[Nixon Family Home Movies: Reel 1]

In the Nixon Family Home Movie Collection, married film enthusiasts Les and Dorothy Nixon have captured their family life from when their children are very young to when they are young adults, at home in Geelong, during wonderful beach holidays at Point Roadknight on the Victorian coast, and when going about their everyday activities, from the 1960s to the 1980s.

The films show life in regional and suburban Victoria at the time: playing in the backyard and bike riding down the street (no helmets of course), lots of tennis, lots of beach and swimming, lots of family visits, birthday parties and family barbeques or picnic gatherings. Along the way, the films also record the distinctive fashion (often handmade) and hairstyles of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, through Dorothy Nixon being so stylish a dresser herself, and at the many family weddings across the extended family.

The films are made on Standard 8mm and then Super 8mm film, and are in reasonable condition though a little shaky or damaged at times.

In this film Les and Dorothy Nixon show off their first baby Karen (who features in the Nixon Collection until she is an adult herself) at their home in Herne Hill, Geelong, Victoria. There are also a few family weddings and visits and outings around Victoria.

These scenes are a lovely showcase of a baby’s first months, Karen’s first smiles, sitting up, being fed first ‘solids’, learning to crawl on the carpet, trying to open the kitchen cupboards and eventually walking. As well as these usual baby activities we see them in the context of the 1960s - style of clothes, carseat, bassinette, pram and playpen.

Selected highlights list:
00:00:25:00 infant Karen being carried around the family backyard by teenage girls, (possibly cousins in the large extended Corry-Nixon family)
00:01:02:00 family members climb a rock formation, followed by views of surrounding scenery
00:01:15:00 scenes of baby Karen’s christening or baptism day (assumed by the style of baby clothes and blanket and by Dorothy’s smart outfit which includes matching hat, gloves and necklace)
00:01:37:00 baby Karen being held by her grandmother and great aunt
00:01:47:00 baby Karen with father Len
00:02:19:00 baby Karen laughing in her bassinette
00:02:30:00 a family gathering for a beach picnic
00:04:11:00 extended family members gather for a photo with baby Karen
00:05:45:00 baby Karen being fed from a bowl, while she sits in her bassinette on the back porch of the home followed by a bath
00:06:54:00 a ‘dummy’ (pacifier or soother) hanging from above the bassinette
00:07:11:00 extended family members gather in front of one of their homes for a group scene; one of the women flits across the screen playfully swinging her skirt for the camera
00:08:00:00 baby Karen with Dorothy
00:08:57:00 a Holden model car from the era
00:10:20:00 baby Karen’s new car seat
00:11:21:00 an older baby Karen with a cousin in the backyard
00:12:09:00 a very 1960s style wedding
00:12:12:00 baby Karen chases an empty cigarette pack across the carpet floor, practising her crawling
00:13:57:00 baby Karen in her pram
00:14:46:00 Les mowing the lawn
00:15:08:00 first steps for Karen, with dad
00:15:30:00 at the beach, splashing around in the sea with cousins
00:16:25:00 family members paddle boarding and surfing
00:17:38:00 Karen wearing a sunbonnet in a ‘playpen’
00:18:46:00 Karen playing and laughing with dad
00:19:17:00 a lovely little rowboat named ‘Sea Wyf’
00:20:14:00 Karen crawling and first steps
00:21:40:00 Karen ‘frosting’ the window
00:21:56:00 a family picnic
00:24:01:00 women dressed in smart outfits including hats
00:24:09:00 1960s wedding in light blue
00:25:50:00 toddler Karen playing with bucket and spade at the beach
00:26:25:00 Karen and Les practise swimming with a board and family beach scenes
00:28:18:00 gladioli flowers in a vase, in the fashion of the day
00:30:43:00 public gardens