A bit of housekeeping before we commence. Reader feedback indicates that insensitive Trumpian appellations are too political for Column 8 and that making fun of folks necking powders is ignoring the fact that they were banned in the 1970s due to severe health risks associated with phenacetin. Here’s hoping tales of butcher shops and switchboards will pass muster.
“So, it’s a Geelong Cats v Brisbane Lions AFL Grand Feline Final,” notes George Zivkovic of Northmead. “Will it be a case of pride coming before a claw? Or will one team win by a whisker? Depends on the pounce of the ball, I guess. Thankfully, no cheetahs on either team. I’ll paws now, but you’ll know where to find me on Saturday afternoon.”
“My late wife, Gai, was operating a manual exchange (C8) in the foyer of a plastics factory in Melbourne in 1970,” writes Dave Williams of Port Macquarie. “Sitting on a chair on castors, mind obviously in neutral, she inadvertently put a brass-tipped phone line against her mouth. She came-to sitting on the chair right across the foyer, with a sore mouth. No permanent damage, but this might explain her later propensity for Afro hairdos!”
Still on the phone, Margaret Collins of Terrigal writes: “My parents (father was school principal in the 1970s) lived in Boggabri when it had a manual telephone exchange. When my aunt in Sydney tried to phone my parents, she was told by the operator that they were out to dinner at a neighbouring property and put the call through to the hosts. My aunt couldn’t believe such a service existed. No secrets in those days! The exchange (and grapevine) also knew when we returned from holidays, university or had the measles.”
“As a child, I was awed by the (long gone) Richfield Meats butcher shop in Hurstville,” says Wayne Duncombe of Lilyfield. “Sawdust (C8) on the floors and the butchers on a raised platform, seeming to tower over shoppers, wielding enormous pronged lances to skewer their customers’ selections. It was like no other butcher shop I’ve ever seen. Sixty years later, C8’s series of vignettes has brought it sharply back to life.”
Stewart Martin of Mangerton knows how to harness the power of advertising (C8): “Remember Carnation Milk? Red can, white carnation, ‘from contented cows.’ Our uni rag changed the script on an ad to read ‘Reincarnation Milk – From cremated cows’ Nobody noticed!”
Column8@smh.com.au
No attachments, please.
Include name, suburb and daytime phone.
Read the full article here
