Im from Innisfail. My dad came from Sydney to cut cane and met my mum on his first day in Innisfail and the rest is history. My Dad has passed now but he always talked about the mates he made cutting cane - many of which he remained friends with in later life 💙 Love you Dad 💖💝💖
I'm from Spain and my dad remember when emigrate to Australia in the 60's he was cutting cane sugar in Ingham (Queensland) around 1959...1960. He liked so much this film. Thanks for share.
6JM6tube my maternal great grandmothers family were from Spain and I recently found out they worked in the sugarcane in Bowen 🙂 was lots of Spanish, Italians, Greeks, Maltese, Croatians and other Southern Europeans involved with it. Very interesting. Another part of my maternal family were Greeks. What part of Spain is your Dad from? 🙂
@@calebwarren1704Hello, my father lives in Asturias specifically in a town in the Cangas De Onis council called Margolles. He still remembers when they arrived in 1959 at Macknade Mill (near Ingham) and at the sugar cane plantation an Italian who had been there for 20 years taught them how to cut the cane with the machete. Remember he was charging £ 12 a day and they could only cut one amount each week. When the season ended he traveled by train to Sydney and there he married and settled down working in a foundry called MALCO until he returned to Spain in 1970.My mother is also an emigrant and Spanish and my older sister was born in Sydney within that wonderful country you have and to which my father will be eternally grateful. Greetings to you and the whole family from us.
6JM6tube thanks and greeting to your family too! 🙂 very interesting. I think my family were from Catalonia and Andalusia but not sure. Still trying to find out more information. They immigrated to Canada first before coming to Australia and finally settling here
@@DazzaBo Thank you very much I will tell you. He always says that Australia is the best country in the world. Today he is 87 years old and still remembers all the experiences in Macknade Mill in detail. Greetings from Asturias (Spain). As a curiosity, there is an Australian singer named Oscar Proy whose grandparents were also emigrants from this town of Cangas de Onis. Best wishes anda thanks to you and all Australians.
What a fantastic snippet of the real cane cutters. My late father came to Australia from Italy by himself in the early 1950’s.With no relatives,no money and not knowing a word of English.My father was searching for a better future for himself and his future family.He often spoke of how hard,dirty and hot cutting cane was.After a few years my father decided to move to Melbourne where he started a business as a concrete contractor.I suppose that most men back then weren’t scared of hard work.Thank you to the NFSA for making/sharing so many fantastic films of the golden days of Australia’s history. Many thanks, Rob.
im 59 australian aboriginal irish remember my dad saying back in 50s he,d come up here we were from ipswich qld at the time dad would do cane cutting him and his brother dad said it was hard bending over cutting the older generation ppl men an women did the hard yards take my hat off to all of them dad said he also used to do tobacco work in mareeba he said the italians were the nicest ppl they all got along love looking at these old clips i can still also remember when i was 5 it was just fading out too the man would come out of the garage do the windscreen check the tyers on the car gone now the good old days now i share some history with my eldest grandchildren God bless everyone and all the past cane cutters rip guys xox
My dad was a cane cutter from Italy in the 1950s. He used to say he was paid 12 shillings and eventually saved up enough money to buy his own sugar cane farm. I think by that time harvesters were more commonly used as my mum has old photos of different harvesters and machines. We still have his old cane cutting knife. He used to say it was very hard work and his first 2 weeks in Australia was the hardest as he was not used to the heat in the Innisfail, Mourilyan and Silkwood area. He was only in his 20s when he came here and used to say that the older fellas would laugh at the young ones with sore backs because they were not using the correct technique. He said if you squat with your bum out and your back straight then your back would not be so sore. Like the guys in the video, he would take a nap after lunch every day, even when he was retired.
My Dad cut cane on farms at Woree ( where Toogood Road is now) and Redlynch up until he was released to serve in PNG; the sugar industry was considered to be an essential service. Dad cut cane for a fellow called Bert Toogood. The fellows he cut cane with also entered the war at the same time, and they all remained friends until each one of them passed away. When I was at Trinity Bay we did excursions to Woodwards farms at Edge Hill, where we learned about Cane Harvesters. My husband's family were friends with A G Vessey who had a farm that ran from the foothills of Edge Hill to Woodward Street. Mr and Mrs Vessey senior were very interesting people. Other relatives of mine had their own cane farms and had mechanized cane harvesters which they contracted to work on local farms. That was mainly around El Arish, Silkwood and Tully. Sugar Cane really was the "king crop" from the 1940's to the 1960's and employed a heck of a lot of people.
@Sharon7500 I know those canefeilds. I'm from Innisfail but have lived in a Cairns for many years. My Dad also cut cane. One thing I'll say is you know sugar cane when you see it when you grow up surrounded by it 😊
My father was a cane-cutter in the 60's and stayed on the farm as a labourer - I grew up in cane cutters barracks like in this film. I remember the corrugated iron walls and push out windows.
He also had a 45 degree bend on his blade so he didn't have to bend over so far to cut the cane off at the base. He was a gun cutter with his own team so that bend might have helped. He used to replace the blade when it wore out but kept the handle which wore down in grooves where his fingers and thumb went. We still have that cane-cutter's knife. And the other thing I loved was the sand shoes they wore - canvas shoes with rubber soles and rubber toes - and they were called "cane-cutters shoes". That film brought back so many memories.
A very nice film, and snippet of history. Nice theme of mateship with new Australians. It didn't matter where you came from, as long as you had the guts and stamina to keep up with the team.
They worked hard but got paid fair with the union and company working together to benefit everyone. Lower taxes back then so they got more for their hard work
I dont know when this was but in the Bundy area by the mid 50's there were very few gangs , Bingera Sugar had a day gang to cut the lodged crops,, .. All cutters I knew were on piece work ( paid for what you cut ) ... I started cutting in June 1963 I was on 11shillings 5 pence halfpenny a ton on the ground topped,, great money for a 14 year old ,,
Great stuff! Are these collections of old footage free to use? I’m working on an informational TH-cam video on Queensland Sugarcane Railways and the Industry, and I am in need of some old footage to use as background footage. The NFSA will of course be credited for the footage but first I wanted to make sure if it was ok to use. Thank you!
It depends on usage and footage. You can submit an enquiry through this page www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/using-collection. www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/using-collection This particular film is now available in 4K. Thanks for asking.
Hi David. Yes nice work here from Hugh. Here is a list of ten films directed by Shan Benson we already have on TH-cam: th-cam.com/play/PLYjU0Xph-Gj6Lyb9Rnd8uyNEfKeLbegCE.html
John Heyer "in charge of production" - interesting, never knew that. Note the simulation of a workingman's voice. That was what got McInnes into trouble with the Wollongong film, I recall. (Perhaps he actually did try to use a real voice?).
Sharni, This documentary was made in 1948. The clip , as such, was about cane cutting at that time. 'Blackbirding' ended in 1904 as a result of a law enacted in 1901 by the Australian Commonwealth. I'm pretty sure there were no slaves still being used to cut cane in 1948.
Now if you watch a video about people who manually cut cane, it's all woe is me, the evils of capitalism, child labor in Cambodia, mysterious chronic kidney disease amongst sugar cane laboreres in Nicaragua. The evil sugar corporations who profit from backbreaking labor. Okay, they do have a point, but my god our ancestors used to do this difficult work and they didn't complain. Today all we can do is talk about how horrible it is that European sugar companies profit from Cambodian child labor... why don't the Cambodians legislate for themselves? Why can't the Nicaraguan people enact reasonable labor hour laws? Why are white people always to blame? I bet many people would be surprised to see that white people once did hard labor like this. They believe only Blacks or Mexicans ever did hard work.
Im from Innisfail. My dad came from Sydney to cut cane and met my mum on his first day in Innisfail and the rest is history. My Dad has passed now but he always talked about the mates he made cutting cane - many of which he remained friends with in later life 💙 Love you Dad 💖💝💖
I'm from Spain and my dad remember when emigrate to Australia in the 60's he was cutting cane sugar in Ingham (Queensland) around 1959...1960. He liked so much this film. Thanks for share.
6JM6tube my maternal great grandmothers family were from Spain and I recently found out they worked in the sugarcane in Bowen 🙂 was lots of Spanish, Italians, Greeks, Maltese, Croatians and other Southern Europeans involved with it. Very interesting. Another part of my maternal family were Greeks.
What part of Spain is your Dad from? 🙂
@@calebwarren1704Hello, my father lives in Asturias specifically in a town in the Cangas De Onis council called Margolles. He still remembers when they arrived in 1959 at Macknade Mill (near Ingham) and at the sugar cane plantation an Italian who had been there for 20 years taught them how to cut the cane with the machete. Remember he was charging £ 12 a day and they could only cut one amount each week. When the season ended he traveled by train to Sydney and there he married and settled down working in a foundry called MALCO until he returned to Spain in 1970.My mother is also an emigrant and Spanish and my older sister was born in Sydney within that wonderful country you have and to which my father will be eternally grateful. Greetings to you and the whole family from us.
6JM6tube thanks and greeting to your family too! 🙂 very interesting. I think my family were from Catalonia and Andalusia but not sure. Still trying to find out more information. They immigrated to Canada first before coming to Australia and finally settling here
@@6JM6tube that's beautiful. Please thank your father from me for his contribution to my country.
@@DazzaBo Thank you very much I will tell you. He always says that Australia is the best country in the world. Today he is 87 years old and still remembers all the experiences in Macknade Mill in detail. Greetings from Asturias (Spain). As a curiosity, there is an Australian singer named Oscar Proy whose grandparents were also emigrants from this town of Cangas de Onis. Best wishes anda thanks to you and all Australians.
What a fantastic snippet of the real cane cutters. My late father came to Australia from Italy by himself in the early 1950’s.With no relatives,no money and not knowing a word of English.My father was searching for a better future for himself and his future family.He often spoke of how hard,dirty and hot cutting cane was.After a few years my father decided to move to Melbourne where he started a business as a concrete contractor.I suppose that most men back then weren’t scared of hard work.Thank you to the NFSA for making/sharing so many fantastic films of the golden days of Australia’s history. Many thanks, Rob.
You're welcome.
im 59 australian aboriginal irish remember my dad saying back in 50s he,d come up here we were from ipswich qld at the time dad would do cane cutting him and his brother dad said it was hard bending over cutting the older generation ppl men an women did the hard yards take my hat off to all of them dad said he also used to do tobacco work in mareeba he said the italians were the nicest ppl they all got along love looking at these old clips i can still also remember when i was 5 it was just fading out too the man would come out of the garage do the windscreen check the tyers on the car gone now the good old days now i share some history with my eldest grandchildren God bless everyone and all the past cane cutters rip guys xox
My dad was a cane cutter from Italy in the 1950s. He used to say he was paid 12 shillings and eventually saved up enough money to buy his own sugar cane farm. I think by that time harvesters were more commonly used as my mum has old photos of different harvesters and machines. We still have his old cane cutting knife. He used to say it was very hard work and his first 2 weeks in Australia was the hardest as he was not used to the heat in the Innisfail, Mourilyan and Silkwood area. He was only in his 20s when he came here and used to say that the older fellas would laugh at the young ones with sore backs because they were not using the correct technique. He said if you squat with your bum out and your back straight then your back would not be so sore. Like the guys in the video, he would take a nap after lunch every day, even when he was retired.
"It doesn't matter what colour his hair or the shape of his head, a good mate is a good mate. "
Great film. REally surprised at how contemporary the cinematography is for something shot in 1948. Looks incredible.
Thanks Tom. We appreciate your feedback.
There's some good advice in this that the young generation should take on
My Dad cut cane on farms at Woree ( where Toogood Road is now) and Redlynch up until he was released to serve in PNG; the sugar industry was considered to be an essential service. Dad cut cane for a fellow called Bert Toogood. The fellows he cut cane with also entered the war at the same time, and they all remained friends until each one of them passed away. When I was at Trinity Bay we did excursions to Woodwards farms at Edge Hill, where we learned about Cane Harvesters. My husband's family were friends with A G Vessey who had a farm that ran from the foothills of Edge Hill to Woodward Street. Mr and Mrs Vessey senior were very interesting people. Other relatives of mine had their own cane farms and had mechanized cane harvesters which they contracted to work on local farms. That was mainly around El Arish, Silkwood and Tully. Sugar Cane really was the "king crop" from the 1940's to the 1960's and employed a heck of a lot of people.
Thanks for sharing those memories.
@Sharon7500 I know those canefeilds. I'm from Innisfail but have lived in a Cairns for many years. My Dad also cut cane. One thing I'll say is you know sugar cane when you see it when you grow up surrounded by it 😊
My father was a cane-cutter in the 60's and stayed on the farm as a labourer - I grew up in cane cutters barracks like in this film. I remember the corrugated iron walls and push out windows.
He also had a 45 degree bend on his blade so he didn't have to bend over so far to cut the cane off at the base. He was a gun cutter with his own team so that bend might have helped. He used to replace the blade when it wore out but kept the handle which wore down in grooves where his fingers and thumb went. We still have that cane-cutter's knife. And the other thing I loved was the sand shoes they wore - canvas shoes with rubber soles and rubber toes - and they were called "cane-cutters shoes". That film brought back so many memories.
Hi Jennifer thanks for sharing your memories with us and we are glad you enjoyed the film,.
A very nice film, and snippet of history. Nice theme of mateship with new Australians. It didn't matter where you came from, as long as you had the guts and stamina to keep up with the team.
+Phillip Charlier Thanks for the positive feedback.
thats how it should be around the world. Work hard have a good life. Bludge and youre out of here.
They worked really hard back then and no complaints.
They worked hard but got paid fair with the union and company working together to benefit everyone. Lower taxes back then so they got more for their hard work
i love this so much!
Any my children think they have it hard!!!!!!! Great to watch.
You are welcome, thanks for the feedback.
Brilliant footage. .
I dont know when this was but in the Bundy area by the mid 50's there were very few gangs , Bingera Sugar had a day gang to cut the lodged crops,, .. All cutters I knew were on piece work ( paid for what you cut ) ... I started cutting in June 1963 I was on 11shillings 5 pence halfpenny a ton on the ground topped,, great money for a 14 year old ,,
Surprised to see no South Sea Islanders
My back hurts just watching this.
Hi Techa a DVD is available from the NFSA Film Australia Library. Please see the link on our You Tube channel page. Glad you enjoyed it.
Great stuff! Are these collections of old footage free to use? I’m working on an informational TH-cam video on Queensland Sugarcane Railways and the Industry, and I am in need of some old footage to use as background footage. The NFSA will of course be credited for the footage but first I wanted to make sure if it was ok to use. Thank you!
It depends on usage and footage. You can submit an enquiry through this page www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/using-collection.
www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/using-collection
This particular film is now available in 4K. Thanks for asking.
Solidly but not stolidly directed by Hugh McInnes. Time to pay tribute to some of those people, like Shan Benson too.
Hi David. Yes nice work here from Hugh. Here is a list of ten films directed by Shan Benson we already have on TH-cam: th-cam.com/play/PLYjU0Xph-Gj6Lyb9Rnd8uyNEfKeLbegCE.html
The link does to a notice in red saying the list is private.
Try the link now David. Let me know if you are unable to view the content.
There is a NFSA Board member who was MP for Herbert, might like to see this.
John Heyer "in charge of production" - interesting, never knew that. Note the simulation of a workingman's voice. That was what got McInnes into trouble with the Wollongong film, I recall. (Perhaps he actually did try to use a real voice?).
Interesting information, thanks.
John heyer also did the back of beyond
These are the days of men were men no free handouts here.
These boys in todays money are earning roughly $800 a week.
Are we able to show this film publicly as part of an event? Or can we purchase a licence?
Can anyone tell me where I can buy this movie?
Techa see previous post.
What the South sea islander there the main sugar cane 🇻🇺🌺
Should have started the story with the sugar industry kicking off with the Queensland slavery of Indigenous and South Sea Islanders.
Slavery? Don't make me laugh they were too lazy to work
@@SamO-ik2cm ha ha do some research. One thing to be racist, but an uneducated racist is next level bozo.
I love that this video blatantly ignores the use of the use of slave trade, which was a huge thing when this video was made?
Sharni, This documentary was made in 1948. The clip , as such, was about cane cutting at that time. 'Blackbirding' ended in 1904 as a result of a law enacted in 1901 by the Australian Commonwealth. I'm pretty sure there were no slaves still being used to cut cane in 1948.
Now if you watch a video about people who manually cut cane, it's all woe is me, the evils of capitalism, child labor in Cambodia, mysterious chronic kidney disease amongst sugar cane laboreres in Nicaragua. The evil sugar corporations who profit from backbreaking labor. Okay, they do have a point, but my god our ancestors used to do this difficult work and they didn't complain. Today all we can do is talk about how horrible it is that European sugar companies profit from Cambodian child labor... why don't the Cambodians legislate for themselves? Why can't the Nicaraguan people enact reasonable labor hour laws? Why are white people always to blame? I bet many people would be surprised to see that white people once did hard labor like this. They believe only Blacks or Mexicans ever did hard work.
Brilliant footage. .