By 1924 Aussie magazine might be described as existing somewhere in between, a mixed bag, anomalous, a local hybrid or home brew, peculiar to our particular shores and our often-times shared yarns.
In the "Aussie" chapter of Confessions of a Journalist, Pat Lawlor recounts how after some months of arduous work he had signed up enough advertising contracts to justify a New Zealand edition of Aussie, which first appeared – and only ever on this side of the Tasman – in April 1923.
The feat was achieved by tucking a New Zealand section of 16 pages at the rear of the standard 68 pages that each Aussie magazine consisted of, including the cover, all produced by New Century Press in Sydney.
In his diary at the time of the first number of the New Zealand edition, Lawlor wrote that he had written most of the letterpress under many nom de plumes. You can almost hear his hands being rubbed together when he observes that his cheque for various extras should be a good one, and to balance that out he was eventually‘bought into’the firm with a parcel of shares.
From Manuscript papers held at the Turnbull Library in Wellington there is a record of Lawlor being feted on Wattle Day 1924 at a social function held for New Century Press employees in Sydney.
The official programme exclaimed that Aussie and Humour had, through the good offices of Mr P.A. Lawlor, risen to a greater popularity than any other magazines in the Dominion and attained sales greater than £10,000 per annum.
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