Will Windred of Manly says that “Monday’s ‘Life in the Burbs’ piece on Avalon prompted me to ask if anybody still actually lives in Avalon as every house offered in the real estate section is in ‘Avalon Beach’, even when it’s three kilometres from the sand”.
“I feel your pain, Warwick Farley (C8), as I had to leave my MAD Magazine, Phantom and Sad Sack comic collections behind when I moved to Australia decades ago,” writes Manbir Singh of Pemulwuy. “However, I have found old issues at op shops and, of course, online, including Superman and Dick Tracy. Besides being a good investment, I still love the smell of those pages and often read them before going to bed and get transported to a time when my dreams were real. Psst, don’t tell anyone but I have had a subscription to MAD for many years.” What, he worry?
“Well may Warwick lament the loss of his Dick Tracy and Superman comics,” adds Craig Forbes of Lewisham. “After I moved out of home, my mum cleaned out my study, including my collection of those naughty Oz magazines.”
“Like Dawn Hope, I merely watched as my brother built things with his Meccano set (C8) and put together his Hornby train set complete with rails and railway station with our own suburb, Cronulla destination,” recalls Janet Turner of Frenchs Forest. “Sleeping dolls came a poor second.”
“Dawn, you gave up hope too soon,” reckons Adela Parkes of Boat Harbour. “I was in my 20s when Christmas day revealed a Meccano set and a baby doll dressed in hand-knitted clothes. It appears that my mother finally got sick of me lamenting that I never had either. They’re still in the cupboard 50-plus years later.”
After reminiscing about Meccano, Russell Hill from Hobart (Tas) has fond memories of making numerous Airfix scale model kits: “From ships and planes to the fingers that got glued together, and blowing them up in various ways on cracker night.”
Just in case World Cuppers were wondering, “No, it isn’t shaving cream that FIFA referees use to mark free kicks,” reports Northmead’s George Zivkovic. “They use a specialised substance known as ‘vanishing spray’. This is made from a carefully balanced mixture of water, a foaming agent and propellant gases like butane and isobutane, which allows the spray to completely dissolve and disappear in about 90 to 120 seconds.”
Column8@smh.com.au
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