[MELBOURNE; SATIRE; RACISM] Tom Thumb. Number 13. October 1966.

Glen Iris, Vic. : Baker Publishing Co., October 1966. Quarto newspaper (270 x 215 mm), pictorial wrappers printed in red and black, staple bound, 24 pp (including wrappers), photographic illustrations, cartoons; a very good copy.

A sleazier and intellectually less ambitious counterpart to Oz magazine, Tom Thumb did however provide some biting and witty social and political satire to complement its soft-core pornographic pictorial content (the latter clearly being what sold copies). The publication was very much a product of its time: the age of sexual liberalism and the permissive society in Western capitalist culture. Two legendary identities in the Mebourne arts scene worked on Tom Thumb: the art director for the majority of the issues was Peter Russell-Clarke, and the editorial advisor was Adrian Rawlins; the cartoonist was Ron Tandberg. Although the magazine had distribution in Sydney, Adelaide, Perth and Hobart (and later in Brisbane), many of the short articles reference Melbourne landmarks, lifestyle and events, making Tom Thumb an important primary source for the study of the social history of Melbourne in this period.

Issue Number 13 includes on the centre-pages an article satirising the stereotypical characteristics of the (white, hetereosexual) Australian male, Anatomy of an Australian. “For the benefit of tourists and immigrants to Australia, Tom Thumb presents this scorching, clinical survey into a unique member of the human species”.