Bob Mackinnon – The Face of ‘Goodlands’

THE FAMILY​ The Mackinnon family has been in the Grenfell district for many, many years. 

Bob was born on  December 15, 1915, to mother Catherine Lillian (nee Connaughton) wife of Fred Mackinnon (father) who was a stock and station agent as well as a drover. 

His grandfather, James Archibald Mackinnon was an early pioneer of the area and bought the land where Iandra is now in the late 1870s.  

James Mackinnon, who also owned “Memegong” outside Young, was the Member of Parliament for Young District in the State Parliament. 

He sold the land to Mr G.H. Greene who built Iandra (in the Weddin Shire), 32,600 acres at 6 shillings and 6 pence per acre.

 James Mackinnon built one of the first houses in Grenfell, at the foot of Hospital Hill – the house that Bob was born in.

Bob met Rose Veronica Paslow, affectionately known as “Muffcie”, in Grenfell and they married on 9 June, 1942, in Sydney.

 Muffcie was a wonderful dressmaker, sewing debutantes’ and wedding dresses among other designs.  

She was also a very enthusiastic and great ballroom dancer.  

She danced regularly at the “Trocadero” in Sydney in the era of big bands and “swing” dance music, and remembered that the professional male ballroom dancers were able to dance so lightly on their toes that they could dance with fresh eggs strapped under their heels and not break them!

MEMORIES OF MAIN STREET

Bob started work, aged fourteen, at the grocery shop which subsequently became known as ‘Goodlands’ in Grenfell.

 It was situated on the eastern end of Main Street where Gordon, Garling and Moffitt Lawyers are presently located.  

At this time, the shop was owned by Mick Makin, who also had a keen interest in raising and training horses.  

The young Bob was often called away from the shop to help Mick with the horses – something he enjoyed immensely.  

When World War 2 started, Bob joined the army and served as a small arms trainer in the 3rd Australian Army Tank Battalion.

After the war, Bob returned to the shop which had become ‘Goodlands’, selling his customers groceries whose names we know still today – Arnotts biscuits, Heinz beans, Carnation milk, IXL tomato sauce and Gillette razorblades.

 Items such as sugar and powdered milk were delivered in bulk and each night were put in small brown bags for sale.

 Biscuits broken in delivery were bagged up and sold for 3 pence a bag, or just quietly given away to children in need.

With his pencil ever ready behind his ear, his order pad to hand, Bob and his fellow employee, Jimmy Virtue, were well-presented.

Bob, the manager, always worked with collar and tie. 

Workers also wore dustcoats.

Young Wilf Brown became the third important member of the team.  

The customers were served personally at Goodlands - there was no such thing as a self-service supermarket.

 Customers would patiently wait, chatting with each other while Bob or Jim served each of them in turn, often with a joke or a story, and always knowing everyone’s name.  

Bob was remarkable for his ability to tot up the prices, running his finger down the list of numbers and totaling the price without the use of a calculator, and even faster than a calculator!

 Groceries were wrapped in newspaper and tied with string, which hung from the ceiling down over the bench.

 When the parcel was wrapped and knotted, Bob was able to break the string with one flick of his fingers, impressing everyone.  Farmers from out of town, especially at busy shearing times, would phone in their orders.  

The boxes of groceries were neatly packed and ready to be picked up, sitting together on the footpath outside the shop, sometimes two deep. 

There was never a worry in Grenfell that someone would steal the groceries.

 People came and picked up their groceries with their name on the box in their own time over the weekend, and sometimes there would even be boxes sitting there on Monday morning untouched, and safe.  

Groceries and bread were also sent out to the farms along with the mail run.  At this time, there was no need for a safe.  Bob would bring home the takings over the weekend.

 Every month, Bob would prepare the accounts at home, and send them out.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT 

Bob was involved with the Rugby League Club, the Horse Racing Club as well as  the Boys’ Club.

 He was a great charity worker, raising money for the nuns and the Boys’ Club, by holding bazaars in the Oddfellows Hall two or three times a year.  

He had a chocolate wheel and a roulette wheel as well as a special horse racing gambling game.

 Bob used his clever salesmanship in his charity work.

 It was said that Bob could “sell sand to the Arabs.”

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Bob passed away on the December 9, 1966

Bob and Muffcie had four children: Robyn, Gary, Paul and Julie.  Robin is married to Colin Norris and Robyn is living on the Gold Coast, Queensland and has three children Ian, Jamie and Glen.

 Gary is married to Lea and they are living in Wagga.

 They have three children, Karen, David and Kylie. 

Paul, “Sparra” lives with wife, Lea (nee Buttenshaw) in Grenfell and have two children, both boys - Brock who served in the army with three tours of Timor, and one each of Iraq and Afghanistan, and now lives in Townsville, and Brock has one daughter, Ella,  and Heath who lives in Grenfell and is a tiler. 

Heath has one daughter, Pheonix.

 Julie is married to Tony Finn and they have two children, Cameron and Nicole.

Jimmy Virtue moved on from Goodlands to become manager at the Coles food market for 25 years, and Wilf went on to run the Bowling Club in Quandialla in the Weddin Shire.

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Information sourced from “Back to Grenfell Official Souvenir March 1924.”  Thank you to Paul Mackinnon, Andrea Ladlow and Max Makin for their contributions to ‘Faces in the Street’.

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We hope our valued readers enjoy reminiscing with Grenfell’s iconic ''’Faces in the Street”  a Grenfell Record  2016 Sesquicentenary initiative.

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