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“In the early ’80s, working in a company of 80 men and three women, the plug-and-cord exchange (C8) was beyond most blokes, so it was left to the girls,” recalls Caz Willis of Bowral. “Being a large site, you had to publicly broadcast to let people know they were called. Should you not be concentrating, with a cord in hand, or worse, mouth, and touched the microphone, it was all you could do, not to announce a pile of expletives to go with the electric shock. We laughed at how some names got announced!”
Peter Bulkeley of Parrearra (Qld), says that “in the village of Cullen Bullen, just outside Lithgow, our phone number was Cullen Bullen 3 (I would go and see that band – Granny). My bemused Sydney mates at uni in the 1960s would ring me in the holidays to see if it was true. My mother was disappointed when six-digit numbers took over. (The police station was 1 and the service station 2).”
Luna Park Sydney turns 90 next month and, just for fun, is looking for ninety 90-year-olds to ride the Ferris wheel at Milsons Point on the anniversary on Saturday, October 4. Or, if you were actually there on that day in 1935, former Herald scribe Helen Pitt would like to hear from you for her book on the park to be published in March 2026. To ride the wheel contact: https://justforfun.lunaparksydney.com/ninety-90-year-olds-competition/ and to share opening day memories, email Helen at [email protected]
“I suspect that Maree D’Arcy’s No Expectoration sign in her ‘sawdust-strewn’ butcher’s (C8) was to ensure that there was no confusion between ‘lamb on the spit’ and ‘spit on the lamb’.” We thank Greg Oehm of Western Creek (Tas) for not spitting on our gravy.
And Greg Leisner of Black Head adds: “I’m only sending this in because I expectorate a mention.”
Derrick Mason of Boorowa “once heard of a fellow who entered a fairly rough country pub, and remarked on all the sawdust on the floor. ‘That’s last night’s furniture,’ said the publican.”
Has Herman Beyersdorf of Bangalee just buried one of the great idioms? “There has been much talk about people falling down rabbit holes. Having been a rabbit trapper in my formative years, the fact is, rabbit holes are generally more horizontal than vertical, albeit usually with a gentle downward slope. So how can one fall down a horizontal hole?”
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