READERSVOICE.com aims to give a few samples from interesting out of print books. Here are a few humorous items from Toowoomba, Strange and Unusual Tales, Volume 1, by Don Talbot and John Larkin, published 2003. Toowoomba is a city in the mountain ranges west of Brisbane. The authors collected the stories of Toowoomba’s past from members of the Toowoomba community.

The stories are a mix of serious and humorous items. Here are some of the more amusing memories.

An Anglican priest loved restoring church organs and making stained glass windows for different denominations. The authors write: He had a great sense of humour and believed that no priest was worth his salt if he couldn’t follow in Christ’s footsteps and do things with his hands.

Father John was enthusiastic in his work. At one time, when he was building an organ in his home, which also served as his workshop, he placed more and more pipes in position and was enthralled by the result. But then his face changed as he realised that the completed church organ was now too big to leave the house through a normal door. A wall had to be removed for the exit.

The book also mentions The Strand which was a movie theatre in Toowoomba. During WW2 many soldiers were based in Toowoomba, including US personnel. Toowoomba can become quite cold in winter. Some of the soldiers would buy hot meat pies and use them as foot warmers during the movie.

Another item concerned the Chinese community in Toowoomba, including the enterprising market gardeners that were in many Australian towns. The Chinese people held traditional festivals and funerals. The authors write: The Chinese always left gifts of food including fruit on the graves and it was not known if they knew of the children watching from behind other gravestones, waiting for the mourners to depart.

And the authors wrote of the steep range on which Toowoomba sits. The authors write: Pioneers in T-model Fords found that first gear was not low enough to negotiate the climb and they would often use the lower reverse gear and drive backwards up the mountain slope.

-continued next page

-readersvoice.com