Buckshot Bear

Folks weren't just tough back in the day, they had tough bums that could handle newspaper. No triple ply quilted plush for them.

Good question.

‘FIRST FEMALE BULL RIDER IN AUSTRALIA’ ABC News. When Dianne Luppi won her first rodeo event as an 11-year-old she was shocked when the judges refused to give her the prize because she was a girl. "I was tall, skinny and gangly and everyone thought I was a boy, so when they called out my number after the race, they were surprised to learn I was a girl," she says. "They didn't want to give me the prize — an 18-inch embossed western saddle on a stand — but some of the top cowboys sitting on top of the chute said I did the best ride and I deserved the trophy, so they eventually gave it to me." Ms Luppi was a trailblazer in the male-dominated rodeo scene, although as a teenager she had to pretend to be a male on the circuit to compete. At the age of 16, Dianne registered with the Australian Rough Riders Association (ARRA) under the false name of Deat Lucas. "I thought they wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a boy and a girl with a name like Deat and everyone just thought I was a young ringer," she says. "I only got away with it for a few rodeos though because I got caught out when I was busting for a pee." After squatting behind a truck, one of the stockmen caught her and dobbed her in, which stopped her from competing. This only made her more determined. She started up a women's rough riders association, but it didn't take off as she couldn't find other women interested in bull riding. Ms Luppi took a break from the rodeo circuit but after two marriages and two children, she moved to Far North Queensland and rediscovered the scene. Rodeo had changed since the Sex Discrimination Act was passed in 1984 and women could no longer be excluded from the sport. "When I found out I could ride at the Mareeba Rodeo, I looked around for a cowboy about my height and size and asked him if I could borrow his jeans and his boots," she says. "He asked me why and I told him I really wanted to ride one of the bulls and he said, 'Well, I've got to see this' and he took off his boots and lent me a pair of jeans.'" She stayed on that bull for about seven seconds and went on to ride in many rodeos, including the Mount Garnet Rodeo, which earned her a spot in the Women's Museum of Australia as the first woman to compete against men in open bull riding in 1984.

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1904 Chook raffle goes wrong In June 1904, the Kalgoorlie Sun recounted the tale of a chook raffle in a local pub. The chicken, in this case was a live one, at least initially. However, the winner had left the pub before the draw and a week or so later, after he’d failed to return to claim his prize, it ended up on the pub’s menu. Poultry raffles were not unusual, but weren’t quite the same as the regular Friday night chook raffle that became a tradition at Aussie pubs and clubs from the 1950s. In the early 19th century, raffling was a routine way to dispose of property. Notices in newspapers advertised pianos, furniture, duelling pistols, timepieces and many other, usually valuable, objects to be disposed of by raffle. Horses were also raffled and in 1833 Sydney papers announced:” THE lovers of aquatic amusements are respectfully informed that a beautiful fast-pulling WHERRY, built in England, will be raffled… Sometimes the items being raffled were edible. In December 1832, G. Russell of George Street in Sydney advertised that a large plum cake, weighing 112 lbs (around 50kg) and valued at £18 would be raffled on 6 January. The raffle was to consist of thirty members at 10 shillings each. Poultry raffles, which mostly involved turkeys and geese, but occasionally chickens (live or dressed) were not an exclusively Australian phenomenon. They were common in America, often around the festive season and Thanksgiving. Birds were often raffled in taverns, giving the practice a slightly seedy reputation. This was all entirely legal, but had its opponents who argued that the practice encouraged gambling. In the 1850s most Australian colonies passed laws forbidding or strictly regulating raffles. Some offered exemptions for charity bazaars. While the use of raffling as a means of sale ceased, it seems the laws were selectively enforced and raffles persisted into the 20th century. In 1906, the New South Wales Attorney General cracked down, saying there was “too much elasticity in the administration of the Lotteries Act.” As you might expect, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union became involved. In 1918, these righteous ladies mounted a campaign against charities raising money through raffles. Perhaps they were targeting charitable souls like Miss Finlayson of Armidale who, that year, was raffling a meat basket to help raise money for the building of soldiers’ homes. The meat raffle, like the chook raffle, was to become another Australian tradition. Although the term chook raffle seems to have emerged in the 1950s, the practice had a much longer history. In 1920, the Perth Mirror, under the heading of “Fowl Play”, recounted the tale of two con men who collected money for raffle tickets from bar patrons, then scarpered through the billiard room window taking the two prize chickens with them. In 1938, The Truth protested that “The latest police brainwave is to abolish raffles in hotels. For years – particularly during the depression – some men have been knocking out a few shillings by raffling oysters or poultry on Fridays”. The first documented winner of the charity “chook raffle” in its modern form, and with its familiar name, was one Ernie Dwyer, who held the winning ticket in the Cabramatta Bowling Club’s weekly fundraiser on Saturday 20 October 1956. In the 1950s and early ’60s, my father participated in the regular raffles at the Caulfield North RSL Club, every so often arriving home on a Saturday evening with a ready-to-roast chicken. He was known to remark that these were probably the most expensive chickens we ever ate, given the number of losing tickets he’d purchased over the years. These days, when roasting a chicken at home has largely been replaced by ducking into the supermarket for a rotisseried bird, the charity raffle in the pub or club is more likely to be for a meat tray. Often, especially in country towns, these are held to support a local football team sponsored by the pub in question. “Chook raffle” has now become something of a derogatory term for an incompetently run election.

‘’BLUEY’ - Guinness Book of Records. Bluey earned a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records by living for a very long time. This dog was a legitimate Australian Cattle Dog that spent almost 20 years of his life working cattle on a ranch in Australia. We know that most dogs wouldn’t have the energy to work so hard that long. But Bluey just kept going and going. He finally passed peacefully on November 14, 1939, at the ripe old age of 29 years and 5 months.

Remember as a kid doing the dishes with this?