The Lone Hand (magazine)

Cover of the July 1907 edition

The Lone Hand was a monthly Australian magazine of literature and poetry published between 1907 and 1928.

History

The Lone Hand was founded in 1907 by J F Archibald and Frank Fox as a monthly Australian magazine of literature and poetry as a sister magazine to The Bulletin.[1] It was modelled on The London Strand[2] Originally, Archibald had wanted the name Lone Hand for what became The Bulletin.[2] Once the magazine was established, Archibald had little to do with its running.[3] It tended to echo the themes of The Bulletin; Australian individuality and mateship, and support for the White Australia Policy.

In common with The Bulletin, contributions from the public were solicited and paid for at the 'going rate'. A remarkable innovation was a prize offered to readers who found errors (including typo's) in advertisements and contributions.[1] It also sponsored the first Australian beauty contest in 1908 (after a challenge by the Chicago Tribune), and featured columns by celebrities.[2]

The Lone Hand was an initial success. The first issue in May 1907 sold out its print run of 50,000 copies in three days; the second issue sold out in one.[2] But two years later, faced with falling circulation and advertising revenue, mostly due to competition from overseas magazines, Fox instituted radical changes, adding a women's section and fashion photography,[4] dropping the price from 1s to 6d, and softening the tone of its editorials. In 1914 links with The Bulletin were cut. By 1919 it was being published in a larger format, with more articles on higher quality paper. But when the price was raised to 9d, circulation dropped unsustainably. February 1928 was its last issue.[1]

Contributors

Cover design by David Henry Souter of the September 1909 edition

Major contributors included:

Editors

Editors were:[1]

Notes

Further reading

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