I wasn’t always a scruffy, old swineherd. I’ve been sorting through some photos and paperwork that my Dad sent to me, and thought I’d put one on the blog. This is Class 4A at Mitchelton State School, in Queensland, Australia, back in 1975. The male teacher was the school principal, Mr Sharp, who retired when he was well into his 70s and then died a few weeks later. As for which of the sprogs is me, make a guess (click through for the larger version of the photo).
I think you are the very blond one in the front row fifth from the right.
Not blond. And not female either!
That only leaves nine…
front row 3rd from the left?????
Bzzzt! No, no, no.
Only eight little piggies to go…
Front row 4th from left?
ok another try, back row first one right
top right, next to the teacher?
The chap standing just in front of Mr Sharp.
You’ve been working together, haven’t you?
Yes, that’s me just in front of Mr Sharp. I was a shortie, like our boys, but ended up tall.
I bet the boys are glad they get their good looks from their mum!
Looks like I missed out on cutting your hair that week!! Remember those dreadful handclippers I inherited from Grandy? And how about that lovely comb stripper??
Yes, that is Stoney - under the teacher’s eye as usual. Looking at that shot I wonder where it all went awry! Chuckle!
Gosh, I remember going to school in bare feet as well! Until it got too warm, and the pavement melted, and then we had to wear flip flops (or thongs as we called them - although I would hesitate to call them thongs nowadays!)
The dreaded bindi patch was the thing to watch for when going bare footed. Bindis have vicious barbed seed heads that stick into your feet and can be difficult to remove.
Oh, and bull ants of course. But it was relatively easy to spot their nests and keep away. Bindis would lie in wait for you…
I remember going barefoot to school - and wearing ‘thongs’ as well. Once my friend Jean and I thought we were very clever doing country dancing barefoot in the playground - we ended up with the biggest blisters ever seen on the soles of our feet - ouch!