“Recently, I came across my beautifully decorated, neatly written in Indian ink Mothercraft book from 1958; a subject taught in high school on how to care for baby, back in the day when it was mistakenly believed a woman’s place was in the home,” says Mary Carde of Parrearra (Qld). “A bit premature, when you consider the only sex education provided then was the reproductive process of plants. In among the many little gems on how to keep baby well, is some sage advice for mothers on the dos and don’ts of baby’s daily diet. The inclusion of a serving of liver and kidney at least once a week while avoiding twice cooked vegetables, suggests that the course material was written by a male.”
Suzanne Saunders of Wadeville felt the need to make some adjustments to Susan Bradley’s fried bread (C8) repast: “Swap the kero for an open fire and lard for duck fat, keep the eggs and bacon, throw the black pudding in the bush and that is bread’s best death.”
“Coming out of a swimming club near me recently I sighted a fit looking man who was obviously a newly minted octogenarian,” writes Alan Phillips of Mosman. “He sported a badge (C8) which read: ‘Now I’m 80. Shit!’ Honesty is the best policy or dragged kicking and screaming? Who knows?”
Pauline McGinley of Drummoyne knows what it’s like to be badgered: “Travelling back to Australia with British Airways, our plane had mechanical problems while refuelling in Singapore. The whole jumbo full of in-transit passengers were distributed to various hotels along Orchard Road. Allegedly this was only for twenty-four hours but turned into a marathon three days. (A saga best left for another day). Legally, we had to stay in the hotel and at all times wear large sunflower yellow badges proclaiming, ‘I Am Under Instruction. Please Assist Me’.”
Allan Gibson of Cherrybrook’s grandmother was another to furnish an autograph book (C8) with the “Good better best, never let it rest, until your good is better and your better best” phrase, but “for decades I thought they were her own words until I found out it was a furphy. Actually, the motto, lifted from the end of Mr Furphy’s water carts.”
“The MAGAS who elected Trump (C8) should have researched tariffs before casting their votes,” reckons Kenneth Smith of Orange. “The price of tin-foil hats is about to rise.”
Column8@smh.com.au
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