[Nixon Family Home Movies: Reel 9]

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 captures a major event in the lives of the Nixon family – daughter Karen’s wedding. The fashion on the day is a wonderful example of the late 1980s and the bridesmaids wear Karen’s favourite colour, red. Karen’s new family, the Corrys, are in the film having visited from the UK.

Of interest in this film, when Karen arrives at the church there are many onlookers who are there but are not guests. At this period of time it was still customary, particularly in country areas, for members of the community to come along to watch the bridal party arrive and leave the church.

Later we see Karen preparing to leave for overseas possibly to Indonesia as we view a Garuda airplane from what appears to be the Observation Deck at Tullamarine Airport, Melbourne, when it was still open.

This film also contains scenes of a new kitten in the family, inside the house and in the yard chasing a rope hanging from the clothes line.

Selected highlights list:
00:00:03:00 Karen in a 1980s style wedding dress and her bridesmaids dressed in red, are relaxed for the camera in the family lounge room and outside on the terrace
00:01:15:00 the bridal party arrives at the church among a group of interested onlookers
00:01:24:00 father Les and daughter Karen pose for the camera alongside the bridal car
00:01:35:00 the bride and groom exchange rings inside the church (quite dark and grainy)
00:02:00:00 the bridal party pose for the camera, the men showing off some wonderful 1980s moustaches
00:02:42:00 the Nixon parents and the Corry parents gather with the bride and groom for a group photo
00:03:20:00 a family gathering in the backyard of the Geelong family home after the wedding
00:03:39:00 Dorothy, mother of the bride and always stylish, wearing a good example of a 1980s sundress in pink with black dots
00:04:16:00 having fun: a member of the family poses in a ‘Foster’s Lager’ singlet whilst drinking a ‘Foster’s Lager’ before then posing with a ‘beer gut’ shape for the camera
00:06:39:00 another family wedding where Karen is an attendant
00:07:22:00 a sign outside the church which states, ‘Do Not Drop Confetti’
00:09:35:00 Karen and her husband relaxed in front of the camera in the church grounds
00:12:40:00 a family gathering in the backyard
00:13:42:00 Karen packing for travel in front of a Christmas tree where a kitten is playing
00:14:23:00 a set Christmas table and then the family seated at the table except for Les who is filming
00:14:55:00 Karen checking in at the airport
00:15:54:00 airplanes on the tarmac being filmed from the rooftop Observation Deck at Melbourne Airport
00:19:50:00 after many scenes of playing, we see an exhausted kitten asleep in a cardboard box