On Jun 30, 7:22 am, Tony Polson  wrote:
> Andrew Clarke  wrote:
> >If Oldham were to be magically transported to Australia, there'd be at
> >least a Tubular Bandage Museum, or even a Big Tubular Bandage,
> >complete with souvenir shop and milkbar, plus some signage on the
> >local highway to attract the tourist dollar. With much of mainland
> >Australia currently living in drought conditions, plus the recent hike
> >in fuel prices, our shire councillors will try just about anything to
> >attract the passing trade.
>
> What do drought conditions have to do with advertising the heritage of
> tubular bandages?

If there's drought the farmers don't have any money, and if the
farmers don't have any money, businesses in country towns are going to
feel the pinch. The whole idea of the Big Banana, the Big Merino, the
Gippsland Giant Worm or the Ned Kelly Museum etc is to bring tourists
and travellers into town where they might be tempted to visit the
local pub/newsagent/supermarket/cafe etc. and spend a bit of money
while they're there.

Running a business in the bush can be pretty tough if the local
farmers rely on one good season to pay off the bank loans to keep them
afloat during the bad ones. This can be one good year in five in the
more arid regions.

I suppose a Giant and Extremely Long Tubular Bandage could be
installed between (say) Oldham and (say) Goulburn, home of the Giant
Merino, the town whose local reservoir was completely empty late last
year. That might help.

See http://www.mediavr.com/sheep.htm and yes, you can go inside (bit
pongy I'm told).

Best wishes,

Andrew