Blue Mountains – latest article

  • THE EASTERN SPINEBILL - aka COBBLER'S AWL 😎
    THE EASTERN SPINEBILL – aka COBBLER’S AWL 😎
    Draw some little legs on a wooden handled cobbler’s awl (even with my lack of skill)  and you would have something  resembling an Eastern Spinebill.   In the old days they were  often referred to as Cobbler’s Awl Birds, and I’m sure that beak could pierce boot...
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History – latest article

  • Kiwi Boot Polish and ANZAC Pride.
    Kiwi Boot Polish and ANZAC Pride.
    Kiwi polish was first produced in 1908 by Melbourne business  partners  Hamilton McKellan and William Ramsay.  The name Kiwi was a tribute to Ramsay’s New Zealand born wife. For two reasons the product was a major improvement on the old boot blacking (remember Charles Dickens working in...
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Humour – latest article

  • THE SAFE BREAKERS
    THE SAFE BREAKERS
    A look at safe breaking in Australia back in the day. Picking a padlock or manipulating tumblers on a combination lock was generally confined to a few experts with sensitive fingers and acute hearing. It wasn’t easy, and of course the contents could be disappointing to say...
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Travel – latest article

  • Collage of Blue Mountains Birds.
    ACER CORNER WELCOMES BIRD LOVERS
    The Studio was home for myself and my partner Rob  while we built our new house at Blackheath, in the beautiful Blue Mountains. After  moving out we  decided to let the detached property to birdwatchers, bushwalkers and nature lovers on a short stay basis.  Acer Corner  is...
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Latest Blog Posts

  • Milk Arrowroot Biscuits - Santa Still Eats a Lot!
    Milk Arrowroot Biscuits – Santa Still Eats a Lot!
    Milk Arrowroot biscuits have been part of Australian life for generations; left out for Santa with a glass of milk, popped into school  lunchboxes,  and in the early days crushed and fed to babies in their bottles.     A large part of the company’s advertising involved...
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  • The String Bag - a Brief Social History
    The String Bag – a Brief Social History
    ‘The string bag is the symbol of feminine bondage in Australia’. Thus spoke US consul Mr T.C. Robinson at a conference of the NSW Agricultural Bureau in 1950. He advocated a reorganisation of food distribution (which eventually led to supermarkets and shopping malls), better laundry and dry-cleaning...
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  • AUNTY ED'S - BEAR FRIENDLY! 🐻
    AUNTY ED’S – BEAR FRIENDLY! 🐻
    Aunty Ed’s seemed a good place to celebrate a significant birthday for a small bear by the name of Editor Des.  Reaching a quarter of a century deserves recognition. Not a telegram from the king just yet. but something special from  Australia Post. AUNTY ED’S …PERFECT FOR TEDS ...
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  • HARD TIMES FOR HEADMASTER HUXLEY
    HARD TIMES FOR HEADMASTER HUXLEY
    Eric Huxley, 19, a student of the Sydney University, living at Clanalpine Street, Mosman, was struck by a motor car as he was crossing Parramatta Road near the University yesterday. He suffered a fractured skull…..he died late last night. (Sydney Morning Herald, June 13 1930) The  young...
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