© 2018 Greg & Sylvia RAY

Remember Green Coupons?

In decades past, many Australian households had little pocket-sized albums in which were stuck hundreds of tiny stamp-like coupons. These were diligently saved until the books were full and then traded for items at special stores that were operated by the companies that issued the stamps. A number of these loyalty schemes existed, but for many years the biggest and most popular was probably the Green Coupon. It seems that Green Coupons began in the United States in 1896 when the Sperry and Hutchinson Company introduced their clever scheme, under which they sold sheets of "trading…

Continue ReadingRemember Green Coupons?

Pozieres 1916: hell on earth under shellfire

This is an excerpt from our book, The Hunter Region in The Great War. After the slaughter of Fromelles, where the Australian 5th Division had been critically weakened in a failed “feint”, the main British attack on the Somme awaited an Australian contribution. The British attack had gotten off to a bad start. The artillery bombardment before the infantry attack didn’t do the damage the British generals had hoped for, so casualties on the British side were extremely heavy. About 20,000 died on the first day, with many more wounded. But the British, committed to trying…

Continue ReadingPozieres 1916: hell on earth under shellfire

Some thoughts on aged care packages

I wish people in government would stop pretending to be surprised that Australia's aged care system is a mess. It's not surprising at all. Encourage private investors to take over any "caring" sector, let them shift profits offshore to avoid taxes, let them cut staff to the bone and employ the least qualified workers they can find, let them hide the truth about what they spend on food and care and avoid regulating or scrutinising them and what do you think you will get? The bottom line seems to be that governments don't care about powerless…

Continue ReadingSome thoughts on aged care packages
×
×

Cart