Truth to Tell: cartoons of A. J. Hingston
Displayed in the Talbot Family Treasures Wall, Level 4, State Library of Queensland, 18 September 2010 - 13 March 2011. This virtual exhibition is an excerpt from the physical exhibition.
Between 1905 and 1910 Arthur James Hingston’s cartoons and sketch portraits in Brisbane’s Truth newspaper helped shape the political views of Queensland’s working class.
A. J. Hingston
Then and Now, 1909
pen and ink on paper
Acc 349/C31
Hingston’s subjects included: leaders who make backroom deals, switch or create new parties; powers for the police and police corruption; racism; teachers’ pay and retirement benefits; transport planning; monopolies in the sugar industry; the future location of Brisbane’s City Hall; the future of the Legislative Council; wowsers who opposed drink; and even the threat of a referendum when parliament hesitated to enact laws.
A. J. Hingston’s drawings for Truth cartoons are short and provocative. They also have subtle biblical or literary references no doubt missed by some of his audience. His Truth cartoons were embellished by a jingoism which often rather crudely reflected the newspaper’s view. His work can be seen as the ‘blogs’ of their day, but it shouldn’t not be assumed Hingston was expressing his own political views: Truth paid his salary and called the shots.
Founded by John McKinnon in 1900, Truth (“The People’s Paper”) was published every Sunday. Its editorial stance was aggressively pro Labor, anti highbrow, establishment, wowsers, Germans and Chinese. It was also known to sensationalise the trivial. Truth catered for those who found other local papers such as the Brisbane Courier, The Age, the Catholic Advocate and The Queenslander too analytical or too “highbrow”and not working class enough.
Exhibition images and extracts
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Last updated: 19th January 2012
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