Friday, November 04, 2005
Why are they 'furphies'? :: ABC Central Victoria
Why are they 'furphies'?
Wednesday, 19 October 2005
Reporter: Dave Lennon
You've probably heard someone say that someone else is 'telling furphies', or that a story is 'a bit of a furphy'.
The word is a uniquely Australian idiom, a way of saying that something is an exaggerated story, a false report, a rumour. But how did they come to be named furphies in the first place? It might seem odd (even a possible furphy) to say that water carts had something to do with it - but it's a fact that a brand of water cart had everything to do with the naming of furphies.
The Furphy family has a long history in central Victoria; John Furphy moved from Kyneton to Shepparton in 1873 and that's where the story began. John Furphy set up a smithy in the then-tiny town of Shepparton (the 1871 census shows only six dwellings and a total population of 33) and, within a few years, he'd become well known as a blacksmith, a wheelwright, and also as an agricultural machinery supplier.
A decade after setting up his business in Shepparton, John Furphy and his long-time employee Uriah 'Cocky' Robinson, came up with the idea of a mobile water tank, and within a few years, Furphy water carts were familiar sights.
Andrew Furphy is John's great-grandson, and he has co-authored a book, 'Furphy: The Water Cart and The Word', all about the history of both the cart and the word.
So how did a family name come to be a byword for tall stories and exaggerations?
The name itself became well known because of John Furphy's marketing genius, Andrew says.
"He used that water cart - the cast iron end, in raised lettering - to advertise his materials, to add moral messages. It has become a collectors' item for this very reason - there are a lot of material on the ends. The advertising have changed, there's about 12 or 15 different models, collectors love them."
At various stages, the tank ends included moral messages about the advisability of drinking water instead of beer, endorsement of the 1940s message to 'populate or perish', and a short poem for which Furphy tanks became famous: "Good, better, best/Never let it rest/Till your best is better,/And your better best." The carts also had 'Furphy' painted on the sides in vivid, dark red paint that really stood out. And it's that visibility that led to 'furphy' becoming a byword for rumour around the time of World War One.
"Furphy water tanks were selected to supply water to the Broadmeadows camp just out of Melbourne in 1914, when the troops were embarking to the First World War. These tanks were used for hygienic water supplies at the latrines.
"This was one place where the troops could gather and in their anxious state, they were very, very keen to find out what was happening. The officers didn't disseminate much information, so obviously, it was an ideal spot for rumours to become rife. With the tank there, with the large lettering on the side, they associated the rumours with the word 'furphy'.
"That went overseas then to Gallipoli in the First World War, and has become a word that's still used today."
At first, it was an exclusively Victorian word - then more and more Australians from other states began to pick it up. The earliest example of 'furphy' in writing was in April, 1915, in a diary entry written by Staff Sergeant John Treloar, when he was camped near Cairo:
"Today's 'furphy', for never a day goes by without at least one being created, was about lights being prohibited in camp on account of the possibility of a German airship raid. Some of the troops do not suffer from lack of imagination." ¶ 4:00 PM
Wednesday, 19 October 2005
Reporter: Dave Lennon
You've probably heard someone say that someone else is 'telling furphies', or that a story is 'a bit of a furphy'.
The word is a uniquely Australian idiom, a way of saying that something is an exaggerated story, a false report, a rumour. But how did they come to be named furphies in the first place? It might seem odd (even a possible furphy) to say that water carts had something to do with it - but it's a fact that a brand of water cart had everything to do with the naming of furphies.
The Furphy family has a long history in central Victoria; John Furphy moved from Kyneton to Shepparton in 1873 and that's where the story began. John Furphy set up a smithy in the then-tiny town of Shepparton (the 1871 census shows only six dwellings and a total population of 33) and, within a few years, he'd become well known as a blacksmith, a wheelwright, and also as an agricultural machinery supplier.
A decade after setting up his business in Shepparton, John Furphy and his long-time employee Uriah 'Cocky' Robinson, came up with the idea of a mobile water tank, and within a few years, Furphy water carts were familiar sights.
Andrew Furphy is John's great-grandson, and he has co-authored a book, 'Furphy: The Water Cart and The Word', all about the history of both the cart and the word.
So how did a family name come to be a byword for tall stories and exaggerations?
The name itself became well known because of John Furphy's marketing genius, Andrew says.
"He used that water cart - the cast iron end, in raised lettering - to advertise his materials, to add moral messages. It has become a collectors' item for this very reason - there are a lot of material on the ends. The advertising have changed, there's about 12 or 15 different models, collectors love them."
At various stages, the tank ends included moral messages about the advisability of drinking water instead of beer, endorsement of the 1940s message to 'populate or perish', and a short poem for which Furphy tanks became famous: "Good, better, best/Never let it rest/Till your best is better,/And your better best." The carts also had 'Furphy' painted on the sides in vivid, dark red paint that really stood out. And it's that visibility that led to 'furphy' becoming a byword for rumour around the time of World War One.
"Furphy water tanks were selected to supply water to the Broadmeadows camp just out of Melbourne in 1914, when the troops were embarking to the First World War. These tanks were used for hygienic water supplies at the latrines.
"This was one place where the troops could gather and in their anxious state, they were very, very keen to find out what was happening. The officers didn't disseminate much information, so obviously, it was an ideal spot for rumours to become rife. With the tank there, with the large lettering on the side, they associated the rumours with the word 'furphy'.
"That went overseas then to Gallipoli in the First World War, and has become a word that's still used today."
At first, it was an exclusively Victorian word - then more and more Australians from other states began to pick it up. The earliest example of 'furphy' in writing was in April, 1915, in a diary entry written by Staff Sergeant John Treloar, when he was camped near Cairo:
"Today's 'furphy', for never a day goes by without at least one being created, was about lights being prohibited in camp on account of the possibility of a German airship raid. Some of the troops do not suffer from lack of imagination." ¶ 4:00 PM
