Everything old is new again:
This is an excerpt from a public health poster about the Spanish influenza (flu) pandemic, drawn by children’s illustrator and author May Gibbs in 1919. The detail features a gumnut baby and a kookaburra sitting on a branch, with eucalyptus leaves wrapped around their mouths in the manner of surgical masks. Apart from the leaf, the gumnut baby wears only a gumnut on her head. The illustration is captioned ‘Hullo! How are you?’ Source NAA Online
Did you know May Gibbs of Nutcote published Snugglepot and Cuddlepie: Their Adventures Wonderful in January, 1918? Did you also know she made postcards to be sent to cheer up homesick volunteers? Maybe in these times, we can appreciate them just as much… Are we downhearted?