The Aussie Room – Gedday!

The Thong

A pair of thongs can be many things to many people. They ' ve been called the mashed potato of the fashion world, they ' ve suffered the accusation of being an Australian national symbol of bad taste and, finally, they ' ve entered the world of high fashion.

There is no single point in time when thongs were invented - since man first wrapped his feet in animal hide, they have simply developed as one of the most basic forms of footwear. Thongs have appeared in several guises, in every corner of the globe, and are one of the only forms of footwear worn by every social class of every nation.

Just as Australian beachgoers wear thongs to protect their feet from the scorching sand so did ancient Egyptians don thongs in the desert more than 5000 years ago. A sandal found in Oregon has been estimated to be about 9000 years old and rock paintings from more than 15,000 years ago show evidence of foot coverings.

In a paper on the history of thongs, written by Cameron Kippen at Curtin University of Technology in Perth , it ' s reported that the soles of primitive thongs and sandals were made from animal hide, leaves, bark or wood. A 3500-year-old pair of papyrus sandals is currently on exhibit at the British Museum

As much as we ' d like to think thongs are as Australian as meat pies and Holdens, the modern thongs with a rubber sole were first produced in New Zealand in 1957 and are now as likely to be seen on the feet of fashionistas in New York and rickshaw drivers in alleyways of Bangkok as on beachgoers in Australia

Since their original production, thongs have changed very little in their design but slap on a brand name and the price tags take on a life of their own. While you can pick up a pair of plain Havaiana thongs for about $17, Burberry flip-flops can be found for $108, Helmut Lang for a mere $160 and Gucci for $315.   Now that ' s burning rubber.

FYI – our thongs did not cost that much Thailand has a huge selection of Thongs – our items vary in price range from 29Baht per pair, to our most expensive at 99Baht per pair!! The classic ‘havaianas’ with the Aus flag were a donation from my good friend Sarah Anderson – thanks buddy! And Thanks to Franck from the Condom Project for their sample thongs!!

Vegemite

By Chris Sheedy     (Story courtesy of Sunday Life Magazine, Sun-Herald 23 Jan 2005 )

In every culture, there are foods locals adore and from which outsiders recoil.   The French love escargot.   On Thanksgiving Day, Americans devour candied yams.   Even the most cultured Italian salivates at the thought of tripe in a white wine and tomato sauce.   We Australians have bottled our internationally reviled obsession. It ' s a gooey, black substance, similar in appearance to axlegrease, and it sits proudly in eight out of 10 Australian pantries.

The first jar of the product now known as Vegemite was labeled "pure vegetable extract" by food technologist Dr Cyril P. Callister. The Fred Walker Company, which produced, sold and exported cheese (and eventually became Kraft Foods Ltd), had hired Callister in 1922 to create a foodstuff from waste brewer ' s yeast obtained from Melbourne s Carlton & United Breweries. Yeast cells were taken from a beer vat and washed before being broken down by enzymes, allowing vitamins, minerals and proteins to leach out into the liquid. It was then concentrated into a thick paste and seasoned with salt and vegetable extracts such as onion and celery.

A national naming competition followed, offering 50 pounds to the winner - an enormous amount at the time. But although it was launched with much fanfare in 1923, Vegemite did not immediately seduce the Australian palate and, in 1928, poor sales convinced Walker  to change the name to Parwill in an attempt to piggyback on the success of Britains Marmite ("If Marmite, then Parwill").

Thankfully, Walker reverted to the original name and in 1937, after two years of giving away a free jar of Vegemite with other Fred Walker products, the nation was finally hooked. But Walker, who died of heart failure in 1935, never witnessed Vegemite ' s success.

During World War II, Australian troops were kept well fed with Vegemite, creating great goodwill towards the brand. After the war, its high levels of vitamin B made it a favourite with mums.   Today we consume almost 23 million jars of Vegemite a year and the dark spread is found in one out of every three sandwiches eaten.

If you are also interested the artwork on the wall…. Great views of Australia , the Nullabor Plain and the Great Barrier Reef – makes you want to visit right now doesn’t it!!? Hey don’t knock ‘em, painted ‘em myself, my boyfriend did the Vegemite jar!!