I am a keen photographer and over the years I have taken many photos of places and people around Shepparton and district. Those who know me know that I like word play and fascinated with our 'slanguage'.
So, we are producing a smallish souvenir book called Shepp that will be full of local photos with some Aussie slang that helps describe an aspect of each photo. It will be available at the Lost Shepparton Shop and Focus Cards and Gift and other local book shops and newsagents. Planned release is Easter this year. Pre-order your copy at a special price.
Cost: $10 (this is 30% off retail) Books will retail for about $15. Click here.

WIN TV are on the hunt for local photographers to share their photos for the weather segment. Good to see them featuring more local content and getting involved with the communities in this region.
​Here are a few of my photos that have been featured.

It's hard to imagine that people would queue to see a razor demonstration.

50 years ago on Feb 14th, 1966 ... In came the Dollars and Cents and out went the Pounds, Shillings and Pence.
See the video and jingle here.
In Shepparton, in 12 days, we will see our own local currency launched...also an exciting occasion.
Shepparton's own Ducats will compliment our decimal currency to support local businesses in particular.
Final design tweaks are nearly done and then off to a Shepparton printer, where else?
Official Launch: Shepparton City Market - Friday 26th & 27th, in the Mall look out for the Ducat Exchange.
​After this event the Ducat Exchange will be at the Lost Shepparton Shop.
Participating businesses here.
More info about our Ducats here.

The Dollar very nearly had another name altogether.
There was a royal uproar when it was announced and many views and opinions were bandied around....
In April 1963, Prime Minister Robert Menzies announced that pounds, shillings and pence were to be ditched in favour of decimal coinage.
In the wake of this bombshell, the whole country had an opinion about what the new money should be named.
The kwid, the champ, the deci-mate and even the hughes were among hundreds of names suggested.
There were other, more tempered possibilities — the austral and the emu had their supporters — but one name was the standout, the obvious and best choice, and on June 5, 1963, Treasurer Harold Holt revealed all.
Our currency would be, he told Parliament and an expectant nation, the royal.
Holt said that after a "close and careful examination", not one of the other possible contenders had been able to beat it.
None "would be fully acceptable to the public", he said.
According to the Treasurer, they lacked "such desirable attributes as brevity and pleasing sound".
Royal was a dignified, distinctive name, Holt said, with the advantage of emphasising Australia's link with the Crown.
These ties went deeper with the minor denominations. The royal was divided into 100 cents, with the coins named after their pre-decimal predecessors — the crown (50 cents), the florin (20 cents) and the shilling (10 cents).
The public, Holt said, would get used to the idea of the royal once the novelty had worn off.
He was dead wrong.
Read more here:

If you are a collector your can order a special set of Ducats (1,2, 5 & 10D notes) from the Lost Shepparton Shop or online at our Tilt (crowdfunding) page. Special deal for all those who order pre-launch.

Nearly everyday at the shop we have people bring in old photos or memorabilia of Shepparton's past. It's wonderful and a great surprise to see what has survived. A great relief too as we get many people tell us that their family has, over the years, thrown out photos and history as they thought that no one would be interested.
Just recently Padge Power brought in this marvellous menu that was used at the Neo Cafe. I wonder how they were used. Were they used as table mats (as there are 2 menus on the sheet) or passed around from table to table?
An unusual item is the Egg Chocolate drink 10d.
​
If you would like one of these as a souvenir we have them in the shop laminated.
Size: about 40cm x 40cm. Cost: $15

A podcast is a program (as of music or talk) made available in digital format for automatic download over the Internet.
I tend to listen to these rather than the radio as I can choose from a whole range of topics that interest me. However, I am yet to find a really good Australian history podcast.
It just so happened that I found a young man who was wanting a space to record his own podcasts with his friends and I was wanting to record people's stories about Shepparton. So I offered one of the spare rooms at the Lost Shepparton Shop for us to do both and voila we have our very own recording studio.
​So Taite and I are going to work together, with some of his friends, to produce a series of podcasts about Shepparton's history which will include interviews with a whole range of locals about growing up and various topics.
​I would like to pay Taite for use of his equipment and time so the cost to download these podcasts will be - Pay what you can afford.
​Comment below if you are interested and we will send you some samples. Also let us know if you have some stories to tell and would like to be interviewed.