now call me old fashioned, or just plain old, i don’t care – but i don’t get ‘muck up day’… getting dressed up (in costumes or 'civies') and then being slathered in shaving cream, pelted with eggs, splattered with urine filled balloons (or condoms) - or the myriad other 'activities' some have gotten up to – just doesn't appeal to me...
i’ve been trying to find the origin of the term and the day, which has proven quite hard… of course, my first thought was ‘typical american crap’ but it doesn’t appear to be american in origin – well, they don’t use the term anyway - but they do have something called senior pranks which doesn't discount the concept perhaps coming from america… muck up is used informally in both britain and australia as in “to ruin or spoil; make a mess of” - but only australia uses it as in “to misbehave” – although i suspect that some ‘pranksters’ rather than just 'misbehave', do actually ‘ruin or spoil’ the day for others…
although they ‘celebrate’ muck up day in britain there is a view that “the term is originally australian and was probably imported to the UK through popular australian soaps such as neighbours.” – those lucky brits…
so, if it’s australian, when did it start? it wasn’t around ‘in my day’ – and speaking to some colleagues ‘of my vintage’ the other day at work supported this recollection…
research hasn't led me to any definitive date of origin... i couldn't find anything about it’s ‘inaugural unveiling’… but i did come across a blog by debbie kruger about her younger life in sydney in the 60s and 70s - she's about 7 years younger than me so i found her reminiscences stimulating and entertaining - she happened to mention her muck-up day in 1979 and i learnt “the last day of school before the HSC exams was traditionally known as "muck up day," and was celebrated with a pre-dawn champagne breakfast”... that little snippet took a helluva long time to find in my 'quest for knowledge'...
the education system was changing when I was at the end of my schooling though – we had the leaving certificate (form 5 then, year 11 now) and the matriculation certificate (form 6, now year 12) - hsc replaced matriculation in 1970 but the leaving certificate wasn’t discontinued until 1972 so it was dependent on which school you went to as to when hsc was actually introduced…
so, there really wasn't such a thing as muck-up day in my era!!! my generation (and 'socio-economic' group) usually 'celebrated' leaving school by going to work and earning our own income so we could move out of home and buy what we wanted - mind you, we were living in a time defined as having 'full employment' in 1970 - yeah, there were lots of low-paid factory and office jobs to be had!!
i wasn’t fortunate enough to be able to continue my education after form 4 – i had obtained a 2-year scholarship to undertake matriculation but that still would have been an added expense and pressure for my poorly paid, overworked and separated parents who were both trying to make ends meet, because I would have had to change schools (good ol’ holy redeemer only went to form 4 – it really was a poor, working class catholic school)… there was also the fact that unless you had at least middle-class wealth then you certainly weren’t going on to university so a lot of working class families couldn't see the point in going further than 4th form...
so, there really wasn't such a thing as muck-up day in my era!!! my generation (and 'socio-economic' group) usually 'celebrated' leaving school by going to work and earning our own income so we could move out of home and buy what we wanted - mind you, we were living in a time defined as having 'full employment' in 1970 - yeah, there were lots of low-paid factory and office jobs to be had!!
i wasn’t fortunate enough to be able to continue my education after form 4 – i had obtained a 2-year scholarship to undertake matriculation but that still would have been an added expense and pressure for my poorly paid, overworked and separated parents who were both trying to make ends meet, because I would have had to change schools (good ol’ holy redeemer only went to form 4 – it really was a poor, working class catholic school)… there was also the fact that unless you had at least middle-class wealth then you certainly weren’t going on to university so a lot of working class families couldn't see the point in going further than 4th form...
as i was no exception to the norm i subsequently started work as a receptionist/telephonist/typist/clerk in september 1970 at 15 earning $30 per week - that paid rent to my mother and bought everything i needed - i'd 'come of age'!!! that's me at 15 with my first beautiful poodle companion golly (the cameras were crap then and so were the photographers more often than not! and scanning a poor quality picture doesn't help!!) …
luckily further education became easier for more people and those less 'well-off' were soon given the opportunity to go to university when, in 1974, gough whitlam and the labor party introduced an important reform in education – “the abolition of university fees, which allowed many young people and, importantly, women, an opportunity to obtain a university degree and broaden their career choices.”
it was an important change in australian education and an important time in australian politics, but now i've got domestics to do so i'll leave you with one of the top 10 selling singles by australian artists in 1970 - the year i was venturing out into the world as a young adult - the masters apprentices with 'turn up your radio' - "bona-fide Australian rock legends" according to milesago - and what 15 year old wasn't lusting after jim keays in 1970???
I love that song. I have it on a compilation album and have thrashed it. Did muck-up day but we didn't call it that. there was champagne and chicken breakfast, lots of water gun fights, signing of the school uniform and final flirting with those we'd all had crushes on. Pretty tame and innocent really: 1988.
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