Prior to the 2018 Field Trip I was contacted by Craig Darveniza by phone after he had seen an article in a horticultural magazine about the project. En route to Innisfail from Cairns I called him and asked to come and visit, but it was unfortunate timing as the Great Wheelbarrow Race – a three day event involving teams of runners pushing a wheelbarrow 140kms between Chillagoe and Mareeba – was about to commence and he was going up to the tablelands for pre-race preparations. His brother, Hayden was around though and so I arranged to meet him shortly after our phone call.
The Dicky Bill carton is one that I have had since I started collecting fruit cartons. It is an atypical carton, with a simple, cute echidna giving the thumbs up. I had always thought that Dicky Bill was the echidna’s name, however it is the abbreviated nickname of the late Richard William Barnard, a 3rd generation lettuce farmer whose farming legacy lives on through his son, Ryan McLeod and business partner Hugh Reardon. Dicky Bill now specialises in salad (mesclun, spinach and wild rocket).
Recently I had the opportunity to visit the art department at Orora Fibre Packaging (previously Amcor) in Brisbane, which is responsible for some of the most recognisable fruit carton designs in the industry. I was the guest of Camille Giacca who had seen an article in Smith Journal about Cartonography some months before and recognised some very familiar cartons and it wasn’t long before we were communicating. Interestingly enough I had been in touch with the art department at Orora about 18 months prior to ask them questions about fruit cartons. Perhaps it was my odd inquisitive enthusiasm, or perhaps it was because nobody else had asked, but Camille admitted that at the time they had wondered whether I was pulling their legs…
