The hallway of 42 Hunter street was many things, at least when viewed through the eyes of a child with a fertile imagination. It was a murder scene, a theater, a gym and was famously wide enough to be driven down in a Mini (or so Dad told us) but the most fun thing that it could do was to turn the very laws of pysics on their head. Thats right, one moment you would be hapily walking down the end stretch to Mum and Dads bedroom, minding your own business when boom! the floor tilted at an alarming angle, down was no longer down and up no longer up. With much yelling, fanfare and histionics the inevitable fall down the hallway would begin, not even clinging for our very lives to the door frames as they passed could stop the tumble until we hit rock bottom: the toilet at the far end of the hallway! Then magically the hallway turned right way up, and it would be the next kids turn.
Well at least thats how it looked to our siblings (and most probably the McLincheys) who by now were doubled up with laughter at the sheer joy of the simple optical illusion created by Mums tilting mirror which just happened to be placed at just the right angle to afford the viewers a good line of sight down the hallway. What a great game that was, and as always it involved the simplest of props and a bit of childrens imaginations and enthuthiasm.
42 Hunter Street in all its glory.
What's amazing is that I can remember FEELING on an angle, although the illusion was only real for the people at the top looking into the mirror!
ReplyDeleteI was going to put this photo up too. I think it should go somewhere in the heading, if you have time, find a way to put it up there, as I think I only have a scan of a photocopy of this one.