The skipping girl vinegar sign would have to be one of my favourite Melbourne icons. As a little girl I can remember my father telling us to look out the window because the skipping girl was coming up ahead. Which would results in us eagerly press our faces against the window just to catch a glimpse.

On a recent visit to Ikea I noticed she was gone! I immediately began to despair, until I noticed there was some commercial signing and a giant over sized rope on the roof top where she last stood. As it turns out “little audrey” is undergoing a makeover commissioned by the National Trust with a little help from AGL.

Since the signs original erection in 1936 she is undergone some changes. Changing to an illuminated sign in 1970, and undergoing several switch on switch offs over the last 40 years. She has currently been switched off since 2001 and living at her current home above Victoria Street (just near the corner of Burnly St). I went to photographer her during a Melbourne flickr meet in September 2006, using the roof top carpark of the building next door. These are the shots that resulted.

There is much debate around the identity of the Cornwell’s Vinegar icon. Mystery still surrounds the identity of the real ‘Little Audrey’. Some say the model for the Skipping Girl logo was the local milk bar owner’s daughter. Others claim that she was modelled on a girl who later went on to become a nun in a convent near Frankston.

Who ever she is …I’m excited by the National Trust and AGL project to restore her back to her illuminated best! Looking forward to June. For more info visit skippinggirl.com.au.