Remember the old garbage cans that were used back in the 1970s, before Canberra introduced the yellow, green and red bins?
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In an awe-inspiring display of strength, garbos would pick the garbage can up by hand and tip it into the back of a garbage truck. Incredible.
On this day in 1977, The Canberra Times reported on a contest taking place. The training centre was the bare expanse of the car park at the Kippax Centre, Holt. Move over, Olympics.
An arctic wind swept across the car park as Darcy Henry began to train his team for the GarWood cup. Not a car racing event, but a contest for garbage collection.
The prestigious GarWood Cup would go to Australia's most efficient garbage collection crew. The team would emerge after the heats and finals at Sydney. Canberra Day would celebrate this event and Mr Henry wanted to use the tournament as a serious warm-up for the Sydney event.
Teams of three men would sprint to three garbage cans, picking up one at a time and racing with it to a stationary GarWood garbage truck. Between them, the team members ran more than 800 metres, and each bin was filled with six-kilogram bags of sawdust.
Darcy's team was made up of Don Henry, Chris Henry and Vic Scowen.
