Westburn World Island

History

The first modern Westburn World store was erected by Tom 'Hobo' Mouser and his wife Ashley on the Auckland Islands in 1869, after becoming annoyed at having to wait months for ordered goods to arrive on the island.

The couple weren't content with just providing a general store on the island. They continued improving the island - laying down roads and sewers; and even installing one of the world's first electric networks

The rate at which the island was being modernized was staggering, even by today's standards. Within a decade the island, now nicknamed 'Westburn World Island', had even lured other companies onshore. Fast food companies, petrol stations, and even competing supermarkets had sprouted up all over the island.

While construction on the island was underway, the economy was booming. Due to the scarcity of resources, stores could place huge mark-ups on their products. At one point, the local hardware store was charging 3c for a box of nails - or about $3.5 million dollars in today's terms.

In 1875, the construction-based bubble burst. After completing their projects, the workers were unable to pay the exorbitant prices charged by the local stores, and were forced to return back to the mainland.

Eventually the last workers left the island, leaving the local economy in tatters. Tom and Ashley continued to operate their stores (they had opened up two additional locations during the boom) for another 3 years before coming to the realization that their business model would not work if they were the only two people on the island.

In 1878 they filed for bankruptcy and sold what was left of the brand to Regressive Enterprises, which itself had only been established in the year prior.

Culture

Simon Island has a deep cultural heritage, going all the way back to 1 October 1984.

The Gradys

Rated as the best TV show since first airing on 1 October 1984, this quirky show about the Grady Family exemplifies life in Simonsville. Classic episodes as 'Ball-in-Groin', 'Old Man Yells At Clouds', and 'Yellow Boy in Blue Shorts teases Necklace-Wearing Pointy-Haired Sister' have become firmly engrained into local pop culture.

The catch-phrase 'not to be having the Bovine' has been so popular, it has now been adopted as the local form of greeting.

Geography