Recalling glory days of White Elephant Sales

The Tasmanian tiger, the dodo and the dinosaurs are part of the list of animals no longer with us.

But there is also an animal, with a difference, that while not totally wiped out, is becoming rarer and rarer.

The good old fashioned White Elephant Sale, once one of the most popular and reliable forms of community fundraising, is now just about non-existent.

(The term White Elephant describes something that is no longer useful and is cumbersome or in the way.)

A flick through the classifieds of The Standard through the 1970s and 1980s had advertisements for White Elephant sales leaping off the page.

In November 1983, the St Pius X Parish held a White Elephant Sale at the Warrnambool Netball Stadium, located across the road from Friendly Societies Park.

The day was a huge success, with organiser John Beks saying $5000 had been made, which would go towards a building fund.

Mr Beks said there had been 1400 items for sale, or up to auction, on the day.

Items included a snooker table that sold for $10 and 19 television sets that sold for a total of $39.

But the most expensive item on the day was a lawn mower, which was purchased for a whopping $85.

This White Elephant Sale was not a one-off for St Pius X.

It was in fact a proven formula, with this 1983 version being the eleventh year in a row the school fundraiser had been held.

The $5000 from this sale took the 11-year total raised to $33,000.

This was to play a key part in funding a new church and school upgrade for the parish.

Like St Pius X, St John's Primary School in Dennington was another of the many schools that put the White Elephant Sale concept to good use.

In 1983, the school was able to call in some big guns to maximise its sale, with famed stock agent Lou Dureau acting as the auctioneer.

One of the school parents giving Mr Dureau a hand was well-known Denningtoin figure Noel "Bockie" Thornton.

As Mr Thornton explained, the annual White Elephant Sale was a team effort, and one worthy of putting the work into.

"It was a great way to fundraise, it always brought in good money," Mr Thornton said.

"The school used to put out a message in the newsletter and posters advertising a time when we would go around Dennington with a truck and pick up any items for the sale.

"People would just leave their donated stuff out the front of the house and we would take it and get it ready for the sale.

"Bikes, kids toys, old gates, stuff like that were popular, we'd take anything we thought would sell.

"There was also a lot of junk and we always had some big loads to take the tip after the sale.

"It was a good family day out, there'd be a barbecue and the kids would be running around.

"The sale itself was the auctioneer going from item to item, calling out one dollar, two dollars, three dollars, he didn't stay long in one place, things went pretty cheap."

But it wasn't just schools and churches that utilised this fundraising model.

In June of 1983, a White Elephant Sale was held for Warrnambool's Miss Australia Quest entrant Mandy Kerr.

The Standard reported a crowd of 300 people attended, with the day raising $1000, a considerable amount for 40 years ago.

Lions, Rotary and Apex clubs across Warrnambool and district also used White Elephant Sales to gain revenue to fund their community work.

So what happened to the once mighty White Elephant Sale?

It is commonly believed the demise of the White Elephant Sale can be linked to the rise in popularity of garage sales and the less engagement of community members in collective efforts.

White Elephant Sales took a lot of people-power, and with the breakneck lifestyle speed the 21^st century world operates at, those hours are not just not there.

And of cause the revenue for a Garage Sale goes straight to the household, providing a sum of money to help ease growing cost of living rates.

But while White Elephant Sales have faded away to almost nothing, there is still a pulse, and maybe a nostalgic comeback is not beyond the realm.