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I remember mum lighting the fire under the copper in the laundry at ground level attached to the old house. But this memory is more colourful.
An old man, Mr.R. lived a block away. At his best he was never the sharpest tool in the toolbox, but after his 19 year old son was killed in a road accident, it seemed to push him over the edge.
We lived half way between Fairfield and Canley Vale and in the street behind ours lived Amy, a middle-aged lady who worked as a barmaid in a Sydney hotel.
Mr. R. decided to pay her a visit. When Amy answered the door knock he told her: "I want wine".
"I've got something for you Mr. R." she replied and went out the back to the laundry. She returned wielding the copper stick. He turned and walked home empty handed.
For those unfamiliar with the copper stick, it was a wooden rod about 2 inches diameter and 2 ft. or more long, used for hauling the whites from the boiling water in the big copper basin into one of the concrete tubs. It was an ideal cudgel.
An old man, Mr.R. lived a block away. At his best he was never the sharpest tool in the toolbox, but after his 19 year old son was killed in a road accident, it seemed to push him over the edge.
We lived half way between Fairfield and Canley Vale and in the street behind ours lived Amy, a middle-aged lady who worked as a barmaid in a Sydney hotel.
Mr. R. decided to pay her a visit. When Amy answered the door knock he told her: "I want wine".
"I've got something for you Mr. R." she replied and went out the back to the laundry. She returned wielding the copper stick. He turned and walked home empty handed.
For those unfamiliar with the copper stick, it was a wooden rod about 2 inches diameter and 2 ft. or more long, used for hauling the whites from the boiling water in the big copper basin into one of the concrete tubs. It was an ideal cudgel.
