But Wait ...... There's More !!!

I am not a superstar, you understand, but .... I have to say, that I have now attended my first "Premiere". Friends of mine hosted an evening where we all viewed the Collectors programme on the ABC. Some had even dressed for the occasion in hats or ties covered in clothes pegs and one fabulous young man had hand painted a vest with "Go Pegman" emblazoned upon it.

The programme was excellent - even though I say it myself. The ABC Collectors team had done a wonderful filming and editing job and I didn't appear to be half as nervous as I actually was.

Best of all, others have now seen the extent of my collection and are clamouring to help increase it.

The first person was a wonderful guy who left the following comment on this page.

Hi - I've just watched your segment on the 'Collectors'
I still currently use pegs made by residents of Morisset Psychiatric Hospital (NSW)in the 1980's as part of their rehabilitation to sheltered workshop employment.
They are yellow plastic-coated thick wire made on a large manually operated machine.

I contacted him by e-mail and he very kindly sent me four of the pegs.
But wait ... there's more ...

When he went to the post office to post them to me, he called in on his folks on the way and told them what he was doing .... upshot of it was they gave me some pegs too. These were made in the depression from fencing wire.



Aren't they fabulous?

I can't thank him enough.

But wait ... there's even more ...

Yesterday, two young children knocked on the door asking to see "Mr. Pegman". They had brought me a couple of new pegs too ..... and even made me a personalised pegman bookmark.



How lucky am I?

Hobart and Beyond ....

Most Friday nights, over the last 5 years, a program is shown at 8pm on the ABC Television channel called “The Collectors”.
As the name implies the half hour program features Australian personal collections. The first quarter of an hour covers a main collection and the three members of the panel then ask the collector questions.

In December, I had been filmed, along with my collection and had been invited to the studio in January. Before that we had a four-way hook up between Andy (the presenter), Adrian and Nicole (two members of the panel) and myself. I was very nervous but Andy said “We are pleased with the film already shot and are looking forward to seeing you in the studio”. They asked a load of questions and I did my best to give entertaining answers. After 20 minutes the nerve-racking call was over and I could breath again - oh what a relief.

January 15th came round all too quickly and I loaded my suitcase, full of unusual clothes pegs into the free hire car to the airport. The one-hour flight to Hobart passed uneventfully and DB and I were soon on our way to a motel in the heart of the small city. We had a quick walk around the city centre and then down to the waters edge for a meal.

We had an early breakfast before being picked up for the short trip to the studio. DB was concerned about being in the way but they assured us she would find the day interesting. I was just nervous but the day started well. I met and chatted to Andy in the car park, he put me at my ease and I began to relax a little.

After having a talk with Adrian and Nicole it was time to go to makeup for a light powdering to tone down my shiny forehead. Then we went into a preview room to see the excellent film that had been shot in December and then the panel listened to some of the humourous experiences I have had whilst collecting.

Still feeling a bit tense I was led into the studio where a clothesline was set up replete with a multitude of my more unusual pegs.

Under hot blinding lights and surrounded by at least 20 technicians operating cameras and sound equipment, Andy opened the show.
"What on earth are these huge pegs used for?”; "There is obviously a serious design side to pegs?"; "Which country has the most different pegs?” were just some of the questions fired at me during the half hour filming.

Back in the green room Adrian came and chatted with DB and me for at least an hour afterwards. He collects watches and we talked about my time at Smiths Industries in the UK.

Then, in a flurry of excitement, the next collector arrived. Franca Arena is a lovely lady who collects Chinese snuff bottles and in no time flat had us all entertained with these exquisite works of art so beautiful to look at and so expensive that we put them back in their box very carefully!

DB and I were driven back to the ABC headquarters and we had time for lunch and a few hours wandering around Hobart before headed to the airport for our short flight to a waiting car that whisked us back home.

We’d had a wonderfully interesting day and I am now waiting impatiently for the airing of the show.

If you are in Australia, watch the ABC at 8 p.m. on February 22nd 2008

Jerusalem Peg Convention ....

I think I shall have to replace my photographer ... these are the photos she took in Jerusalem of a magical evening with three other peg enthusiasts .... I know it was dark, but honestly they do not do justice to the evening. One of the most memorable in a long long time!

Where have I been?

There has been an acute shortage of blogs lately because I am travelling again.

On this trip there have been a few peg experiences which I shall relate to you later, but one of the most brilliant has been the meeting of minds in Jerusalem.

I am in an Intnet cafe in India at the moment and the computer is refusing to upload the photos that DB took.

I will try again at a later date .....

till then, my friends,

ta ta

Oh No ... it's not about pegs is it?

Are you sitting comfortably? Well make sure you are because I have a story to tell and some pictures to show you.


For the last seven years I have been building a "Cutler" style roll top desk. I have constructed it almost entirely from Australian River Red Gum which I have bought as rough planks from a lovely guy who runs a wood yard in the Barmah Forest in deepest Victoria.



Red Gum is an exceedingly hard wood and is consequently very heavy. It has a wonderful variety of grains with heaps of blemishes which give it a fantastic character. I have used railway nails collected from the remains of the old Ghan railway in South Australia as handles for some of the drawers.

Why has it taken me seven years? Well, apart from the fact that I am not an expert cabinet maker, this desk is very complex and I have incorporated much more than mere woodwork. My desk is unique and I thought I would tell you about some of its more interesting features.



Firstly of course there is the roll top or 'tambour' as it is known in the trade (not that I am in the trade you understand). The special feature of my tambour is that it is activated by a remote control which automatically opens the desk.

As a child I was always fascinated my my mother's writing desk which had a secret compartment and so I have included lots of secret cupboards and controls within the desk.

I have hidden my computer in a drawer and there is an electronic control which causes the keyboard and screen to rise up and open from within the desk. This control also switches on the computer. Yes, I know I could have just used a lap-top, but that is just way too easy!



My printer is hidden deep within the bowels of the desk and when I use it, pages magically appear in one of my drawers. I haven't yet found a way of automatically inserting more paper into the printer hopper so at the moment I have a hidden device which causes the side of the desk to slide open and reveal the printer so that I can re-fill it.



At the front of the desktop there is a small carved cupboard door which opens by means of a voice activated control. This control will, not only switch on the internal light, but also tell me if anyone else has attempted to open it.

Intruders B E W A R E !!

Incidentally, the door of this cupboard is a carved Celtic knot design which has great personal meaning for me. I do not know the Celtic origins, but to me represents "Perseverence".



As the desk is nearing completion (at long last I hear most of you say ...) my thoughts have turned to the chair. For some time I have been looking for a suitable chair but not one single chair had all the design features that I wanted. DB said ... "Well, if you've managed to design and make your own desk, surely a chair wouldn't be that difficult .." WELL I ask you!!

After much contemplation (I never do anything quickly) and a bit of serendipitous luck on e-Bay, I finally found a chair that I liked and as it is made in Oak, I have decided to copy the "Captain's Chair" design in Red Gum. That way, I satisfy both my demands, and those of DB which can't be bad.



I'll keep you posted as to its progress, and once I've finished it, I'll be sitting comfortably, just like you.

T.V. or not T.V. .... that is the question

Well here is a strange looking item in my collection. Strictly speaking it shouldn't be there, but it is still a peg and illustrates one of the many uses that the humble clothes peg has been put to.

Apparently, when televisions were first introduced into America and they had more than one channel, the TVs weren't equipped with the means to change the channel ... can you believe that? No remotes? No twiddly knobs? How did they change to the other side?

Don't quote me, but I have been told that the householders put up an aerial or antenna for each channel and ran the cables down to their lounge.

Attached to the TV by wires and hanging down at the back were these pegs which they would use to connect the TV to the antenna - I wouldn't like to have changed channels when there was lightning about.