Column 8

Maureen King's reference to the crash of Lawson Craddock (C8) prompted Harvey Sharpe of Chatswood to ask: "Is the Lawson Craddock who crashed in the Tour de France the same Crash Craddock who recorded songs in the 50s?" Eerily simpatico, George Manojlovic of Mangerton noted that "in 1959 American singer Crash Craddock didn't crash but went Boom Boom Baby anyway."

"Don’t you realise, James Bailie, that buying a printer (C8) is like paying a blackmailer," admonishes Joan Brown of Orange. "You are foolish enough to think it’s a one-off payment, but the demands continue until you take drastic steps, in your case buying a new printer. And guess what? You still have to keep buying cartridges." Meanwhile John Christie of Oatley has bad news for James: "The last printer I bought came with cartridges that were only 15 per cent full." 

A sign caught the eye of Darrell J Waight of Concord West when he stopped in for coffee at a café in Leura recently: “Drink coffee! Do stupid things faster with more energy.”

Peter Maker's reference to the wind entering his FJ Holden (C8) through the holes around the clutch and brake pedals reminded Paul Hunt of Engadine of cars in the early 1950s without air-conditioning: "We compensated with a system called '4 by 60' - driving with the four windows down and travelling at 60 miles per hour."

Trucks and buses both had the mechanical hand signal (C8) in the post-war years, writes Kevin Hassey of Yamba."It was used when the bus turned right and also when moving back into the traffic after a stop."  John Swanton of Coogee is the proud owner of one of those old metal truck indicator hands. "I use it occasionally when bidding in auctions by turning the hand upwards to raise the increments and always get a laugh as it makes a loud metallic clunking sound." John also recalls the old green and cream government buses using them as well.

From his reading of the book You Have Been Warned, the motorists' aid written by Fougasse & McCullough, Harry Bell of Bowral advises "that extended right arm (C8) might mean 'I have just turned or diverged to the right', or perhaps 'That’s where my Aunt Mary used to live'." While Pat Gurr of Paddington notes that for many modern Sydney drivers "the ludicrous notion of signalling your intentions to other vehicles or pedestrians by any method is quaint, time consuming and best not bothered with."

Column8@smh.com.au