The Australian Magazine described itself as a new series of A.A.A. with a 'wider and more all-embracing title'. It promised to keep pace with the times and with the rapid progress in the art of printing and illustrating. Initially, it contained considerably fewer photographs and illustrations than the earlier magazine. However, these increased substantially over its three years of existence. Its editorial content continued as a very varied general interest magazine, including on-going attention to 'Our Girls' and 'Modern Love'. It ran short fiction stories, poems, stories of historical interest, 'unique photographs', and travel and anthropological stories (such as 'Our Blacks' and 'The Man-Eaters of Papua'). It also ran a column of political notes and raised issues of civic interest (such as 'The Other Side -- A Japanese View on a White Australia' and 'Should Majorities Rule?').
A.A.A. : All about Australians : An Illustrated Monthly Journal
All about Australians
1901
Sydney
:
Yewen Publishing Co.
,
1901-1907
Z1210816
1901
periodical
(1 issues)
A.A.A. began in the year of federation, sounding a nationalistic note: it would publish 'high-class literature' and its stories would be about 'anything done by an Australian that is worthy of being chronicled'. Its standard content involved genial pars and character sketches about politics (but little political commentary), theatre, music and film, and society and fashion, as well as overseas notes and notables. It became increasingly oriented towards a female and domestic readership, with stories for children, cartoon jokes, and extensive illustrated coverage of department stores. From November 1903 throughout 1904, it ran a series of sketches of types of Girl (theatrical, regional, and seasonal types). Again, in 1907, George Taylor's (q.v.) 'The Quest for the Australian Girl' was illustrated with sketches by leading artists, including D. H. Souter (q.v.), Norman Lindsay (q.v.), Sass, and Mabelle Edmonds. At the beginning of 1905, it decreased its page size, increased the number of pages and the number and quality of photographs, and doubled its price. It enhanced its tourism orientation, showcasing first New Zealand ('Australia's Great Recreation Ground'), then other picturesque destinations. It occasionally addressed issues of race and the White Australia Policy. It began a new series (Vol.8, no.4 NS) in January 1908, under a new title -- Australian Magazine -- 'as the old title had outlived its usefulness'.
