A highly readable biography, Maureen Walsh creates an enduring image of May Gibbs, Mother of the Gumnuts.
Snugglepot and Cuddlepie – May Gibbs’ creations
I came across Snugglepot and Cuddlepie as a child. At the time of my reading, May Gibbs’ tales were already enmeshed in Australian culture; these unique tales of fantasy cosily snuggled into the bookshelves of my family home.
Where are the original copies of the books we owned? I’ve no recollection. However, I do recall the covers, a faded brown, with the gumnut babies proudly peeking out of their homes and the title in shades of golden yellow. The whole image as I recall it, is faded, partly due to time, and possibly the print at the time. The spine is bound with a foreign material, possibly to keep it all together. Like many books in our family library of historical novels, comic books and journals that graced our shelves, it was ‘part of the furniture’ of my childhood home. I am hoping my memory serves me correctly.
May Gibbs would, I am quite sure, be horrified at my recollection of such a cover. Her letters, quoted in the biography, note her preference for strong colours, tones that are rich and full. (An example of one of her letters, specifying layout and colour on pp 103-104 of the book). Regardless, the quirky images remain strongly imprinted in my memory banks.
As I fossick through my bookshelves today, I come across a 1983 edition, printed by Angus and Robertson. On this cover, each colour is as rich as our Australian bush and skies: gum leaf green, wattle yellow, reddish-pink blossoms and gumnut brown set against a vivid blue.
Looking Back
II gained a great deal of pleasure reading works by a range of authors in our family library. An abbreviated list includes –
- Mary Grant Bruce, Australian, children’s author of the Billabong stories
- L.M. Montgomery, from Prince Edward Island, Canada, who wrote the ‘Anne’ series, (Anne of Green Gables…)
- Louisa May Alcott, an American author who wrote Little Women
- Emily Bronte, English author of the classic, Wuthering Heights
- Jane Austen, a classic English author who wrote Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion and others.
Back to Snugglepot and Cuddlepie
Maureen Walsh has captured a lasting impression of a strong-minded woman who made her way in the world of the late 1800’s and early to mid-1900’s on her own terms. Such spirit and fortitude enabled her to support herself on her income from the comic strips. Men of the day, many of whom did not achieve the same measure of popularity as May Gibbs, were paid much more. I, for one, am thankful that such inequity, did not hinder May Gibbs’ fiercely independent personality from producing and publishing her adorable, uniquely Australian characters and their stories.
At the time of her passing, in 1969, I was still living at home where her books graced our shelves. Now, fifty plus years on, her legacy remains a bright colourful contribution to Australian literature.
Perth to Sydney – May Gibbs lived in WA
As happenstance would have it, on my visit to Sydney earlier in the year, I stumbled across an exhibition of May Gibbs’ work.
Meandering through Sydney’s Royal Botanical Gardens, I exited opposite the State Library of New South Wales. As I take a leisurely tour of the displays, I am delighted to see her original drawings, housed behind glass viewing windows.
Cartoon strips of other characters such as Bib and Bub were popular in their day.
On my return home, I pulled my copy of May Gibbs, Mother of Gumnuts from my bookshelves. I learnt how she frequently travelled between Sydney and Perth. She often visited her family in the south west of Western Australia where she roamed the bush. It was here that her love of Australian flora flourished.
It was a delight indulging several leisurely hours of reading. May Gibbs ‘carved for herself a distinct niche in the world of Australian art’ (p88) and literature.
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Links to authors and places mentioned in this post:
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