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Ken Hudson of Evans Head confirms the danger from above in Burwood (C8): “As a young resident in the ’50s and ‘60s, I did see the occasional ‘dropping’ at the Railway Bridge and had to check the footpath just in case. The bridge’s biggest worries, however, were the old double-decker buses that tried to drive under it. Some required ‘extractions’ following their mishaps.”
While Chrissie Whitlock of Earlwood would “rush over to Hornsby Library to borrow a cake tin. Preferably filled with cake”, Mark Berg of Caringbah South thinks “tool libraries (C8) are an excellent resource for apprentice tradies, as these libraries can store such items that apprentices are often sent to find, like left-handed screwdrivers, elbow grease and long waits.” Granny experienced this in her copygirl days when asked to collect the helicopter mail from the roof.
Although Allan Gibson of Cherrybrook recalls a tried and true use for his Herald (C8) in the form of “cut sections hung with string on a nail” in the outhouse, Caz Willis of Bowral suggests we “ask any printmaker artist the best way to wipe down ink from plates and ask any nurse if an unread paper was deemed a sterile surface in emergency situations. Not just bum fodder, Granny!”
“By Sunday al fresco lunchtime, I am usually still immersed in the Saturday Herald’s many sections,” writes Andrew Cohen of Glebe. “Since the inner west’s mysterious post-COVID blue and green fly plague arose, my still-unrolled Sun Herald has been wielded to decimate Louis’ extended family of gatecrashers. I did buy a swatter, but it doesn’t have a sheath that peels off along with the yucky bits.”
When Aidan Cuddington (C8) asked for bumper sticker alternatives, Neil Nicoll of Waverton signed up: “I remember a disgruntled Volvo owner who, tired of it breaking down, attached a wooden sign on the roof racks that said ‘I’ll Never Buy Another Volvo Again’, and parked it for days outside the nearest Volvo dealership.”
As for the stickers themselves, Janice Creenaune of Austinmer noticed that “while teaching in Minnesota in 1998, bumper stickers were popular as a reward from high schools, like, ‘My Child is an Honor Student at Rosemount High’. Proud parents would display these, while others seemingly remained proud with ‘My Child Beat Up Your Honor Student’. I’m not sure if it was true, but I do know the school didn’t ‘award’ them.”
Column8@smh.com.au
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