Ralfs and Hermsdorf - part 2

The firm Ralfs and Hermsdorf soon established itself as the premier place to have any commercial photolitographic work done. Apart from the 'bread and butter' business such as the art work for phone book covers, a wide variety of food and grocery packaging, promotional material, and advertising, Ralfs and Hermsdorf did the lithography and plate making for books such as 'The Australians' and Norman Lindsay's 'The Magic Pudding' and 'Norman Lindsay - Two Hundred Etchings', just to name a few. As well they worked on major pieces of art.

It was not unusual to have original works by artists such as Albert Namitjira, Hans Heysen or Norman Lindsay sitting on the bench in the office. The owners of these pieces would ask if there was a safe to protect the works. My father would deliberately misinterpret and say, "Safe, yes of course." Then he would package the work up at the end of the day and bring it home where it certainly was much safer than in the office! We had the pleasure of hosting some marvellous works of art which gave me an enduring appreciation of the skills that the various artists had.

I also remember having Lieutenant Bradley's journal at home. The Library of NSW reproduced the whole journal so we had the original in our 'safe'. It was such an honour to be able to handle (with great care) a book that had been on the First Fleet. I was about 14 when this book was reproduced and there was a lot of retouching needed on the negatives. I was employed to do some of the work. My father built me a glass top with a light underneath for my desk, taught me how to do the retouching and set me to work in the school holidays at 50c an hour. Miserly pay for unbelievably boring work, but if you ever get to see a reproduced copy of Bradley's Journal, I helped with the production.

There were about 10 members of staff including a couple of apprentices. One of the apprentices was a real dreamer. He worked in the plate making section. One day he was coming over into the other part of the building where my father worked and was feeling so happy that he jumped with joy for no reason at all. Unfortunately the corrugated iron roof there was particularly low. There was a head shaped bump in the metal forever after. Another time he was reading something as he was walking along, didn't notice that the glass door was shut and walked straight through, giving himself and everyone else a fright because of the noise - he didn't even have a scratch!

Another character who was heaps of fun was Mike B from Germany. There was always a Christmas celebration at work and he suggested to my father one year that they spice things up a bit by him dressing up as a woman, pretending to be my father's non English speaking cousin from Germany, and then doing a strip when the party had really got going. Vati thought it a great idea so he and Mike went off to buy Mike appropriate clothing.

There was a Coles store at Crow's Nest near work which the two men decided was an appropriate place to get the lingerie - nice but not too expensive. My father approached a young female shop assistant and in his German accented English said, "I would like to buy a brassiere for this young man please". The poor girl, beside herself, rushed off for the manager. Much explanation, much laughter and Mike left the shop with a massive black bra and matching panties.

Mike in his wig, dress and makeup was introduced to everyone at the party. The other tenants as well as everyone from Ralfs and Hermsdorf were invited. Mike was very convincing and the stout owner of the soap factory became very upset when someone used an expletive 'in front of the lady'! I wish I could have seen the striptease. Everything went well until Mike stripped to his undies and the cotton wool exploded out of his bra. The game was up, he whipped off his wig and everyone had a good laugh and quite a few drinks.

Another of the lithographers was Bert P also from Germany. He used to spend weekends in the Blue Mountains shooting feral animals. While in the bush he developed a great interest in native flora and would pore over botanical books in his lunchtime. He now lives in the Blue Mountains and even has a garden at the Springwood tennis club named after him.

Phil G and Henry G, read my father's death notice in the Sydney Morning Herald and came to his funeral. My mother and I were very touched.

People who had worked for my father and Uncle Harry kept in touch. Many said it had felt like being in a big family when describing how much they had enjoyed working there.