Daydream Island, Queensland, AUSTRALIA (other) - Locating Tiki

STCB Sabu The Coconut Boy Tiki Socialite Carson, California Joined: Aug 20, 2002 Posts: 2813	STCB Sabu The Coconut Boy Posted posted on Wed, Aug 26, 2009 2:55 AM As an entrepreneur, Bernie Elsey was quite a character. In 1965 he came up with the brilliant idea of the Meter Maids. Any Australian members, please forgive me if this is all common knowledge, but as an uneducated American I find this fascinating stuff. In 1964, parking meters were installed in the tourist strip of Surfers Paradise, which I guess were generally hated and gave the area a bad reputation for parking tickets. To fight this image, Bernie Elsey, with his own money, introduced the Meter Maids - beautiful young women in gold lame bikinis and tiaras who carried buckets of coins to feed expired meters and save the vacationers from tickets. They became something of an institution and are still around today, although they no longer feed the meters, since they are no longer funded by any organization. They make most of their money by having their photos taken with tourists nowadays: [ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy 2009-08-26 03:21 ]

As an entrepreneur, Bernie Elsey was quite a character. In 1965 he came up with the brilliant idea of the Meter Maids. Any Australian members, please forgive me if this is all common knowledge, but as an uneducated American I find this fascinating stuff.

In 1964, parking meters were installed in the tourist strip of Surfers Paradise, which I guess were generally hated and gave the area a bad reputation for parking tickets. To fight this image, Bernie Elsey, with his own money, introduced the Meter Maids - beautiful young women in gold lame bikinis and tiaras who carried buckets of coins to feed expired meters and save the vacationers from tickets.

They became something of an institution and are still around today, although they no longer feed the meters, since they are no longer funded by any organization. They make most of their money by having their photos taken with tourists nowadays:

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy 2009-08-26 03:21 ]

Post #479490 by Sabu The Coconut Boy on Wed, Aug 26, 2009 2:55 AM