`Furphy' is a uniquely Australian word. The Australian National Dictionary defines it as `a water cart' and `rumor, or an absurd story'. But how did the family name of John Furphy, an iron founder in Shepparton, come to have this extraordinary double meaning? For Australians on the land the water cart is life sustaining and indispensable, and the firm of John Furphy is the most famous of its makers. In Victoria and the Riverina, by the time of the First World War, the Furphy was the water cart. This book challenges some widely held misconceptions about the origin of the word and gives a full and authentic account of the history of the making and marketing of the Furphy. Furphy water carts were made for over 90 years. They are now collectors' items, and tank ends, with intriguing moral and political messages in cast iron, are prized as wall plaques. In the eyes of later generations they symbolise a rural past of simple verities and individual effort.