John W. Brimblecombe’s humorous sketches on the lighter side of farming in the Taranaki region are in similar vein to the Me and Gus stories which are promoted on the back of the present dust cover. The jacket design of Shear nonsense bears the unmistakable signature of Leonard C. Mitchell (1901-1971).
Jillian Squire (a pseudonym of Joyce Thom) was a well-known radio personality of the time and her amusing sketches from the perspective of a 1950s suburban New Zealand housewife were originally broadcast by the National Service. This collection of lighthearted stories with a homegrown flavour is one of a number published by Reed in the postwar years. The illustrative matter is by Leonard C. Mitchell.
Grace M. Phipps (1901-83) was a New Zealand author of romances with a lighter, more humorous touch. Set in Christchurch, her first novel Marriage with Eve is one of a small number of romances jointly published by Reed and Herbert Jenkins of London in the 1950s.
This collection of lightheartedly ruminative pieces about contemporary New Zealand life is one of three collaborations between journalist Edmund Godfrey Webber and cartoonist Nevile Lodge (1918-89). Webber’s mastery of the Kiwi vernacular was well complimented by Lodge’s talent for the gently humorous depiction of recognisable scenes of New Zealand life.
Susan Graham (1912-2007) was a journalist and travel writer who wrote popular, humorous columns for numerous New Zealand newspapers, including the Otago Daily Times, in the 1950s-1960s. Susan on Saturday is a reproduction in book form of Graham’s columns describing her travels in America. It is illustrated with the line drawings of Ron Stenberg (1919-2017), whose artwork also adorns the dust cover.
A year after Hot water sailor, a companion piece appeared in the form of Denis Glover’s bedside book, a selection of short pieces written from Glover’s uniquely satirical and humorous perspective. Again, the illustrative matter and jacket design is by his old friend, Russell Clark.
