Our pride has unravelled like a cheap wool jersey
WHO remembers the Woolmark? I grew up on a sheep farm where we were proud of the product we sold. Every fleece was carefully sorted into grades so the spinning and weaving factories could know the quality of the wool they were buying. Our farm name was stencilled on every bale of wool that was loaded into the big railway bus and buyers knew they were getting fine wool if it had our logo on it.
My family insisted that clothing we bought carried the trefoil knot and the words, “Pure New Wool”.
I still have a fine woollen jersey with the Woolmark embroidered on it. It’s soft and warm and now more that 50 years old and as good as new.
There was an ongoing advertising campaign in newspapers and magazines extolling the many virtues of wool – soft, warm, tough and fire resistant.
As a youngster I was taken to visit woollen mills and shown how our wool was washed, combed, carded and spun before being woven into fine worsted fabric.
I felt a glow of pride when I saw brands like Rex Trueform and Waverley on the shop shelves. They were part of South African pride.
The citrus industry had a similar tradition of good quality control. Only the finest, blemish-free oranges could be stamped with the Outspan name and exported to the world.
More recently we had the “Proudly South African” campaign and I always made a point of buying goods bearing that label if I had a choice.
The label has vanished, but I still try to support the South African industry if I can.
It’s not easy nowadays. Even the South African souvenirs the tourists take home are made in China.
I wonder where all that South African pride went. Even our national sports teams now play for money rather than pride.
Our shopkeepers sell any old imported rubbish as long as they can make a profit.
Our people seem more interested in supporting political parties than in being loyal to South Africa.
We are led by party politicians, rather than statesmen, so I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised at the lack of national pride.
On the other hand, I see many wonderful organisations raising money for education, giving free tuition to children from poorer areas, collecting clothes for the homeless and running soup kitchens for the hungry.
There really is a great deal of good work being done to make South Africa a happier country.
Thousands of good people are giving their time and money to help their fellow humans without any thought of reward. Wouldn’t it be nice if the government were doing the same?
Last Laugh
Several anxious fathers-to-be paced the floor of the maternity home waiting room. One wealthy Johannesburg stockbroker, however, sat quietly in the corner scanning the market reports on his laptop computer. Eventually a nurse came in and tapped him on the shoulder and said: “It’s a boy, sir.” Without looking up from his screen the stockbroker snapped: “Well, ask him what he wants.”