Last week, Antoinette Riley (C8) had a question about what to do with 133 perfectly good but unwanted fridge magnets. As always, Col8ers leapt in with advice.
“If your correspondent means those fridge magnets that come in plain envelopes from plumbers, I have a use popular with children,” claims Lyn Langtry of East Ryde. “Place paper over the printed side, hole punch each corner, tie magnet and paper together, and there is a perfect canvas for artwork.”
Kerry Kyriacou of Strathfield points out that magnets are a must when shopping for a used car. “Good for testing if body filler, aka bog, has been used to repair accident damage.” That’s a really great tip, but we still have 132 magnets to go.
“Where I live, fridge magnets, mostly advertising the services of ‘local’ tradies, in what must be the most ineffective advertising campaign of all time, appear in our letterbox at least once a week,” says Ian Falconer of Turramurra. “A nuisance, and I doubt they can be economically recycled. The magnets are a combination of magnetite (iron oxide) and barium oxide, materials which are of low commercial value.”
Suzanne Saunders of Wadeville reckons “133 fridge magnets should easily be enough to make a vest, printed side in, for Antoinette to stand in the backyard and see where it takes her. Who cares about charisma when you have magnetism?”
“Thanks to Barry Wooldridge for the memories of Jaffa milkshakes (C8),” writes Charles McGuirk of Castle Hill. “During the 1950s, we youngsters, after school, would move to the Waratah Cafe in Temora, not only to enjoy a Jaffa milkshake but sometimes a Fanta milkshake, which consisted of chocolate and caramel flavouring. Both were a delight, but not at the same time.”
Regarding frozen treats (C8), Meri Will of Baulkham Hills recalls a couple of DIY options: “When we were kids, our mother used to cut oranges into quarters and freeze them, transforming them into summer afternoon delights. A friend’s mother would put some grapes in a plastic cup, fill it with cordial and add a Paddle Pop stick before freezing, creating another deliciously icy after-school delicacy.”
Speaking of which, Elspeth Galicek of Chatswood has a correction for pyramid schemers: “Not wishing to be pedantic but those ice blocks were Razzes – not Razes. And they were so much better than Sunnyboys.” Well, that comes as no surprise.
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