Invented as airline food in 1926, is still served today in economy class on some planes, but originally this pudding compound was the mainstay of desserts for TAA for over 47 years.
Akubra
The Akubra family arrived from Poland in the late eighteenth century. Harry Akubramowicz was transported here for the theft of a beret in the Portobello Markets, London, where he happened to be holidaying. His obsession with headgear led him to invent Australia's first hat which by necessity was festooned with corks, and a little daub of honey on the top in order to be totally safe.
Chenille
Derived from the French for 'horse's mane'. La Perouse imported horses into Australia from Noumea and during the Napoleonic Wars, what with the wool shortage, the horses' manes were knitted into ridged blankets for the horses of Governor Lachlan Macquarie in the building that later was to become the Conservatorium of Music. Later chenille became pastel coloured and did not involve horse's hair but moved into the Australian bedroom as a bed cover. Australia then sent it out into the world.
The Esky
First called the 'Inuit', it was initially used to transport donors' organs from fatal accident sites to hospitals and waiting patients. It was not until some St John's Ambulancemen participated in a national Where do you get it? advertising campaign, that its great potential for transporting beer was understood.
Lamingtons
The Savoy in London claims to have first baked a Lamington as does the Royal Hotel in Auckland, New Zealand. The truth is that the chef at the Harbord Beach Hotel did a memorial gateaux and named it 'Brick cake with chocolate and coconut flakes' but after the sinking of the Titanic, the chef who lost his half-sister in the tragedy, decided to re-name it after her old employer, the baron, whose mountain property on the brick-shaped plateau Lamington so much resembled his creation.
Pavlova
Straight after Russian scientist Ivan Petrovich Pavlov received the Nobel Prize for his work on conditioned reflexes in dogs, he turned his attention to salivation in humans. His team of Stalinist researchers came up with the Pavlova, a cake of heavy meringue. Although Stalin personally took an interest in the rather unethical hush-hush experiments, they were not successful due to the rather unlucky choice of decorations: mash potato with a sprinkling of fish roe. Not until the recipe was smuggled out to Australia by Pavlov's estranged daughter, Anna Ivanovna, was the missing passion fruit element realised and the cake turned to great international success.
The Septic Tank
Invented by Peter Skimmings, a missionary from Lismore, for the betterment of New Guinea natives along the Sepik River, it took the world by storm. Having made a fortune out of the septic tank, Skimmings later lost it all in his unsuccessful attempt to market the triple flush toilet.
Vegemite
Formerly Vegemite was dripped on boils. It came in a stick form and mothers lit matches and dripped it on sores. Unfortunately, and we are not sure who, a young student picked these off and put it on a sandwich. Vegemite, as we know it today in its whipped form, was born.
The Ugh Boot
Invented by Jaros Ugh, a Hungarian refugee working on the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme, for use in the explosives section where the merest spark could set off a whole mountain. His name, coincidentally, in Hungarian means 'walking whisper'. Today the Ughs are one of the wealthiest families in the nation and the dynasty, headed by famous socialite Lady Ugh, devotes itself to miniaturizing koalas.
The Victa Motor Mower
Named after Victor Mature, the hirsute film star. The earliest model was a modified Vespa which Mary Bright of Southport had nagged her husband into adapting for her needs. She convinced Mr Bright to name the invention after seeing Victor Mature getting his hair clipped in Samson and Delilah.
XXXX
The Fourex family, Xenon, Xerox, Xerxes and Xhosa (adopted), four brothers who came over from Greece on the Patris, created the XXXX brewery and then set out to marry daughters of the four great brewers of Australia: Resch, Tooth, Toohey and Fosters. Many of the beer glasses still popular today bear the nicknames of their brides: Midi, Pony, Schooner, and Pot.
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