Do you remember (Brooke and John reminded me of this) – in primary school when you had a lunch order?
I used to pore over the typewritten list to choose my favourites. I remember the list would look like this.
vegemite sandwich…………………70c
jam sandwich…………………………70c
ham sandwich………………………..80c
pie with sauce…………………………$1
apple pie…………………………………$1
I liked the dots. You could trace your finger across them to find the price. Then you would take a plain paper bag and write your order on the bag, along with your name and class – and put the money for your lunch in the bag. You’d drop it into a plastic washing basket on the classroom floor and it would be collected shortly after the first bell by the Lunch Order Monitor.
At Lunchtime – the basket would re-appear with everyones lunches packed into the very bags you had written your lunch order on. Any change would be rattling about the bottom of the bag.
I used to like… one potato pie (with sauce), one piece of cake, one frosty fruit and one strawberry milk. Yum.
And i just want to whisper a thankyou to the craft fairy for THREE very lovely magical tricks she has performed in the last few weeks. Special kind of person she is.
xx mikes
I went to a tiny country school, so we only had tuckshop once a week. In summer you had a choice of a salad roll or a hot dog (50c), and in winter it was a pie or a sausage roll(60c). You could also get a piece of cake (20c)(made by whichever mum was doing tuckshop, or if she wasn’t a baker it was chelsea bun)and a cup of cordial (10c).
Wouldn’t it be great if workplaces had tuckshops too?
I hardly ever got to buy lunch but when I did it was a pie and a packet of chips: you ate the lid off the pie then used the chips as spoons to scoop out the meat!
Ooooh! Thanks for the lunch order flashback!!
I did love lunch orders. I used to get one sausage roll, one strawberry milk, and a Sunny Boy (or Zooper Dooper) afterwards at the tuck-shop.
it was called “hot lunch” here when i was a kid. we only had it on days when we couldn’t walk home to eat because my mom had to work. we never had anything as delightful-sounding as meringue worms or paddle pops, or even chocolate milk. my faves were sloppy joes with potato chips, vanilla ice cream in a cup and milk. this is where we learned to mash our chips up and mix them into our ice cream. tastes like butter pecan. i don’t know what potato pie is, but i want one! with sauce!
Oh this takes me back! The brown paper bag turning transparent from grease, the milk drink warm, but best of all… the meringue worm for dessert.
Fridays were heaven!
Ohh lunch orders!! I was one of the unlucky few who never, ever got to have them. But if I was really lucky one of my classmates would give me a prawn or piece of meat from their fried rice. And even that was awesome, haha. Ahh memories 🙂
Think of us poor teachers who HATE lunch orders. There is ALWAYS a problem… the money gets lost out of the paper bag, parents send money and NO beg, monitors invaribly forget to drop it at the tuck shop in time, and when they do arrive you spend the first 15minutes of lunch time sorting out who got the wrong thing in his bag and who missed out altogether – Love them as a kid – hate them as a teacher!
I was fondly remembering tuckshop lunch days just earlier this week! We were only allowed tuckshop once a month or so, and I always got a coffee roll at morning tea and a chocolate breaka and a hamburger for lunch.
Tuckshop lunches aside, I only just added your blog to my google reader, and when I came across this post and the “vegemite sandwich” I giggled in glee, because most of the blogs on my reader are from the USA. Horah for finding homegrown content!
Oh, we got lunch orders once a term, & just like my homebaked mummy – i am a stingey mother of 4, so do the same. Of course my order would be for a sausage roll, sauce & a paddle pop, yummo!! My children would blow all their $2 worth on frozen drinks (we live in the tropics so ice cups are all the go) so i follow the dots & work out the most economical & filling lunch possible. We actually have a paid canteen lady at our children’s school, she’s a GP doctor in her home land (Malaysia) but works for us during the term. She’s brilliant & every 2nd Friday it’s preordered “Special Lunch” of some incredible Asian feast. I’ve been there in the play ground on such a day & all the teachers line up too. I wish she did take away!! She’s also a handy fill in at sick bay. Happy days, love Posie
Lunch orders were such a treat- ahhh the good ‘ol days *sigh*
I remember it so well! I was allowed to order my lunch on Fridays, and there used to be Choc Milk, yummm. And lovely soggy McCains pizza singles…I don’t know how they cooked those things to make them taste so great, I haven’t been able to replicate it at home =P
And then cheesies and fruitballs at recess…mmm.
I loved lunch orders! I got $2 every friday and that was enough for me to get 3 chicken nuggets and a chocolate milk….and a zooper dooper. yummy.
and I always ordered the same thing!! so i dont even remember what else there was.
Canteen duty is so stressful (but it beats doing the sick bay washing!). Pip, you’ll be pleased to know that the lunch order system is still the same – nothing has changed except the prices! My godson goes to school in Brunswick, the lunch order there includes sushi on Fridays (!), but in Daylesford it’s still pie and sauce or a chicken roll!
Ax
Oh my gosh. I am on canteen today at school. I DON’T enjoy it but the kids love coming for the “free” food.