Recounting The Flower Sellers

      10/7/2019       Next-->

From Darryl Insley U.K.

Your recent recounting of the flower sellers outside the Bulawayo City Hall brought back so many good memories.

My grandma was a market gardener. My grandparents had a smallholding in Lochview and grew the most exceptional chrysanthemums.

Every morning my Grandma got her flowers ready for sale at the City Hall.
Chipunga was the seller! My Grandpa was the caretaker of Milton Junior School for many years (does anyone remember the sign Whittaker's Way )
and so the flowers were loaded on the back of his Datsun pickup and they were off at 7am!

Grandpa dropped Chipunga off at the City Hall where he had his allotted spot. Then Grandpa went off to his job as caretaker. A former prison officer, he was known for his leather belt upon which jangled a collection of keys! With his somewhat stern demeanor (he was actually gentle with us grandchildren), pupils at Milton Junior were very scared of him!

Then come day end the reverse occurred. Grandpa would pick up Chipunga, his steel buckets that once contained beautiful blossoms now empty.

And a livelihood for Grandma. All told a great arrangement creating jobs for many.


Watchdog !!
Snippets

A SHOT OF WHISKEY' - In the old west a .45 cartridge for a six-gun
cost 12 cents, so did a glass of whiskey. If a cowhand was low on
cash he would often give the bartender a cartridge in exchange for a
drink. This became known as a "shot" of whiskey