Moment for Young Demons’ - and characters playing out another season of finals appearances grin broadly from the pages within. Ron Barassi, John Beckwith, Hassa Mann, Brian Dixon, John Lord - kicking, marking, chasing, travelling - all are there.
They did not know then what would happen, and the vivid pages bring their story to life.
It was a memorable season, was 1963. Narrowly defeated by Hawthorn in the Preliminary Final, the team became the VFL jetsetters, heading off on an end of season trip to Honolulu and the US, where exhibition games against Geelong were played.
Flicking through the pages, it is also possible to note that this - and many, many others like it - are not just playing histories of a season. Nor are they simply a supporter reflection. Here is where the two cross, and Watts’ comments that ‘it’s a great story of a season’, are most apt. Scores are underlined. Favourite player names shout off the page in bold colours.
Occasionally, past the newspaper articles and magazine clippings, there’s a treasured player card. Dates of games are written in carefully.
In effect, the scrapbook is an insight into the red and blue community of its day.
It’s a time capsule and a treasure - and while there are hundreds in existence, each has its own unique personality, primarily reliant on the creator.
It is a chance to transmit the past to the present - from Barassi to Watts - and it lives on, more than forty years after its creation.
Many thanks to Andrew Watts, along with David Backholer and Dan Rogers, for sharing this glimpse into the past. 1963 was a good season!
It is a chance to transmit the past to the present - from Barassi to Watts - and it lives on, more than forty years after its creation.
Many thanks to Andrew Watts, along with David Backholer and Dan Rogers, for sharing this glimpse into the past. 1963 was a good season!
