Peek, Freans and Flegg

 Do you think this clerk usually helped with the flour bags, or just decided to when the moving pictures crew turned up?

At work last week I was looking at a DVD of very early silent films, and there was a promotional film from 1906 of Peek Freans biscuit factory in England.

The film was amazing in various ways, but mainly to me as I'd completely forgotten that Peak Freans existed. The name got stuck in my head when I was very young, and we were on holiday in Sydney staying with my mum's parents in Burwood. Nearby in Ashfield there was a Peak Freans factory with a big clock tower,  and I guess we must have driven past it regularly. (I have Googled it and pinpointed where it was - it's now a Bunnings hardware).

The name Peek Freans is so weird, but at that age you just soak things up as they are. I probably found all kinds of things in Sydney very strange, and Peak Freans just crowded into my mind along with ferries, iced doughnuts, and calling suitcases "ports" as "Sydney things".

Another weird Sydney thing is Flegg. The former junior rugby league competition was called the Flegg Cup. If the season was on the rocks, a club might look to the future and "bring in some kids from Flegg". I used to think it was a made-up name for some kind of modified rugby, like Minkey for hockey, or Auskick for Australian Rules Football. But it's just named after a man named Mr Flegg.

Don Quixote, Sydney, 1974

The pic came from my Auntie Wendy, who has written on the back;

While his two sisters watch admiringly Chris, accompanied by his two faithful followers sets off to "Clean Up Australia" (Years later someone else will claim to have originated the idea).

Ms White Socks at left must be Sally, although it doesn't look like her. Wearing the very daring stripy number in the doorway is Jacki. In the Sancho Panza role behind me is our cousin Helen. I don't know who the happy guy she's strangling is.