One of Australia’s oldest checkout chicks is our own sprightly 81 year old, Judy Biggins of Naracoorte.

“I love my job!” says Judy, while packing and sorting groceries as they pass through her checkout, and her customers love her.

Refrigerated items are kept together, but “not too many milks in one bag”, she says with a smile.

“The bags are too heavy if you put too much milk in!”

Judy’s work with supermarkets started in the early 1980s.

For a few nights each week she would pack shelves for Foodland which traded from 88 Smith Street – currently The Reject Shop.

In 1983, Woolworths, then located at 44 Robertson St, also needed staff to pack shelves at night – and so began Judy’s 40-year career with the company.

“I worked at both supermarkets for quite a while. For a couple of years I think,” Judy said.

The 1980’s introduction of single use plastic bags – then the May 4, 2009, announcement to ban them – are among a myriad of changes Judy has witnessed.

Born in March 1942 at the Naracoorte hospital, Judy was the eldest child of Mount Light farmers, Pat and Joan Kelly. Her siblings included Sandra (dec), Michelle and Glen.

Like most other farm houses, power was generated by a diesel engine. After it was turned off at the end of the day, the family used kerosene lamps.

A wood stove for cooking was also used to heat water which came from a rainwater tank.

It was also a time before refrigeration. Foods were kept cool in an ice box – a wooden cupboard with compartments lined with tin. The top compartment held ice and food was stored below.

Judy recalls her parents each week purchasing large blocks of ice from Naracoorte.

As soon as Judy turned five, each day she rode her bike 3kms to and from the Mount Light School and was often joined by her cousins “the Kelly boys” – Brian, Terry and Roger.

“One of the boys pushed me off once – I probably did get dirty,” she laughed.

When Judy finished Grade 3, her parents “swapped houses” with another family.

From her new home on Elderslie Road, each day Judy rode her bike around 3kms to and from the Naracoorte Convent which was located where the Kincraig Plaza is now.

Judy completed Intermediate at the Naracoorte High School, which opened at its current location in 1955. Costing 66,000 pounds at the time it aimed to cater for 180 students.

“The high school went to Intermediate (Year 10). If you did Fourth Year, you were probably going to be a doctor or something. Most people only did to third year,” Judy said.

Judy’s parents moved to Lucindale, then Adelaide, and Judy spent much of her teenage years boarding with Murray and Lorna McInnes who had four children – Mary, Lynette, John and Peter.

It was a time when people kept in contact by writing letters, sending telegrams in emergencies, and making telephone phone calls when possible.

Long before the invention of today’s mobile phones, Judy’s family first had a black telephone with a handset on top – it had a mouthpiece at one end and an ear piece at the other. The base had a central crank handle that was turned to ring the local exchange.

The local exchange is where Judy worked after leaving school at 16, followed by Wallace and Barter for several years, utilising her skills in typing and shorthand. Then she moved to the stock firm, Goldsbrough Mort and Co.

At a Christmas party in 1958, Judy met Ambrose Biggins. For the next few years, they attended dances each month in various district halls like Joanna, Hynam and Lochaber.

The Naracoorte Drive-Inn also opened in 1958 at 10 Deviation Road, and sometimes Judy and Ambrose went there too.

“We were engaged when I was 18 and married in February 1962, just before I turned 20,” Judy said.

When their first child was on its way, Judy’s doctor said: “You’re putting on too much weight.”

A few months later, in January 1963, the couple’s first child John was born, followed by a much-loved surprise, twin brother Stephen. It was a time before ultrasounds.

Son Mark was born in 1970, followed by daughter Natasha four years later.

Like most women on farms, without complaint Judy looked after her family and took on a multitude of tasks including a large vegetable garden and orchard, as well as cooking for shearers several weeks a year.

Recycling everything was the norm – there was no such thing as rubbish collection.

Judy liked to keep active and busy. While her children were growing up she took on extra jobs, which included curtain making and picking strawberries.

But it was the people and jovial atmosphere of supermarkets along with being able to work at night that Judy enjoyed most.

It was a time before resumes were required to get a job, and weekly pay packets were filled with cash for people to bank themselves.

In the 1980s Ambrose and Judy purchased a nearby farm known as “Smith’s”. But within a few years, they were caught up in a rural crisis that encompassed the district, and nation.

Interest rates were artificially inflated with some people paying up to 30 percent, coinciding with the abolition of the floor price for wool – which farmers paid for themselves.

“I remember we were paying 17 per cent interest,” Judy said.

On Natasha’s 16th birthday Judy approached her boss at the time – Woolworths manager Naracoorte’s Bryan Shuard – and asked him if her daughter could have a job.

Natasha remembers her birthday and the tough times well.

She recalls most people’s shopping trollies were no longer full of food items and general goods. Instead, they were only partially filled with mainly Black and Gold or homebrand products.

At home, the family did everything they could to earn extra money – even selling snails from their fish pond and loads of firewood.

“I bred angora goats for a long time too, and spun some of the wool and knitted jumpers.”

“We’ve still got the farm,” Judy said proudly.

During this time Judy was working full time in the fruit and vegetable section of Woolworths with her friend Norma Greening – part of a 20 year stint in that department. The store had relocated to its current site at the Kincraig plaza in 1987.

When Norma retired, Judy did jobs in various departments before working in the liquor store for several years.

Almost 10 years ago Judy was asked to work on the checkouts.

“I really enjoy it the most. I suppose I know everyone and they are all friendly,” Judy said.

Her home life remained busy with her family, including grandchildren and hobbies, particularly crosswords and puzzles.

In January this year Judy’s beloved husband Ambrose passed away.

“We were together for 61 years,” said Judy, explaining how much she missed him.

Keeping active and busy remains important. Judy still does crosswords and puzzles every day and remains in close contact with her beloved family – son Stephen and his wife Andrea and their children Michaela and Sam; son John and his wife Cathy and their daughter Hannah; son Mark and Tanya and their children Isla, Alby and Pippa, as well as her daughter Natasha who operates a busy bed and breakfast, Naracoorte Homestead.

“I go walking twice a week. We meet at the sound shell in the Town Square on Wednesdays and walk for half an hour, then at the swimming lake on Saturdays and go for an hour,” Judy said.

In July, Judy celebrated her 100th park run. “But I don’t run, I only walk,” she laughed.

During winter Judy was inducted into Naracoorte ladies Probus Club, as reported in The [Naracoorte Community] News by Liz Travers.

Judy is also one of the many Friends of the Caves volunteers, and Friends of the Naracoorte Cemetery.

“I know I don’t have to work, but I like it on the checkout and I enjoy it.”

In 2019, 87 year old Brenda Palmer OAM of Melbourne was announced Australia’s oldest checkout chick. But Covid saw her retire in 2020.

This article appeared in the Naracoorte Community News.