Blinky Bill - History

History

The first book Blinky Bill: The Quaint Little Australian was published in 1933 by Angus & Robertson and was based on stories told to her only child, Peter. The book is 69 pages long, with 15 pages of illustrations. The second book, Blinky Bill Grows Up, was published in 1934 and is 82 pages long with 16 pages of illustrations. The third book Blinky Bill and Nutsy: Two Little Australians was published in 1937 and is 115 pages long. The Complete Adventures of Blinky Bill, first published in 1939, was reprinted 15 times between 1940 and 1965.

Wall drew Blinky Bill comic strips, most notably one in 1937 called Blinky Bill's Escapades, which told of the adventures of Blinky, Nutsy and Splodge as they left Australia for the coronation of George VI. Angus & Robertson made plates of four strips to entice publishers, but, after considerable procrastination, the Sydney Morning Herald turned it down. She persisted with the Herald for years along with the Sunday Telegraph. Wall also drew some full-page strips, in full colour, of Blinky Bill, Splodge and friends in the army, called Our Squad. Largely because of the cost and rarity of paper during the war, none was ever published.

In 1940, Wall decided her priority was a new Blinky Bill book with Angus & Robertson. In a letter to her publisher, she wrote: "I'll have to do my utmost to get a new Blinky book out for next Christmas. I could do a good story with Blinky on National Service, providing the war continues - but I am not that wicked to wish such a thing". In February 1940 she sent her publisher the completed text for Blinky Bill Joins the Army. The publisher was unimpressed by her story of Blinky as an enlisted soldier, calling it 'heavy going' and a too obvious exploitation of 'patriotic fervour'. Wall apparently tore up the manuscript and wrote an entirely new version where Blinky remains in his familiar bush setting until the final pages then goes off to join the army - as a mascot. The new version was finished by the end of April 1940, less than a month after the first had been rejected; it was published for Christmas 1940.

In December 1942 the Blinky Bill's Dress-Up Book was published by Offset Printing Company, which was released after Wall's death, in January, 1942. This was followed in 1947 by Blinky Bill's ABC Book and A Tiny Story of Blinky Bill, also published by Offset. In 1977 Angus & Robertson published the Blinky Bill Cookbook, a series of recipes for children to make for themselves by Mary Coleman, which included Wall's original illustrations redrawn by Trevor Hood.