Harold Hodges
Harold with his famous opal teeth.
Harold Victor Hodges, “The Man with the Opal Teeth” was born in Peak Hill on 7 January 1904. A veteran of World War II, Harold moved to Lightning Ridge with his second wife in 1958.
The Hodges’ home was built in Opal Street in 1934 by Jim Denis, and Harold had two trams brought up and placed in the back yard. Some years later, they were moved across the road where they would become the Tram-O-Tel, unique accommodation where visitors could spend the night in a retired Bondi or St. Kilda tram.
Harold was responsible for bringing the Wales Bank (later Westpac) to Lightning Ridge by giving almost 200 school children 20 cents a piece to open accounts, quite a customer base!
One of Harold’s most famous features was his unique (at the time!) set of opal dentures, giving Harold’s smile a colourful charm full of Lightning Ridge black opal. Harold’s teeth had quite the journey, from Harold to the Diggers Rest Hotel, to the final donation to the Australian Opal Centre in 2009 by Kevin and Helen Williams. The teeth now form part of the AOC’s identity, almost an unofficial mascot.
Harold Hodges passed away on 23 August 1983 in Sydney and was buried in the Lightning Ridge Cemetery. His epitaph was penned by John Molyneux.
Article: Research by Leisa Carney, edited by Russell Gawthorpe. LRHS research compiled by Len Cram and Barbara Moritz. Sources: Lightning Ridge - The Home of the Black Opal: Unique to the World, Gan Bruce, 1983, pp. 32, 36, 78; Lightning Flash Newspaper, 3 August 1972, 1 September 1983, 10 November 1989; A Journey With Colour: A History of Lightning Ridge Opal 1873-2003, Len Cram, 2003, p. 191.