PARASOLS ANTIPODEAN IT AL L
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RED PARASOLS 0 V E R AN ANTIPODEAN IT AL l J w A study of The Lone Hand and the people vho made it. A research thesis submitted to the school of History, University of New South Wales, as partial requirement for the degree of M.A. [Bonsl I I b r a d 1 e y f i t z m a u r i c e 1 9 8 6 , i ' ~ . , (- , , ~ \ . ' ' ( ; ._ ' . - . , ' - ~ , °'" / t , t r\ ".'\_ "- I r , . -~ , I , - ,-./ t· , . • ll , '-- ' "'-- /' ' ' I / • J / /'. , , 1 , - , ~ \ , ~ • 1 , ✓• \ , I._, I - ♦ \. \ \ \_ "- ) - /' -----..c ' \ , - , ~ ~ \ ' ~ - rl • ' "" I • ' / • ' ~•' ' - ' > •, ~ '- I ,ii,-·• 'y J '\ ~ ~ I' ' • ~ • / \ \ \ \ 'r I ABSTRACT Th• thesis examines THE LONE HAND, a literary/artistic offshoot of the BULLETIN and the first sophisticated, high quality, monthly magazine produced in Australia. Essentially the aim has been to construct a foundation upon which future work can build. Taking up Professor Michael Roe's (1976) observation that "historians have yet to recognise the significance of the LONE HAND," attention is drawn to the value of the magazine in terms of both the wealth of historical material it contains and the insight it offers into the development of Australian cultural traditions. It is argued that in adopting a cosmopolitan and optimistic outlook, THE LONE HAND represented a deliberate departure from the parochialism of the BULLETIN and in doing so spoke specifically to and for the interests of the emergent Australian suburban bourgeoisie. The magazine is considered within the broad socio-intellectual context from which it emerged as well as the prevailing trends in journalism and magazine production. Research has been almost exclusively based on primary material, namely, original copies of the magazine and personal manuscripts of the contributors. For my parents and Jo-Anne Co nt e n t s Acknowledgements ii Tables iii Illustrations iv Introduction vi 1. The Kingdom Of Nothingness Before The Storm l 2. Sunshine, Good Cooking And Red Umbrellas 12 3. The Editor's Uneasy Chair 22 4. The Men Who Made It 53 5. For The Public Good 63 Concluding Remarks 79 Appendix One 81 Appendix Two 84 Bibliography 85 i A c t n o v1 e d g e I e nt s muwan: - --- I am indebted to Martin Smith, Margot Hofacher, Gretta Kool, Lawrence Dunn, Jane Glad (nee Lindsay) who granted me access to her complete set of THE LONE HAND and to my supervisor, Dr. David Walker. ii Ta b I e s --- = -- = Facing Page 1. Major Literary Contributors To The Lone Hand 54 2. Contributions Under Editors (Authors) SS 3. Place Of Birth (Authors) 56 4. Age As Of 1907 (Authors) 56 s. Place Of Birth (Artists) 56 6. Age As Of 1907 (Artists) 56 7. Major Artistic Contributors 57 8. Contributions Under Editors (Artists) 58 All Tables compiled by author from material listed in Bibliography. iii I I I u s t r a t i o n s --· ..... Facing Page 1. Cover, The Lone Hand, May 1907 vi 2. A.G. Stephens 10 3. The Lone Hand On Sale 18 4. Advertisement, Champion's Vinegar 20 5. J.F. Archibald 22 6. Frank Fox 26 7. Cartoon, 'A Christmas Story' 27 8. Cover, The Lone Hand, February 1909 29 9. Cover, The Lone Hand, August 1908 33 10. Printer's Error Competition 36 11. Arthur H. Adams 41 12. Poem, 'From A Cremorne Balcony' 42 13. Editorial Announcement 44 14. Editorial Announcement 45 15. Cover, The Lone Hand, May 1910 46 16. Bertram Stevens 47 17. Low Caricatures 59 18. Low Caricatures 60 19. Advertisement, Wolfe's Schnapps 61 20. Cover, The Lone Hand, April 1909 62 21. Cover, The Lone Hand, January 1914 63 22. 'Circular Quay', Lionel Lindsay 76 iv In order that society should exist, and, a j'lortiori, that a society should prosper. it is required that all the minds of the citizens should be rallied and held together by certain predominant ideas •••• Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America. In every literature's growth, there comes a stage when a primitive vigour must be refined to serve more sophisticated purposes. A.A. Phillips, The Famild Relationship. In vanished days of want and sin, The "Lone Hand" was the "Bulletin". The Lone Hand in the days of old, He worked alone in search of gold; The Lone Hand in the days of youth, He worked alone in search of Truth; The Lone Hand in the days of Might, He strikes alone to shield the Right. And countless scores in high co11111&nd Through all their lives played a lone hand. Oh! men and women, lined of brow! And boys and girls who play it now! Though cold looks freeze and hot tears scald, Stick to the right, like Archibald, And guide your future by the past - A loving Lone Hand till the last. Henry Lawson, THE LONE HAND, 1.11.1921. V rlAY 1907 PRI'CE l. Cover, THE LONE HAND, May 1907. , - .. , ...... I n t r a d u c t i o n THE LONE HAND was the first sophisticated high quality magazine of art and literature produced in Australia. A brave and daring venture, it was designed to transform the Kingdom of Nothingness into an Antipodean Italy. Coualncing publication in May 1907, THE LONE HAND was set up by t~e BULLETIN to provide • a vehicle through which Australian literary and artistic talent could be developed. Cultural standards within the new nation were to be enhanced by drawing from the experiences of the outside world. In effect, THE LONE HAND was intended as a declaration that the Australian nation had come of age. Advocating a departure from the gloom and despair of the wattle and bottle tradition that had been fostered by the BULLETIN in the late nineteenth century, THE LONE HAND actively encouraged "a sturdy optimism", endeavouring "to strike 1 a keynote of cheerfulness" in Australian life. Furthermore, unlike the BULLETIN, THE LONE HAND was purportedly apolitical, its only politics being "sunshine and good cooking, open air music and red umbrellas."2 It was a celebration of current prosperity. There was no promotion of radical class consciousness as there had been in the BUL~ETIN. Instead, THE LONE HAND disseminated a set of ideals and values emphasising national and cultural development, that were consistent with, indeed were a vital component of the prevailing bourgeois hegemony. 3 1. BULLETIN, 2 May 1907, p.24. 2. BULLETIN, 7 February 1907, p.9. 3. Connell has provided a useful definition of hegemony: "A situation where the subordinate class lives its daily life in forms created by, or consistent with the interests of the dominant class, and through this daily life acquires beliefs, emotions and ways of thinking that serve to perpetuate the class structure." C.R.W. Connell and T.H. Irving, CZass St'l'Ucture in AustraZian History, Melbourne, 1980; J.V. Femia, "The Gramsci Phenomenon: Some Reflect ions", PoZiticaL Studies, XXVII, 3, pp.472-483; J.V. Femia, "Hegemony and Consciousness in the Thought of Antonio Gramsci", PoZiticaZ Studies, XXIII, l,· pp.29-48; J. Howley, "Antonio Gramsci's Marxism: Class, State and Work", Social, ProbZems, 27, S, 1980, pp.542-600; G. Williams, "Gramsci's Concept of 'Egomania"', Journ.aZ of the History of Ideas, 21, 4, pp.586-599. vi Wh•r••• the BULLETIN.bad begun publication under so•what inauspicious ci~cuutanc•• and with a limited budget, THE LONE HAND wa• launched amidst considerable fanfare and it appears that no expense was spared in getting it to print which, according to an early prospectus, wa• done uaing "special paper, special type, special machinery [and] a special Mchanical staff."1 But money was unable to buy eventual success and, in contra•t to the raga to riches story of the BULLETIN, the story of THE LONE HAND 1a a slow, unfolding tragedy., The I first issue of THE LONE HAND, for which 50,000 copies.-bad been printed, sold out in three days, which led to the proprietors having to cancel all overseas consignments that had not been previously paid for. 2 The BULLETIN boasted that it was "the biggest sensation the trade has known. 113 The second issue sold out on the first day and by this time the magazine was receiving critical as well as commercial success - the Brisbane DAILY MAIL for example, declared that "the new magazine approximates to perfection ••• marking a new epoch in Australian literature."4 But this initial success was not sustained. In the face of falling subscript ions the successive editors were forced to implement a number of fundamental changes. The first of these came in May 1910 when Arthur Adams reduced the price of the magazine from one shilling to sixpence. In December 1913 Bertram Stevens, who had succeeded Adams, introduced a new series which appeared in a larger format and contained considerably less original material. On the outbreak of war in August 1914, the BULLETIN Co. sold its holdings and an independent company, THE LONE HAND Ltd. was formed, the major shareholder of which was Syd. Day The Printer Pty. Ltd. whose plant was located in the BULLETIN premises. In January 1919 an unknown sponsor assumed control and for the final two years (July 1919 - February 1921) the magazine was owned by A.A. Catts, New Century Press Ltd.5 1. BULLETIN, 4 April 1907, p.15. 2. THE LONE HAND (L.H.J, 'The Editor's Uneasy Chair' ('E.U.C.'), July 1907, p.xxi; BULLETIN, 9 May 1907, p.15. 3. BULLETIN, 9 May 1907, p.15. 4. Cited in 'E.U.C.', April 1908, p.vii.