Paperboy, Collins Street, Melbourne 1957

This is a portrait of a paperboy in Collins Street, Melbourne, taken by photographer Mark Strizic. It was reproduced in a book of Strizic's photographs, "Melbourne: A Portrait", published by Georgian House in 1960.

Mark Strizic (pictured below in 1958) was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1928, but following Hitler's rise to power in 1933, his family fled to Zagreb, Yugoslavia (now Croatia) the following year. He subsequently made his way to Austria at the end of the war to escape the Communist regime in Yugoslavia, and emigrated to Australia in 1950.

After working as a clerk for Victorian Railways, and studying physics part-time at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, he embarked on a full-time career as a photographer in 1957, working for institutions like the National Gallery of Victoria, as well as corporate clients, including BHP and the McPherson's confectionery firm.

This photo is of special interest to Australian comic book fans, collectors and historians, and to anyone interested in Australian media history, as it provides a fascinating snapshot of the range of magazines and books that Australians were reading and buying in the late 1950s.

You'll need to download this image to examine it properly, but in the bottom right-hand corner of the boy's makeshift newsstand, you can see copies of several Australian-drawn comics. Close examination of the photo reveals there are copies of the third issue of "The Panther" (drawn by Paul Wheelahan), which indicates this photo was taken around July 1957. Also visible in this photo are copies of "Sir Falcon" (drawn by Peter Chapman) and "Smoky Dawson" (drawn Andrea Bresciani), displayed on the footpath, which are held in place on the ground by paperback books.

I uploaded this image to the Old Australian Pre-Decimal Comics up to 1966 Facebook group on 25 October, and invited members to see if they could identify any of the other comics visible in this photograph. My fellow comic-book sleuths tapped their collective memory banks and trawled the furthest reaches of the internet, and managed to successfully identify most of the comics displayed on this young boy's makeshift newsstand. The fact that they could do so, based on nothing more than a partial glimpse of a cover, is testimony to their dedication, knowledge and expertise.

A copy of "The Phantom" no.114 is displayed to the right of "The Panther", while a copy of "Felix the Cat" no.13 is partly visible above the (as yet unidentified) edition of "Sir Falcon". Visible directly above "The Panther" is a copy of Horwitz Publications' US-reprint crime title, "Tales of Justice" no.4. It's also been suggested that the comic seen directly above "Sir Falcon" and "Felix the Cat" is "Popular Pictorial" no.11, featuring 'Ben Bowie and his Mountain Men'.

Just above the footpath display, there is a group of comic books draped over a rope strung across a display board. To date, the Pre-Decimal Comics group members have identified copies of K.G. Murray's "Hundred Comic Monthly" no.9, "Century Comic Monthly" no.13, and the debut issue of "Magic Moment Romances" series.

There are several editions of the "Classics Illustrated" series, issued by Strato Publications (UK), on the bottom row of the upright board display. These include issues #5 ("Moby Dick"), #8 ("The Odyssey"), and #46 ("Kidnapped"). There is also a copy of the Young's Merchandising title, "The Fighting Army and Navy Comic", visible on the far left of the row of magazines directly above the "Classics Illustrated" titles. There may be other comics on this same row of magazines, but I can't make out any further titles.

The photo also shows a fascinating variety of imported and locally-published magazines, including several issues of the nudist/sunbather magazine, "The Naturist", "Practical Motorist and Motor Cyclist", "Radio Television and Hobbies", "Motor Racing and Motor Rally", and three local pin-up magazines, "Peep - For Men Only", "Gals and Gags", and "Man Junior". Imported copies of "Time" and "Newsweek' magazine are also clearly visible in this photograph. Many of the Australian magazines identified by the group's members bore a July 1957 cover date, which suggests this photo may have been taken sometime in mid/late June 1957.

James Zanotto, curator of the AusReprints website, has created a dedicated page listing all the identified comics and magazines featured in this photograph, which can be viewed here. This list will be updated as more titles are identified - and readers of this blog are definitely encouraged to try their hand at spotting some of the titles missing from the AusReprints list.

Makeshift newsstands like one this dotted the busy intersections and side-streets of Melbourne during the 1950s, offering commuters a rich variety of reading material to choose from to help alleviate the tedium of long train, tram or bus trips home during the weekday rush-hour. Even small street corner newsstands like the one captured in this photograph offered newspapers, magazines and paperback novels that catered for a wide variety of tastes and interests, from aviation and home decoration, to movie stars and professional sports.

Strizic's photographs of Melbourne's skyline, streetscapes, everyday people and prominent public figures capture the city during a period of controversial renovation and renewal, with many older, Victorian & Edwardian-era buildings being demolished to make way for more modern, contemporary structures and public places.

In 2007, the State Library of Victoria acquired Strizic's entire archive of 5,000 photographic negatives, slides and transparencies (You can search for many of these images on the State Library of Victoria's online catalogue) He died in Wallan, Victoria, in 2012.

You can view a selection of Strizic's photographs of Melbourne's streetscapes, and portraits of notable artists, at the National Gallery of Victoria's online collection