| Type | Weekly newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| Founder(s) | Sir James Joynton Smith, Claude McKay and Clyde Packer |
| Founded | 1919 |
| Ceased publication | 28 October 1950 |
| City | Sydney |
| Country | Australia |
Smith's Weekly was an Australian tabloid newspaper published from 1919 to 1950. It was an independent weekly published in Sydney, but read all over Australia.
The publication took its name from its founder and chief financer Sir James Joynton Smith, [1] a prominent Sydney figure during World War One, conducting fund-raising and recruitment drives. Its two other founders were theatrical publicist Claude McKay and journalist Clyde Packer, father of Sir Frank Packer and grandfather of media baron Kerry Packer.
Mainly directed at the male (especially ex-Servicemen) market, it mixed sensationalism, satire and controversial opinions with sporting and finance news. It also included short stories, and many cartoons and caricatures as a main feature of its lively format. [2]
One of its chief attractions in the 1920s was the Unofficial History of the A.I.F. feature, whose cartoons and contributions from returned soldiers helped perpetuate the image of the "digger" as an easy-going individual with a healthy disrespect for authority. It also worked hard to ensure that promises made to soldiers during hostilities were not swept aside in peacetime. Of particular concern was men affected by shellshock, a condition which was being minimised by some "experts" as deserving scorn rather than sympathy. [2] Staff cartoonists associated with this feature included the succession of Cecil Hartt, Frank Dunne and Lance Mattinson.
From 1922 the Smith's Weekly offices were at 126-130 Phillip Street. [3]
It also had a special Investigation department staffed by journalists with a bent for sleuthing. One of its many exposures is credited with dealing a fatal blow to the New Guard, an incipient fascist movement of the 1930s.
One of Smith's Weekly's innovations was, in conjunction with Union Theatres Ltd., the first "Miss Australia" beauty contest, selected from winners from each State. Prizes included a trip to America with £500 spending money, a screen test and paid speaking engagements. Winners were:
The contest was then quietly dropped, but re-instituted in 1936 with much broader selection criteria, in which beauty was not mentioned. The judging panel was composed entirely of prominent women; the winner was Sheila Martin of Wagga, New South Wales. The prize for "Miss Australia 1937" was a trip to London to attend the coronation of Edward VIII on 12 May 1937 (which instead became the coronation of George VI) followed by a tour of Canada and the United States.
Smith's Weekly staff included notable poet Kenneth Slessor as editor, and cartoonists of the stature of George Finey, Emile Mercier and Stan Cross. It was a launching pad for two generations of outstanding Australian journalists and cartoonists.
In the 1930s Dick Randall submitted articles for publication in Smith's Weekly, later becoming finance editor. In 1966, as Sir Richard Randall, he became Secretary to the Treasury, Canberra. [6]
Three rare Lovecraftian stories were originally published by the well-known "Witch of the Cross" in Sydney, Rosaleen Norton in Smith's Weekly. They were later reprinted as, Three Macabre Tales (US: Typographeum Press, 1996).
On 5 April 1932, Francis Barnby Wilkinson and his girlfriend Dorothy Ruth Denzel, were victims of a callous double murder at Moorebank by William Cyril Moxley. [7] [8] In the issue dated 30 July 1932, Smith's Weekly published a barrage of ugly allegations against Wilkinson, including attempted extortion and being a police informant. [9] They were quickly proven false, a fact that was seized on by the daily newspapers. [10] Smith's Weekly never fully recovered from its loss of reputation. [2]
Its fortunes revived somewhat during World War II, once again doggedly supporting the men at the front, but at war's end rising costs and lack of capital (new owners seeing its value as real estate rather than a business) accelerated its decline, and the last issue, dated 28 October 1950, was a tabloid of a mere 24 pages. [2]
Editors-in-Chief [2]
Editors
Artists
Crime reporters
Writers and reporters
Sports writers
Advertising
Smith's Weekly has been digitised as part of the Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program of the National Library of Australia.
Kenneth Adolphe Slessor was an Australian poet, journalist and official war correspondent in World War II. He was one of Australia's leading poets, notable particularly for the absorption of modernist influences into Australian poetry. The Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry is named after him.
The Argus was an Australian daily morning newspaper in Melbourne from 2 June 1846 to 19 January 1957, and was considered to be the general Australian newspaper of record for this period. Widely known as a conservative newspaper for most of its history, it adopted a left-leaning approach from 1949. The Argus's main competitor was David Syme's more liberal-minded newspaper, The Age.
William Henry ('Will') Dyson was an Australian illustrator, artist and political cartoonist who achieved international recognition. He initially worked as a freelance artist in Australia, developing a specialty as a caricaturist, notably in The Bulletin magazine. In 1909 Dyson married Ruby Lindsay and the couple settled in London soon afterwards. As cartoonist for The Daily Herald newspaper, Dyson became widely known as an illustrator and commentator supporting progressive social reforms in Britain. His cartoons were often controversial, tackling difficult issues such as poverty, inequality and war, and were characterised by their biting wit and artistic impact. At the outbreak of World War I Dyson directed his scathing artwork at German militarism. In 1916 he applied to join the Australian forces at the Western Front as an artist. He was appointed an honorary lieutenant and joined the Anzac troops in France in January 1917. By the following May his appointment as Australia's first official war artist was formalised. After the death of his wife in March 1919 Dyson went through a difficult emotional period, during which his artistic output suffered. In late 1924 he returned to Australia after accepting a contract to work for the Herald publishing group in Melbourne. Dyson returned to England in 1930. He died in London in 1938, aged 57.
The Australian Cartoonists' Association (ACA) is the Australian professional cartoonists' organisation and was established on 17 July 1924 as the Society of Australian Black and White Artists.
Stanley George Cross was born in the United States but was known as an Australian strip and political cartoonist who drew for Smith's Weekly and the Herald & Weekly Times. Cross is famous for his iconic 1933 "For gorsake, stop laughing: this is serious!” cartoon as well as the Wally and the Major and The Potts cartoon strips.
Robert Clyde Packer, known as R. C. Packer, was a journalist, media proprietor and founder of Australia's Packer media dynasty, which would later own Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL) and now owns holds a controlling interest in Crown Resorts through Consolidated Press Holdings.
Emile Mercier was an Australian cartoonist, best known for his iconic cartoons regularly published in the Sydney Sun newspaper from 1949 to 1968, and which have been collected and published in 11 books.
The Labor Daily was a Sydney-based journal/newspaper of the early to mid 20th century. An organ of the Australian Labor Party, it was published in Sydney by Stanley Roy Wasson after the ailing Daily Mail was absorbed by Labor Papers Ltd, who began publication under that name on 6 January 1922 with the strong support of Albert Willis and the Miners' Federation. Willis was managing director 1926–1931 and chairman 1924–1930 and one of the most powerful political figures in the state. After a few weeks the paper's name was changed to the Labor Daily and was a supporter of Lang Labor.
Harold Frederick Neville Gye, was a prolific Australian artist, cartoonist and caricaturist under the name Hal Gye and a writer of verse and short stories under James Hackston. Gye's artwork was published in a number of newspapers and magazines including The Bulletin, a journal with which he had a long association both as an artist and a writer. Gye was also a noted book illustrator. His artwork was featured in the books of C. J. Dennis beginning with The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke in 1915 and he also illustrated books of verse by Will H. Ogilvie and Banjo Paterson. As 'James Hackston' Gye wrote verse and autobiographical short stories published in The Bulletin and the Coast to Coast series of anthologies. In 1966 his collected short stories were published as Father Clears Out.
Claude McKay was an Australian journalist and publicist of Scottish descent born in Kilmore, Victoria.
Francis Joseph Marien, born in Sydney, Australia, of Irish and Italian parents, was an editor of Smith's Weekly.
George Edmond Finey was an Australian black-and-white artist, noted for his unconventional appearance and left-wing politics.
Cecil Lawrence Hartt was an Australian cartoonist and caricaturist. As a wartime artist, he popularised the concept of the Australian digger as independent, easy-going and disrespectful of authority, with a sardonic attitude to life. He was the first artist to be employed by Smith's Weekly in 1919, continuing in that role until his death in 1930. Over his career Hartt produced a large number of cartoons on a broad range of subjects and themes; his drawings encompassed political, social and military topics and were admired for their observational humour and the quality of his character portraits. He mainly drew single-panel cartoons, but his body of work also includes early examples of Australian comic strips. Hartt was the first president of the Australian Black and White Artists' Club, formed in July 1924.
Lawrence Francis Dunne, generally known as "Frank" but also as "Beau" was an Australian cartoonist, born in Boorowa, near Harden, New South Wales.
Frank Johnson Publications was an Australian comic book and pulp magazine publisher in the 1940s and 1950s.
Sydney Leon Miller was a prolific Australian artist celebrated for his black-and-white work as a cartoonist, illustrator, caricaturist and comic-book author. Known professionally as Syd Miller, he was employed as a staff-artist for Smith's Weekly from late-1922 until 1935, when he left to pursue a diversity of freelance work. Miller created a number of comic-strips during his career, most notably the iconic 'Chesty Bond' character as a marketing campaign for the Australian clothing company Bonds. He also wrote and illustrated the Rod Craig comic-strip which was serialised from 1946 to 1955 and syndicated across Australia and internationally.
Virgil Reilly, was an Australian cartoonist, comic book artist and illustrator. In a long and varied career, he was one of Australia's most famous newspaper and magazine artists and a prolific comic-book illustrator. He was known as 'Virgil', the name he signed on his work. While working for Smith's Weekly during the inter-war years he became well-known for his cartoons of glamorous and seductive young women that became known as 'Virgil's girls'. During World War II he continued to draw cartoons featuring sensual and assertive young women for the Sunday Telegraph and contributed cover art, patriotic cartoons and paintings for the Australian Women's Weekly. In the late-1940s and 1950s Reilly was a prolific and successful comic-book artist, known for his fictional creations such as 'Silver Flash' and the 'Rocket Squadron', as well as his depictions of actual naval battles.
Claude Arthur Marquet (1869–1920) was an influential Australian political cartoonist, noted for his bold illustrative style and strong commitment to the labour movement and radical politics.
The Daily Guardian was an Australian daily newspaper published in Sydney from July 1923 to 1931. It was owned by Smith's Newspapers Limited, a holding company controlled by James Joynton Smith and better known as the publisher of Smith's Weekly. It was known for publicity stunts, including offering its subscribers free insurance and sponsoring the first Miss Australia pageant. It ceased publication on 15 February 1931 as a result of the Great Depression.
George Henry Dancey was an Australian artist, known for cartoons and caricatures, particularly for the Melbourne Punch, second only to Tom Carrington in his time with that paper.
