Year 1 Class Self Portrait Tea Towel Still Getting A Good Run At Mums

MONTY BENFICA | Amusements | CONTACT

A 2003 tea towel featuring a 30 year old man's classroom's self portrait from when he was 6 years old is still getting a good run at mum's place.

The faded tea towel, which displays 32 badly drawn faces with oversized heads and missing teeth, has survived kitchen renovations, multiple house moves and at least two decades of regular washing.

Local man Ryan Bartlett (30) says every time he visits his parents house, he spots the tea towel hanging proudly from the oven handle.

"It's genuinely one of the most permanent fixtures in the house," he explained.

"Talk about longevity."

Ryan's self portrait can still be identified thanks to the giant smile and stick arms with guns as hands.

Experts estimate the tea towel has dried approximately 400,000 dishes over its lifetime.

His mother Debbie says she sees no reason to replace it.

"It's still perfectly good. Plus look how cute they all were," she said, holding up a corner of fabric that has become almost completely transparent through years of use.

The tea towel has become something of a historical document, with several of Ryan's former classmates now bald, married or living overseas.

"Half the kids on there have mortgages now," said Ryan.

Debbie had rejected suggestions that the tea towel be retired, insisting she would continue using it until either she or the tea towel finally gave out first.