Summary

This item is one of our 50 Treasures: Celebrating 50 years of James Cook University.

Trisha Fielding answers the question 'Why is this significant?'

The north Queensland firm of Cummins and Campbell Ltd. was founded in 1899 as a partnership between John Cummins and Aylmer Campbell. The wine, spirits and general merchants had their head office in Flinders Street, Townsville, and by the mid-1920s the company had branch offices in Cairns, Charters Towers, Innisfail, Ingham and Bowen. Agencies were located in Ayr, Hughenden, Yungaburra and Cloncurry.

The company is perhaps best remembered for its Cummins and Campbell's Monthly Magazine, which carried the motto, 'To Educate and Amuse' on its masthead. After a hiatus of five years, a new series of the magazine was launched in April 1925, which proved extremely popular. An annual subscription cost 3 shillings, or single editions could be purchased for three pence.

The magazine contained a substantial amount of advertising (particularly for wine and spirits, as that was their main trade), as well as articles of interest to people in the north. Topics ranged broadly and included snippets on overseas events, historical articles about north Queensland towns, biographies of local pioneers and Australian explorers, and information about the sugar, mining, agricultural and pastoral industries in the north. There were obituaries, book reviews, poetry, quizzes, and articles about staff picnics and dances. It also contained lighter segments, such as the 'Ladies' Page', which offered up stain removal remedies and tips on how to 'acquire slim ankles'.

The magazine was so popular that, by its third edition, circulation had doubled – and by 1930, it ran to around 100 pages. Many of the more informative articles were published under pen names, such as 'Tramp', 'Observer', and 'Viator'. These authors contributed regularly to Cummins and Campbell's Monthly Magazine for many years. Articles were often reprinted in the mainstream media in newspapers throughout Australia, such was the magazine's appeal.

It often featured photographic montages of views of north Queensland towns, usually in an effort to highlight 'progress' made in those towns. These grainy black and white images are now an important record of the early development of these places.

Editions published in 1930 featured a full-page of photos of babies and children from throughout the north. Headings such as: 'Bonny Babes of the Sunny North' and 'A Proof of Tropical Health: A Group of Sturdy North Queenslanders', were undoubtedly aimed at reinforcing recent thinking that Europeans could indeed survive and flourish in the difficult climate of the tropics.

The magazine ran until May 1957.