The Spoken Word in Bush Poetry

[Gary Harding]

Updating a Prior Post

The Meeting and tour with John Barounis MP went very well! I believe he basically understood what he was seeing and we got on famously.

"The Queensland Government has no money" he started off by saying... thinking my aim was to put the bite on him. I was quickly able to say we do not accept Government money for reasons I was only too happy to explain. And did so later.

We agreed on a next step which should happen soon. Whether this tour can be declared "a success" of course depends if it leads anywhere useful.

Are there any People of Means in Australia who are also Patriots with a real, as opposed to a loudly proclaimed love of their country???

With philanthropy, one mostly writes an arms-length cheque and prays. By contrast, here every dollar will be well spent, accounted for and 80% secured by land and building. A true Legacy too.

So far the answer is a resounding NO! No such person exists.

Wouldn't the people who fought for their country, with some sacrificing their lives in horrific circumstances, be so proud of Australia and Australians for that? It is my belief that the measure of the person is not the boasted size of their bank account, that's nonsense, but what they can do for their country. How they apply their own massive financial resources to benefit the country that gave them so much. They are the Real Men or Women.

Those who turn their back are.. well, exactly what they are. This is Australia's only chance.. nobody else could do it... so One loses their Culture and National Identity, or not. One chance at it. Who cares anyway?

.. but we press on regardless... to the end.. for Australia

[Gary Harding]

I have previously outlined the popular New Idea and The Australian Women's Weekly magazines, with an emphasis on the terrific old editions.

The third magazine was The Australian Home Journal.

Again, I find the older editions particularly fascinating, as do visitors here.

Below is a selection of twelve Australian Home Journals from my Collection, all dated in the 1940's. They have their original patterns included too.

An interesting motto is at the top of a couple of them : "They Fail Who Do Not Strive"

What great magazines these were in those times when television etc was not available.

One might imagine that world not too long ago when radio (Old Time Radio, previously mentioned. Dad and Dave etc) was king and when quality magazines with their diverse content formed such a cornerstone of life.

It is history certainly, but above all it is Australian Culture. Luckily these can eventually be reproduced for visitors to browse which is important in terms of having "interactive" displays.

Gathering material not for the sake of "having" or "collecting" but with the specific purpose of putting it in front of the public so they can marvel at the culture of their own country. For future generations to have an understanding of the cultural foundations of Australia and to be a bit... dare I say it... Patriotic!!?

I would love to have some from the 1930's era... I keep looking.

All the best, Gary

[Gary Harding]

Presentation for parliamentary visitors.

The Project name was later amended to The Australian Cultural Centre in order to more correctly reflect its contents. By titling it The Banjo Paterson Cultural Centre (in his honour), we reasoned that people would have possibly thought it was all about bush poetry and avoided it. Not being "poetry" fans.

Australia has a fabulous culture of its own. A true National Identity which is being deliberately eroded and overwritten. And apart from the occasional, well-paid, talking-head on tv, nobody apparently genuinely cares. All one sees is words... speeches at exclusive dinners... indignation by people who are paid to be indignant.
And I am cynical because I have written to these self-proclaimed nationalistic crusaders on TV... and not even received a reply. So much for them.

Who knows the fact that there are ten Chinese Cultural Centres in Australia? And not one Australian Cultural Centre?!! I told someone that and they refused point blank to believe me. There is comfort in denial, I suppose. It is very scary if one stops to think about it, but the consequences of that "looking the other way" are borne by future generations ... so who cares. Live for the day.

"I knew it was wrong but what could I do? I am just one person." Echoes of the end of WW2?

Why not take the time as "one person" to do something... at least raise your hand in objection...or better still support this Project here, and on FB...and if not, then surely one must share the national guilt. Be "one out".. be brave. You are giving a hand up to Bush Poetry at the same time.

The saving Vision is right here and only here. Exclusively. Henry Lawson would definitely applaud. He wrote about The Men Who Made Australia (1901). What about The Men Who Lost Australia (2025).. today?

Nobody else in Australia could undertake this patriotic project.. have the technical ability, Collection and knowledge base to attack it. The guts and determination.

Lose this vital project... fail to actively support it....and one loses one's country. Full stop.

[Gary Harding]

Continuing the fascination with Australian periodic women's journals...

The Australian Woman's Mirror was an Australian weekly women's magazine published by The Bulletin magazine in Sydney, between 1924 and 1961.

The first issue of the magazine was published on 25 November 1924 with the following statement of intent:

"Forty-five years ago a small company planted The Bulletin, and its growth has been so remarkable that to-day the paper is known and read not only in all parts of Australia, but in every English-speaking country. There are, however, interests which The Bulletin has never been able to serve; and the most important of these relate to women. The Woman's Mirror proposes to serve those needs; and it will have behind it the organisation which The Bulletin has built up.

Hitherto it has not been possible for The Bulletin to make use of that large amount of purely feminine writing which it has been offered. Much of it has been fiction, of first-rate quality. The Mirror will present to Australian women the best of this work, along with the work of men who appeal particularly to women readers. Through serials and short stories Australian women writers and Australian women readers will for the first time be brought together; and it is appropriate that the first serial will be one of great interest by Ethel Turner, the best-known of all Australian women novelists. It will be generally admitted that no paper has done so much for Australian literature as The Bulletin; and the readers of The Mirror will benefit by the close contact which The Bulletin has established with every Australian writer of repute. "

The Australian Woman's Mirror was the first Australian publication to feature the American comic strip The Phantom (beginning 1 December 1936). The Mirror's publication of the Phantom strip resulted in the character becoming popular in Australia. For many years, rival magazine The Australian Women's Weekly ran Mandrake the Magician contemporaneously. Both strips were the work of cartoonist Lee Falk.



Who is not a fan of The Phantom by Lee Falk!!!
I cannot vouch for the poetic content but I am sure some must be there as there is (naturally) more of an emphasis on Literature.

Below from the Collection are shown a couple of Oldies .. patterns included

1. December 1927
2. January 1934

Plus a selection from the year 1955

At The Australian Cultural Centre Project we want to be Entertainers and in that manner, educate at the same time.

No lecturers from on high. No talking down to people.

The challenge is not so much "getting or having" things like this but rather holding hands with our Visitors and making it FUN.

Gary