Regretfully we have had to change the name of our store from Tuppy's Aussie Fabrics to Tuppence's Aussie Fabrics.
The reason for the name change is that since we moved from Queensland to Western Australia 2 years ago we have been enduring constant online abuse via posts to our Facebook page, Messenger and email. Apparently the word 'tuppy' is considered to be offensive in the local Noongar language and they believed that we were being disrespectful of their culture. (The actual word, according to the dictionary found on the Curtin University's website, there are no words beginning with the letter 'T' in the Noongar language and the word our abusers are referring to is translated, as 'djapi'. The Noongar had no written language, so to the ear, when spoken phonetically 'djapi' sounds like 'tuppy'). At no time had we intended to offend or disrespect the local Noongar people, so as a demonstration of goodwill we have changed our name.
In most of the English speaking world, Tuppy is a nickname frequently given to little girls as a term of endearment. It is also the name given to me, the owner of this store, by my father. The word, Tuppy, is the shortened form of tuppence, a 'tuppeny' coin...or two pennies...the form of currency used before we changed to the decimal currency in the 1960's.
We hope that we can now manage our store without anymore trauma or drama and that the online keyboard warrior trolls leave us in peace.
We will now move forward. We are truly blessed to have the 3 ingredients essential for a happy life...someone to love...something to do...and something to look forward to.
Tuppence
PS: The photo is of our little store where all our wares are housed. The cottage stands alone nestled within a country cottage garden. It is such a beautiful place to work from.
