Splashes Weekly
1911
Sydney
:
1911-1917
Z1210734
1911
periodical
(1 issues)
Although the numbering continued that of the monthly Splashes, the editorial of Vol.12, no.12 indicated that the magazine had changed hands. The previous editor, Mrs Fotheringhame, was to have charge of the society pages only, and the new weekly was to be 'specially written in the interests of women and children'. Over the next few months, it progressively increased in size, sported a new cover, and began publishing more extensive photographs, including full-page portraits of theatricals and celebrities and double spreads of various events. It presented its brief as 'to chronicle Music, Art, Drama, Sport, and all phases of Society, in clean and crisp journalism.' By mid-1914, drama incorporated film, with picture theatre listings and reviews, news, and fan tales. It carried brief news from Melbourne, Brisbane, Newcastle, and London. From the outbreak of war, the magazine became overtly patriotic, with covers displaying nurses and flags, etc., while inside were reports from the front and photographs of soldiers killed. When it ceased publication in March 1917, because of paper shortages, it declared that it was retiring 'at the summit of our reputation... We have chronicled and richly illustrated all events of local interest until we have come to be known as the premier journal in our line'.
