HOAX NATION

Australian Fakes and Frauds, from Plato to Norma Khouri

'Simon Caterson’s recent book, Hoax Nation, gives a wonderful tour of some of the artistic world’s most successful and disastrous deceptions in and about Australia over the last two millennia ...

  'Hoax Nation includes an array of frauds: 19th century publishing scams selling fake accounts of life in the new and terrifyingly barbaric colony, written from the comfort of a London home; accounts of the Chinese experience in Australia, written by enterprising European Australian scribblers; myths about bunyips and other fabulous animals. There are also some interesting non-artistic hoaxes about magic potions, such as UNIQUE water, which ‘cured’ any ailment without so much as a homeopathic treatment and which was sold at exorbitant rates to queues of credulous Australians.

– Daniel Fox, 'Leaching off the Art Scene', Kill Your Darlings, 26 May 2010

'Simon Caterson's Hoax Nation allows us to go a little deeper into this relationship between hoaxing and identity. ... [his] focus on Australia allows him to put the question of our apparent addiction to hoaxes into historical perspective. For Caterson, Australia is notable not only for the hoaxes it produces but also for the hoaxes of which it is the target.'

– 'Identity Cheek', Australian Literary Review, April 2010

'It seems playing pranks on each other is a human instinct as old as time. Some are fun, some are deadly serious but throughout history people have tricked, lied and scammed. Melbourne writer Simon Caterson knows a thing or two about the subject ... '
– 'We've been hoaxing since the Trojan Horse', The (Scottish) Sunday Post, 21 March 2010

'Though we at Hat condone tactful truth-telling at all times, we also endorse this latest morsel from Arcade Publications. And not surprisingly, as Hoax Nation reveals an endogenous tendency in Australians to compromise the truth for the sake of a healthy story. Caterson’s compendium of literary, scholarly, political and biological falsities is comprehensive and compelling in the way only the infamous among us – Helen Dimedenko, Ern Malley, Norma Khouri, Nino Culotta et al – can be. Plus, it fits in any pocket.'

– Kirsten Law, I do Believe I came with a Hat, 19 March 2010

'Simon Caterson's pocket-sized Hoax Nation describes enterprises with vastly different motivations and outcomes from phonies and scams to pranks and frauds. As such it delivers nicely on its promise to give the reader "a Cook's Tour of 2500 years of tall stories by and about Australia".
   ' ... Hoax Nation gives thumbnail accounts of bogus accounts of Australia as told by purported travellers through the ages. Frenchman Gabriel de Foigny's 1676 account describes native Australians as six-fingered hermaphrodites. In the 19th century Louis de Rougemont wrote of being shipwrecked on the Australian coast, where he was adopted by a cannibal tribe and appointed their king. During his reign he saw "flocks of wombats" and deserts of gold. Since white settlement, literary types have been enthusiastic hoaxers, and Hoax Nation summarises pranks by Gwen Harwood, Bob Reece, Vogel-winner Paul Radley, and Harold Stewart and James McAuley (creators of "Ern Malley"). There are briefings on art forgeries, identity theft, fake ethnicity, putative science frauds, and fabrications behind some of our heroes.

   'Such an expansive notion of "hoax" in a potted history inevitably leads to omissions ... But Caterson's limpid prose makes Hoax Nation an erudite proposition that hoaxing is, as he writes, "inseparable from the wider Australian narrative".'

– Katherine Wilson, The Age, A2, 1 January 2010

– reprinted in the Sydney Morning Herald, Spectrum, 6 February 2010

‘Melbourne writer Simon Caterson says most hoaxers are driven by a mix of ''imagination and self-interest". The reason their hoaxes thrive, says Caterson, author of Hoax Nation: Australian Fakes and Frauds from Plato to Norma Khouri, is that humans are gullible and deceptive.’

– Clare Kermond, The Age, 24 October 2009

‘Melbourne literary journalist Simon Caterson has been intrigued by Australian hoaxes for years. And with good reason – we have some absolute corkers in our history, from ancient times to the present. In this book, he unearths our rich (and highly entertaining) legacy of hoaxes – from modern art frauds, literary scandals, impostures – from the Tichborne Claimant, to Ern Malley, to Norma Khouri. Fascinating reading.’

– Readings Monthly, November 2009

RESOURCES

Read what Simon says:

... on Hoaxes, lies and surgical tape, in The Sydney Morning Herald

... about putting the 'con' in 'con artist', in Crikey

... on whether Frank is the full monte, in Online Opinion

... about fabulous beasts and the Ompax hoax, in Online Opinion

... on why December 20 is the real ANZAC day, in Online Opinion

… of the Norma Khouri affair, in Bookseller+Publisher
… on the on the balloon boy, in Crikey

… on military imposters, in the Age

… about George Barrington, in Online Opinion

... on the art of the copy in the Australian

OUR GIRLS

Aussie Pin-ups of the 40s and 50s

Trailblazing pin-up girls remembered on 'The 7.30 Report', 15 February 2010

'I’ve done nothing but rave about the Arcade Publications I have read, so I expected I would have a similar response to Our Girls: Aussie Pin-Ups of the 40s and 50s by Madeleine Hamilton. Moving from Melbourne based history, Our Girls looks at the lives and lithe limbs of the Australian swimsuit cuties of the 1940s and 1950s. Hamilton seems to be making an argument that these women were “trailblazers of the sexual revolution and women’s lib movement.” All the reviews I’ve read similarly commend Hamilton’s message, and I’ve struggled with voicing my objections: if all those other reviewers found these stories so liberating, why didn’t I? ... '

– Jess, Start Narrative Here, 25 January 2010

‘Our Girls is a nostalgic journey into a world where Australian women were celebrated for being fun, healthy and self-assured. The dimensions of their bodies were secondary to the confidence with which they presented themselves. I'm certain a handful of cellulite wouldn't have stopped them. Hamilton's writing is bright and personal, and the pictures, which are generously scattered throughout the book, are delightful.'
– Ellena Savage, Eureka Street, 22 January 2010

'The author sets out to celebrate the pin-ups as complex people and real women who have not been airbrushed or surgically enhanced, unlike modern poster girls.'

– Belinda Scott, Coffs Coast Advocate, 5 January 2010

'It's not hard to see why pin-up girls from the 40s and 50s hold a particular charm for historian Madeleine Hamilton. Compared with today's airbrushed, surgically enhanced and plastic-looking models, the classic pin-up of the wartime era looks endearingly real. Far from being exploited sexual objects, Hamilton argues that the women who featured in magazines such as Pix and Man were trailblazers for the sexual revolution and the women's lib movement. Rather than being objectified, WWII pin-ups were "widely viewed as healthy and fit, representing nation and home". These women exude exuberance and vitality, a marked contrast to the passive demeanour of the contemporary model. An unexpectedly poignant dimension to this engaging story is the role that pin-ups played for servicemen at the front and how much they cherished these images.
– Fiona Capp, the Age A2, 18 December

'The latest offering from boutique Melbourne publishing house Arcade Publications has seen the group take a step back from their intensely hometown focus and embrace the national story of Australian pin-up girls from the 1940s and 50s ... Our Girls fits perfectly into Arcade’s exclusive stable of publications, with its focus on story-telling and tangible history. Extremely tangible, as a matter of fact. Arcade’s books are all palm-sized A6, beautifully designed and full of gorgeous pictures. It was a change of mindset for Madeleine to distil a 90,000-word work of academia into a pocket-sized collection of fascinating tales but she is adamant that it forced her to focus on the stories of these amazing women and bring them to life.'
– Justine Marshall, Trespass Magazine, 8 December 2009

'Anyone interested in Australian post-war popular culture, particularly magazine publishing history, will enjoy Madeleine Hamilton's book, Our Girls. The biographical portraits of the pin-up models and photographers from that era make for engaging reading in their own right – not to mention the photographs, of course! - but the book highlights the important role that popular magazines such as Pix and Man played in shaping Australia's post-war aspirations and sense of national identity, albeit in a playful, lighthearted manner.'
– Kevin Patrick, Comics Down Under, 3 December 2009

'The images bring to life an old ideal of Australian beauty: fresh-faced, healthy and sun-kissed, outdoorsy and fun. They radiate youth and a love of life. It's no wonder Australia's pin-up girls of yesteryear buoyed the spirits of so many servicemen who carried their images to distant lands.
    ‘In the 1940s, long before feminism made its mark, these women proudly embraced the bathing beauty craze. ''They did not see themselves as victims in any way,'' says Fitzroy author Madeleine Hamilton, 32, who interviewed 21 well-known Australian pin-ups from the 1940s and 1950s for her forthcoming book, Our Girls. ''They were proud of their poses and, in the case of the wartime models, they were proud of boosting the morale of servicemen,'' Hamilton says.’
– Claire Halliday, the Age, 8 November 2009

– Claire also wrote a piece published on the same day in the Sun-Herald

'Our Girls is the fourth offering from Melbourne publishers Arcade Publications, in a series they describe as, small books, big stories – quirky pocket-sized editions on local subjects. This book, subtitled ‘Aussie Pin-ups of the 40s and 50s’, is a lively read about the now innocent-looking cheesecake photos that featured in wartime and post-war newspapers, and long-defunct magazines such as Pix, Australasian Post, People, and Truth. Madeleine Hamilton interviewed World War II survivors and former models such as Adelie Hurley (daughter of the famous Antarctic photographer Frank Hurley). Photographers such as Athol Shmith also feature, together with the usual unflattering description of a tyrannical Helmut Newton. This book is also an unashamedly nostalgic collection of photographs that the author claims were the forerunners of the sexual revolution.’
– Graeme Moore, Bookseller+Publisher, October 2009

‘Swell lookin' babes take us through a crucial, transitional period of our history – great reading!’
– Claudia Karvan

‘How nice it is to see women with real bodies looking even more alluring than today’s pinups, so refreshing, they are beautiful. And they all look so happy! What an interesting read, we could all learn a thing or two from these stunning Australians.’
– Michi Girl

'Self professed aficionado of mid-20th century design and pop culture, Madeleine Hamilton has gone looking for Australia’s answer to the bombshells and Cheesecake girls and the result is a beautiful, at times quite emotional, trip down Australian culture’s memory lane.'

– Olivia Hambrett, Trespass Magazine, 24 November 2009

'Hamilton has produced a heartfelt tribute to “our girls”. Through the series of sketches she presents, mini-bios if you like, along with their photos, we get some sense of who these girls were and what their lives may have been like. As Hamilton says, “They shouldn’t be dismissed as simply so much eye candy … they were independent, often earning good money … loved their own bodies, and had to be pretty tough and assertive … In many ways they were the trailblazers of the sexual revolution and women’s lib movement.”

– Paula Grunseit, Cherrie, 23 November 2009

RESOURCES

> hear Madeleine in conversation on 3CR

> read The Enthusiast's review of Our Girls launch

> see the extract from Madeleine's book that appeared in RSL Reveille, November-December 2009 (pp32-35)

> article by Madeleine,' When a fine body of work isn't the answer', www.crikey.com.au 26 November 2009

MADAME BRUSSELS

This Moral Pandemonium

'Madame Brussels: This Moral Pandemonium is a gorgeously designed, pocket sized historical biography of notorious Melbourne brothel owner, savvy businesswoman and entrepreneur Caroline Hodgson. The use of pink and white pages printed with black and red ink lends the book a little decadent flourish, perfectly suited to its subject matter.

   'The scandals of the business and Hodgson’s personal life are delightfully fleshed out in Robinson’s diminutive dissertation. Although there are many gaps between the documentation available, Robinson does a great job of considering the possibilities behind the historical blind spots.

   'Illustrated with beautiful engravings from the State Library of Victoria archives and snippets of articles from the sensationalist media of the time, Madame Brussels creates a vivid portrait of a fascinatingly ambiguous woman and the city of Melbourne.'

– Jess, Start Narrative Here, 6 January 2010

'The new press Arcade Publications specialises in short tales of Marvellous Melbourne. They are small, beautifully designed, with apt illustrations. Madame Brussels is the story of a forgotten woman, once a queen of the city's vice. Caroline Hodgson (1851 – 1908) was the German wife of an upper-class Englishman. The couple tried their luck in the colony, but separated. Apparently thrown on her own resources, Caroline became procuress to the elite. She soon had large property interests and a devoted, powerful clientele. She would allegedly promenade with a beautiful girl, and a white plume in her hat, symbolising a virginity for sale. Christian reformers dragged her into court, but she had enough legal clients to avoid convictions. In this illuminating biography, Caroline emerges as resourceful, smart and perhaps a hopeless romantic.'

– Lucy Sussex,
the Age, M Magazine,
3 May 2009

‘It was one of the more glamorous and intriguing wills of 1908: exquisite linens and laces, fabulous diamonds and rubies, and expensive properties dotted across Melbourne. These were the last worldly possessions of Caroline Hodgson, dead at 57 from pancreatitis and diabetes. Hodgson was also known as Madame Brussels, the Queen of Harlotry, who reigned supreme over her loyal "flash girls" in the last quarter of the 1800s. A seemingly ordinary item was found in her will, a delectable mystery: a small bent coin in a purse. What could it mean?
    ‘For Melbourne academic and writer LM (Lenny) Robinson, it was a mystery she pondered while researching the life of Hodgson, and has since written about in her pocket book, Madame Brussels, This Moral Pandemonium. Understand the meaning behind the bent coin, Robinson says, and you might get closer to the heart of a woman who was both loved by her loyal coterie of well-groomed women and vilified by the powerful (male) evangelists and media of the time.’
– Angela Blakston, the Age, 2 May 2009

RESOURCES

> viewa video of LM on Little Lon's saucy history
> hear Kelly Irving interview author LM Robinson
> download a podcast conversation between author LM Robinson and publisher Dale Campisi
> visit iconic Melbourne bar and order a ‘Moral Pandemonium’

MAKING MODERN MELBOURNE

* Lonely Planet recommends reading Making Modern Melbourne in its Guide to Victoria.

* Making Modern Melbourne was described as 'fantastic' by Sophie Cunningham on Radio National's last Book Show for 2009 featuring the year's best books.

'It may have the format of those gift-sized books on bookshop counters but Making Modern Melbourne has all the substance of a regular-sized book ... Along with the familiar names of Batman and Fawkner in the establishment of Melbourne, we learn of Derrimut of the Boonwurrung tribe, who became Fawkner's main local ally but who lost his land anyway. How Melbourne got its grid is another compelling story of European order imposed upon the landscape. This "architecture of surveillance" is explored in public buildings such as the State Library, factories and the modern home. Woven into this account is Lee's personal perspective from her own patch on the Maribynong.'  
– Fiona Capp, the Age, 27 September 2008

'Lovers of Dead Wood will be delighted to learn that Melbourne wasn't that dissimilar. It was a lawless encampment, with notorious brothels, opium dens and big personalities. And, of-course, it was all violently snatched from the Kulin people. Making Modern Melbourne is a delicious, bite-sized history of our city ... Any good bookshop can sell you this great read, give you change from a $20, and give you a new perspective on what's at the heart of modern Melbourne.'
– The Slow Guide: Melbourne www.slowguides.com

'A punchy little introduction to the history of Melbourne’s settlement and evolution, from the first landing by Lieutenant John Murray in 1802 through to the current day ...
    ' Making Modern Melbourne could be described as a companion read with Lee an informative and likeable companion narrator ... This delightful little book serves as an enjoyable jumping off point for deeper reading about particular points in local history and has certainly helped me see Melbourne in a fresh light.'
– Belinda Burns, artshub.com.au 20 October 2008

EW COLE

Chasing the Rainbow

'... a rather fascinating little book about Edward Cole and his remarkable life. I never realised that Cole played such a significant role as an entrepreneur and part of the Melbourne marketing scene at the turn of the 20th century.
For anyone with fond memories of the Cole’s Funny Picture Books, E W Cole: Chasing the Rainbow offers a well-written, easy to read account of this very interesting man living in a very interesting period of Australia’s history'

– Reading Upside Down

'EW Cole: Chasing the Rainbow (Arcade Publications, 2007) by Lisa Lang will intrigue both those who fondly recall hours spent pouring over the Cole’s Funny Picture Books in their childhood as well as any reader interested in Australian history. Lang unfolds a fascinating tale of a man who was one of Australia’s most dynamic and far-thinking entrepreneurs.

   'The palm-sized format book features numerous photographs of Cole and his family, illustrations from his Funny Picture Books and images of Melbourne in the late 1800s. The stories from Cole’s life, both personal and professional, are intriguing and E W Cole: Chasing the Rainbow is a very readable and enjoyable snapshot of an early Australian entrepreneur, businessman and publisher.

– Susan Whelan, Suite101.com, 24 April 2010

'Little did I knowthat the man behind such a cornerstone of my childhood nostalgia was such a varied and interesting figure of Melbourne’s history, and E.W. Cole: Chasing the Rainbow takes a look at the man behind the Funny Picture Books – Edward William Cole and his emporium of exotic treasures and Book Arcade in the heart of Melbourne in the late 19th century ... Lang’s biography is a short one, delivered in Arcade Publications‘ signature mini-book size, that takes us through Edward William Cole’s humble beginnings on the fraught goldfields of Victoria, to selling cordial to the goldhunters and even manning a late night meat pie stand until he settled on selling books from a cart on the street. He educated himself in the public libraries of Melbourne and wrote a book about world religions and religious tolerance, which was a difficult sell to publishers of the time. As his book cart grew to a full store at the busy Eastern Market, Cole took to unconventional promotional measures.

   'Not only was Cole an impressive businessman, publisher and bookseller, but he was an inspired intellectual with a Utopian vision. He shunned the rampant racism evident in Australia, he wrote extensively against the White Australia policy and he advocated literacy and education for all. Cole’s is not a sensational biography, apart from the monkeys and his pet marmoset, but Lang shows us an eccentric man with strong ideals and business acumen who was a pioneer of his time.'
– Jess, Start Narrative Here, 11 January 2010

‘Lang’s little book is a simple and clear account … of [Cole’s] fascinating life. A useful primer on a leading light of Marvellous Melbourne.’

– Bill Perrett, the Age

‘Reading [EW Cole: Chasing the rainbow] is like eating sherbet: the prose fairly fizzes along. This is partly because Lang has such an eye for evocative detail: her descriptions of the Victorian goldfields in the 1850s and boom-time Melbourne in the 1870-80s so exactly fit what I’ve been reading and dreaming about lately, they took me by surprise. And the other reason the prose is so lively is because of the extraordinary, charming kookiness of E.. Cole himself'.

– Melissa Bellanta, The Vapour Trail

‘Edward Cole, creator of Cole’s Funny Picture Book, was not a conventional Victorian fellow. An entrepreneur and idealist, he took it upon himself to spread love and rhetoric to all who might pass through the doors of his Bourke Street Book Arcade. In line with its proprietor’s progressive attitude to living, Cole’s was several floors worth of whimsy and readables, complemented by an in-house brass band, a hall of mirrors, a tea salon and reading chairs that would put the modern-day book barn to shame.
Fond of a good pet monkey and of racial equality, EW Cole’s legacy has now been immortalised by Arcade Publications in mini-book form. Find out more about the man who patented the rainbow and married a woman he met in the classifieds (who very much enjoyed wearing rainbow-shaped brooches), here.’


– Kirsten Law, Three Thousand