Thursday, September 3, 2020
Wednesday, September 2, 2020
FASHIONABLE ,WELL SCRUBBED WOMEN CONTRIBUTED TO MIGHTY WAR EFFORT
The above 2001 book published by Auckland University Press was recommended as a good read by an enthusiastic researcher with wide interests . It covers the many ways in which New Zealand women contributed to the war effort, often taking over jobs formerly carried out by men who had gone off to fight .
The advertising industry pushed the line that women workers, often in overalls ,boots and wearing protective , heavy gloves , should not forget their "femininity. " To brace feminine muscles and internal organs against strain , every hard working woman (especially those leading a draught horse) needed to wear a Berlei scientific support. After working on the hot and sweaty munitions production line , Patsy scrubbed down with Lifebouy soap , which enabled her to overcome B.O. and snuggle up to shift worker Angus at a diner. The time would come when austerity would cease and "war cinderellas" would step into dream dresses and the exquisite adornment of silk stockings by Prestige. A cartoon warned against those American soldiers offering presents and a good time .
FRIGID SHIPPING REPORTER IN MYSTERIOUS HOSPITAL FROG EPISODE
Wrapped up like an Egyptian mummy in white blankets and wearing a beanie to protect himself from the Townsville University Hospital airconditioning, our waterfront scribe presented a strange apparition. Being called a cold frog by friendly staff nevertheless made him feel a bit of a weirdo, which is not far from the mark.
One night , going through his ablutions in the washroom with the help of a female nurse, he was startled to hear a frog croak from the direction of the toilet bowl. Then it was heard again , again. In Darwin back in the l950s, he often showered in the old tin bank Northern Territory News washroom with an audience of scores of frogs lined up along the shower curtain , on the cistern and ledges , which protested loudly when the toilet was flushed.Pythons dined on the frogs.
Feeling he had become frog fixated at the hospital because the nurses frequently referred to him as a miserable frog, he asked Nurse Nikki if she also had heard a frog croak... Yes . She even seemed prepared to sign a statutory declaration to the fact.
However, the efficient nurse seemed repulsed by the reporter's suggestion she run a gloved finger under the lip of the toilet bowl to dislodge the mysterious swamp dweller. In a further frivolous suggestion, our man declared the frog would be revealed as one with registered nurse credentials . Joining in the madness of the discourse, the nurse said, if that be the case, the frog would be immediately pressed into service as they were short of staff that night and very busy .
Cocking an ear to the toilet, the beached shipping reporter made a forensic examination of the short, sharp croaks. He deduced they could be coming from the arse-end of Donald Trump's Russian built reelection autocue or the Chinese bugged plumbing in the White House West Wing/Wind.
Tuesday, September 1, 2020
BATTERED STATE BORDER MARKER
The 1943 cover photograph on the latest edition of the above interesting magazine shows the well worn piece of" historic wood", Poeppel's Peg ,which marked the spot where the Northern Territory ,Queensland and South Australia met. Each side on the triangular peg, about four feet in height ,represented the name of the state it faced . It was erected in 1879 by Augustus J. Poeppel, a South Australian government surveyor.More items of note from the journal upcoming .
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