[Nixon Family Home Movies: Reel 3]

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.

This film is a wonderful composite of the Nixon family’s life enjoying the company of their extended family at weddings, birthday gatherings and at the family holiday homes as well as on their travels to the Gold Coast, Queensland and Eildon Weir, Victoria. We see Karen turn six in the film as well as a great Christmas scene when both children are particularly excited to receive their presents, a watch for Karen and a scooter for Stuart.

Selected highlights list:
00:00:10:00 children on the beach at Portarlington
00:00:52:00 at a zoo
00:02:40:00 wedding with a tall headdress for the bride and bridesmaids in dark pink 1960s style dresses
00:04:10:00 Karen’s first day at school, in her uniform with school bag
00:04:24:00 Stuart on a trike (tricycle) saluting the camera
00:04:40:00 picnic on the beach with lots of extended family members
00:05:00:00 treasure hunt in the sand
00:06:54:00 the children on a farm tractor
00:07:20:00 the cousins of the family in a row at a driveway gate
00:08:19:00 Les, Karen and Stuart walking out of the water at the beach
00:09:49:00 children amusement park on ‘dodgem’ cars
00:11:26:00 Karen and Stuart being rowed in a rowboat, followed by a speedboat rushing past, very close to the shore
00:12:00:00 view of waterfront houses at the Gold Coast
00:12:10:00 TAA airplane taking off at an airport
00:13:27:00 extended family wedding with bridesmaids in what would have been (at the time) a very fashionable and wonderful burnt orange
00:15:28:00 Stuart receiving his Christmas scooter
00:16:00:00 Dorothy and daughter Karen in matching outfits
00:16:25:00 family members gathered under some shady trees at the beach
00:16:47:00 Karen very confidently ‘dinking’ her younger brother Stuart on his new scooter (by giving him a ride)
00:19:27:00 Dorothy and other women in the family laugh as they climb up, and fall on, a steep sand dune
00:20:13:00 Dorothy, Karen and Stuart stand outside their caravan at the beach
00:20:19:00 a family wedding, bridesmaids in purple and sporting some great examples of 1960s hairstyles
00:21:43:00 Karen’s sixth birthday party
00:22:27:00 Karen backstroking through the water
00:23:17:00 family picnic including a woman wearing a wonderful paisley shirt typical of fashion at the time
00:24:40:00 cooking on a vintage three-legged barbeque
00:26:00:00 a birthday party held at a holiday home possibly at Point Roadknight