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y separately published work icon Smith's Weekly newspaper  
Date: 1941-1950
Date: 1940
Date: 1935-1939
Date: 1932-1935
Date: 1919
Date: 1919-1931
Issue Details: First known date: 1919... 1919 Smith's Weekly
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Smith's Weekly was primarily an illustrated broadsheet newspaper carrying whole pages of cartoons, political comment and comic strips. It was named after and initially funded by Sir James Joynton Smith (1858-1943), an Englishman who became lord mayor of Sydney. For much of its life Smith's Weekly was also regarded as 'the Digger's newspaper'. During the 1920s and 1930s it became a leading advocate for the welfare of returned servicemen and women, and throughout its life it ran a regular page of news, correspondence and other items intended for Diggers. This continued in the years following World War II.

Notes

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First known date: 1919
      Sydney, New South Wales,: 1919-1950 .
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Works about this Work

Kenneth Slessor and Bertha Blither: Two Sides of an Australian Writer Between the Wars Rod Grant , 2015 single work criticism
— Appears in: Sydney Studies in English , no. 41 2015; 'Very little of the material Kenneth Slessor contributed to ‘Smith’s Weekly’ has received scholarly attention despite the divisions and incongruities it reveals in his approach to writing. One could read Geoffrey Dutton’s biography, or more recent criticism by Philip Mead, and remain ignorant that Slessor was chiefly famous as a humourist during the 1920s and 30s. This essay focuses on Slessor’s part in the development of a comic character featured in ‘Smith’s Weekly’ from 1929 to 1938. Originally conceived as a lampoon of Dorothy Dix, Bertha Blither gradually assumed more diversified responsibilities at the paper as her outrageous behaviour won popularity. By the early 1930s the hard drinking Bertha was an ‘expert on everything’ and her career constituted a grotesque commentary on advances made by women in the public sphere. Bertha allowed Slessor to inhabit the persona of a crass and domineering woman whose views and values were diametrically opposed to his own, a ploy foreshadowing later excursions into cross-dressing by Barry Humphries. The degree to which Slessor’s best writing was a product of such contradictory impulses is a central concern of the essay.' (Publication summary)
In the Wake of War : The Rise and Rise of Australia's Media Since 1918 Bridget Griffen-Foley , 2008 single work criticism
— Appears in: Making Australian History : Perspectives on the Past Since 1788 2008; (p. 375-381)

'Lost in the traditional stories of Depression and unemployment is the extraordinary technological and media revolution that was taking place in Australia of the interwar years. For it was in these years that we now find the origins of the great media empires of the twentieth century: the house of Murdoch and Packer. It saw, too, the birth of widespread radio technology and the iconic Australian serial, The Australian Women's Weekly. Indeed, as Bridget Griffen-Foley demonstrates here, the 1920s and 1930s were far from being just an age of economic hardship. Rather, this was perhaps the first period in Australian history in which most citizens were afforded the opportunity to experience extraordinary new communications technology.'

Did You Get It? Humphrey McQueen , 2001 single work biography
— Appears in: Good Weekend , 24 November 2001; (p. 34-38)
Drawing Blood Elizabeth Farrelly , 2001 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 19-20 May 2001; (p. 8-9)
A Prose 'Kinema' : Kenneth Slessor's Film Writing Philip Mead , 2000 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Writing and the City : Refereed Proceedings of the 1999 Conference Held at the New South Wales Writers' Centre Sydney 2-6 July 1999 2000; (p. 77-87)
In the Wake of War : The Rise and Rise of Australia's Media Since 1918 Bridget Griffen-Foley , 2008 single work criticism
— Appears in: Making Australian History : Perspectives on the Past Since 1788 2008; (p. 375-381)

'Lost in the traditional stories of Depression and unemployment is the extraordinary technological and media revolution that was taking place in Australia of the interwar years. For it was in these years that we now find the origins of the great media empires of the twentieth century: the house of Murdoch and Packer. It saw, too, the birth of widespread radio technology and the iconic Australian serial, The Australian Women's Weekly. Indeed, as Bridget Griffen-Foley demonstrates here, the 1920s and 1930s were far from being just an age of economic hardship. Rather, this was perhaps the first period in Australian history in which most citizens were afforded the opportunity to experience extraordinary new communications technology.'

Kenneth Slessor Peter Sekuless , 1999-1998 single work biography
— Appears in: A Handful of Hacks 1999; (p. 48-64)
Smith's Weekly Goes 1950 single work column
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 1 November vol. 71 no. 3690 1950; (p. 7)
In Print Vane Lindesay , 1985 single work criticism biography
— Appears in: This Australia , Winter vol. 4 no. 3 1985; (p. 49-52)
y separately published work icon The Sea Coast of Bohemia : Literary Life in Sydney's Roaring Twenties Peter Kirkpatrick , St Lucia : University of Queensland Press , 1992 Z365461 1992 single work criticism
VIEW ALL WORKS ABOUT (16)
Last amended 3 Oct 2012 17:43:48
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