Death of a Furphy Icon?

Many many years ago I attended my father’s funeral in central Victoria. Some months later I went back to the farm for the clearance (no reserve) sale of items not wanted in the estate. I was just another buyer despite being a quarter beneficiary. I bought two lots, some old military horse shoe holders, and a colourful but damaged china jug. It sat in the middle of the kitchen table as a decoration. As a child I often sat on a nearby couch looking at it.

I would swivel my head, close one eye and then the other and marvel at how I could “move” the jug around. I had discovered stereo vision.

Moving on, I found the furphy tank I had seen as a boy. I wanted the cast iron end. But how to break it from the tank? My two brothers approached, accompanied by two buyers. One produced a chain saw and cut off the shafts at the front of the tank. They wrestled the tank onto a trailer and drove off. A new life for the tank!

Angus