sobs and snobs 1970

Fascinating on a number of levels, this item from the Sunday Observer 15 November 1970 gives us good insight into (1) the slightly highbrow nature of the Sunday Observer, which unless I'm wrong was the only Sunday newspaper available in Melbourne at the time (you could get Sydney's Sunday papers, though); (2) the way in which Leunig himself was, firstly, a revolutionary and secondly, the way in which the newspaper really adopted his ethos/aesthetic as its own in a very adventurous manner; (3) the slow emergence of an Australian (yes, obviously, a white Australian) 'culture' in the television world (mainly focusing here on current affairs programs and, yes, Homicide but even more so Division 4, which I have yet to examine in any depth but which was obviously seen by the grand poobahs at the Sunday Observer as even more groundbreaking than the original Crawfords police drama, but also on some local comedy eg the Noel Ferrier program mentioned here which I know nothing about - I think Ferrier is someone who needs more examination - a very interesting figure, not least for his radio partnership with Mary Hardy, another very interesting figure, all these things will be lost soon enough). There are probably some other things I could add with numbers in brackets but three's enough for your concentration span, and more importantly, mine. 

I think I am also going to have to look a little more in-depth at Tony Morphett's Dynasty. I have the novel (I bought two this year, Dynasty and Mayor's Nest. Mayor's Nest is so bad it's bad, or at least, it's one of those pallid political satires that lost whatever freshness it might have had in 1960whatever when its contents were exposed to air/subsequent events, within a few months or years. So, very hard to read. But Morphett's Dynasty was well-received and he essentially ended up a television writer by the 70s, or at least, that's what he was best known for. Shame, or not a shame, I don't know.)

Oh, (4): the meaning of the teapot in the work of Michael Leunig, especially when worn on the head. This I imagine is quite an early example. But is the teapot a symbol of suburban conformity and cosy domesticity, or (as it came to be) general provocative absurdity?