Ginger Meggs Exhibition at the Bunker
January 11, 2009(From the Coffs Harbour Advocate)
An exhibition of famous Australian cartoon character Ginger Meggs will go on display at the Bunker Cartoon Gallery on January 16.
The exhibition will be opened by the current Ginger Meggs cartoonist, Jason Chatfield, and will run until February 7.
The show will display Ginger Meggs cartoons by several of the artists who have drawn the escapades of the naughty red-head, his mates and sparring partners.
Australia’s longest-running cartoon strip, Meggs first appeared under the title Us Fellers, in the Sunbeams section of the Sydney Sunday Sun in 1921, drawn by Jimmy Bancks.
The Sunbeams editor was famous Australian children’s author Ethel Turner.
Within a year the strip’s cast of characters was almost complete, including his dog Mike, younger brother Dudley, his best mate, Benny, a girlfriend, Minnie Peters, rival Eddie Coogan and Ginge’s biggest problem, Tiger Kelly.
Originally Ginger Smith, he then became Ginger Meggs.
His shock of red hair and his moniker are thought to have been influenced by the famous Aussie larrikin created by CJ Dennis, Ginger Mick, the best mate of The Sentimental Bloke.
A hugely iconic and influential cartoon, Ginger Meggs spawned many imitators and has also been spun off into books and films.
After Jimmy Bancks, Ginger was drawn by Ron Vivian, then Lloyd Piper and James Kemsley, who drew the strip for 23 years. James Kemsley died on December 3, 2007.
Alongside the Ginger Meggs show, there will also be an exhibition of the work of Jules Faber, the gallery’s cartoonist in residence and current president of the Australian Cartoonists’ Association
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