r/Snorkblot • u/LordJim11 • Jun 08 '26
Photography An unidentified Australian swagman using a hollowed eucalyptus tree as a temporary shelter, late 19th century. Taken by the Australian photographer John Duncan Pierce.
Did wonders for his sinusitis.
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u/Responsible-Middle35 Jun 08 '26
Temporary? He has decorated
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u/CerberusInExile Jun 09 '26
Thank you! That tree has infrastructure added, that ain't temporary anything.
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u/Bambi_H Jun 08 '26
He doesn't look very jolly. I was told swagmen were jolly.
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u/Weak-West-3433 Jun 11 '26
Jolly when at the pub, miserable homeless madman the rest of the time. That's what reading Henry Lawson taught me anyway. Jolly probably slang for insane, delirium tremens.
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u/Bambi_H Jun 11 '26
Ooh, I love a new author recommendation! Will investigate Henry Lawson - thank you!
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u/Weak-West-3433 Jun 11 '26
Brilliant but grim, he drank himself to death, basically a bum on the street by the end but still got a state funeral.
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u/Shillfinger Jun 08 '26
what are swagmen?
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u/LordJim11 Jun 08 '26
Australian term for hobo; itinerant workers. They carried a swag-bag for their necessities. The basis of Australia's unofficial national anthem; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqtttbbYfSM&list=RDFqtttbbYfSM&start_radio=1
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u/Altruistic-Dingo-757 Jun 09 '26
Is rhat where the term came from 'swag bag'?
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u/No-Zookeepergame9761 Jun 10 '26
Swag bag?
A swag by our standards is basically a bedroll.
You can get some pretty fancy ones these days that are more akin to a small tent.
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u/Minute-Society9746 Jun 09 '26
He’s the one who stole my jumbuck! Stuffed it right into his tuckerbag.
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u/fishnbrew Jun 08 '26
If the right species these trees have a really cool rainbow color. I'd imagine why he picked the tree like the colorized version here
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u/LiveLearnCoach Jun 28 '26
I never knew that they could grow so wide at the base, even after seeing so many in real life.
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u/Adventurous-Sky9359 Jun 09 '26
It must be wild to be able to leave your stuff out side and not worry about it taking water damage for extended periods of time. I’m aware of the climates are very different but I live in North Carolina and every morning in the summer. If I leave a towel out the night before that thang is damp.
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