Bridging the big issues
Talk of Ben Ean Moselle (C8) reminded me of a time in the 1970s when I went to a drive-through bottle shop to get some wine on the way to a friend's BBQ,' writes Tim Ingall of Scottsdale, Arizona, USA. 'When it appeared the best they had on offer was sparkling porphyry pearl, I asked the young lady serving me, for a bottle of Ben Ean. She looked at me and said, 'we don't serve benzene here'. Defeated, I left with a six-pack of beer.'
When Jenny Lyle of Collaroy's nephew was born in 1993, she gave the baby a gift: 'A bottle of Ben Ean Moselle. His name? Benjamin Ian, of course.'
'I quickly graduated from Ben Ean to Casal Garcia and its very stable mate, Mateus, for me and my 'guest' to wash down three tins of smoked oysters,' recalls Garrett Naumann of Cammeray. 'My place became known as Doyles by the Fence.'
Llewellyn Dickeson of Culburra Beach is sure 'Bill Yonge will be pleased to learn that this year we saw Mateus still being produced and sold in Portugal for €3.07 ($5.45) a bottle. Not much more than he would've paid back in the '60s!'
'We spend a lot of time observing and criticising, women's clothes,' notes Greg Baker of Fitzroy Falls. 'But have Column 8-ers noticed that the breast pocket in men's suits seems to be disappearing?'
It seems Jeff Stanton and Robyn Hansen's claim about the filler-cap (C8) being on the opposite side to the exhaust pipe has been widely challenged by readers. The reason? Twin exhausts! As Graham Carter of Eglinton put it, 'perhaps it has to be in the middle of the vehicle?'
This was certainly the case for Colin Taylor Evans of Lane Cove when he owned a Ford Model-T, which had the fuel filler 'right in front of the windscreen, centrally located and easily filled from either side. It didn't have a fuel gauge, but you could tap on the tank located behind the dash to get an idea of how much fuel remained. Fortunately, there was no cigarette lighter either.'
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