We take so much for granted these days – rotisserie chickens in the supermarket, avos and strawberries all year round (even if it goes against nature but we pay for the privilege anyway), not running out of toilet paper, road signs directing us to wine farms…
None of this was always the case; when Stellenbosch Wine Routes was established in 1971, those familiar brown and white signs with the farms’ names pointing us to the entrances – and upon which we partly rely, along with GPS apps (and given my recent feuds with Google Maps, the physical signs are essential), to find our destination – were prohibited. Apparently, the municipality thought they would distract drivers and affect their ability to keep control of their vehicles. Which is laughable now, considering cellphones. And the proportionate number of idiots on the road 50 years later.