VICLittle Audrey, of Skipping Girl Vinegar, to take a well-deserved 60-minute break for Earth HourLittle Audrey, of Skipping Girl Vinegar, to take a well-deserved 60-minute break for Earth Hour
She might be solar powered, but even the iconic Skipping Girl Vinegar mascot, Little Audrey, is set to be switched off during Earth Hour 2012.
The Abbotsford icon was the first animated neon sign in Australia, designed in 1936, and on Saturday night will be tokenistically turned off by its owners corporation at 651 Victoria Street.
Jeanette Ward, Colliers International associate director, real estate management, says its among the 75 Victorian properties managed by Colliers International that have signed up to switch off their lights from 8.30 to 9.30pm this Saturday, March 31.
“Colliers International has been a key supporter of Earth Hour since 2007 and has again arranged for buildings within our real estate management portfolio nationally to have non-essential lighting turned off during this hour,” Ward says.
Earth Hour is an international cause, and people all over the world turn off their lights between 8.30pm and 9.30pm for one hour. The campaign aims to send a global message that is possible to take action on climate change and make a difference.
The historic skipping girl sign is powered by 27 rooftop solar panels with its power currently being paid for by AGL Energy using their 100% GreenPower energy plan until 2014.
Constructed in 1936 by Neon Electric Signs, which later built the Nylex Clock in 1961, she was originally rented to the Nycander factory in Victoria Street and advertised vinegar, being a part of the suburb's landscape until 1968 when the factory changed hands.
A replica of the original sign was made in 1970, after the factory was taken over by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, which sold the sign.
By 1970, the new Audrey was erected, but in 1986 her lights went out again when that business, the Crusader Plate factory, closed.
Community lobby group Friends of Audrey, backed by energy supplier AGL, campaigned for and won heritage registration in 2007, and in 2009 she was fully restored after the group rallied community support and raised the necessary funds.
