History (Fossilized)
Melbourne Carnival 1958
I attended the Centenary Carnival in Melbourne in 1958 with my mate
Norm Roberts a man in his fifties. Despite the age difference we were good mates in the
"hug free" style of the times. Norm was in Tobruk during the war and spent years
driving trucks every night and sleeping during the day so the Nullabor held no fears for
him. We did the trip in well under three days although it was all dirt from Norseman
on and there were a lot of gates to open and close.
Graham Farmer.
It was the coldest winter for 80 years, in Melbourne, but that didn't stop it raining
every day.
We saw one game at South Melbourne at night but the lights were so poor and the mist
so thick it was a dismal experience.
The first VFL game I saw was between Carlton and North Melbourne. Sergio Silvagni was
quite brilliant at centre-half-back and I was always of the opinion that he was the best
footballer in his family.
The Carlton supporters had arrived early, taken up a block of seats in the grandstand
and draped a large flag over the front. This infuriated the North supporters. Eventually
one of them shimmied up a 3 inch pipe and used his cigarette lighter to set the flag on fire.
It took him about 20 clicks to get the lighter to work and he nearly fell a few times.
As he climbed down he lost his meagre grip and fell the last 2m or so.
