Cirrus@Austlit

The topical jokes and characters refer to such topicalities as the 'recent political changes, the composition of the cabinet, the loquacity of our legislators, the irregularities of the telegraphic system, the contemplated formation of street railways, the progress of exploration. Australian-servant-galism [etc].' The plot is described in the Argus as involving the triumph of Fairy Progressa by the 'introduction into the curriculum of instruction in applied sciences, and other subjects until recently regarded as heterodox by those presiding over the old seats of learning' (p.4).

The Argus records that a number of business establishments in the city found their place among the scenes in the harlequinade. Notable were the Cremorne (featuring its rotunda), Coppin's XXX, and the Collingwood Gas Company (27 Dec. 1860, p.5). Bell's Life in Victoria also mentions the Melbourne terminus of the St Kilda railway, the Monster Clothing Mart, and the exterior of Harry Jenkins' place (29 Dec. 1860, p.2).

Akhurst possibly adapted his version from E. L. Blanchard's Little Jack Horner (1857).