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Limericks were also included. This one, titled 'Ingenious Young Stubble', appeared with a pencil-drawn illustration of the 'young Stubble' in his motor vehicle selling soap. One assumes the word 'auto' was a play on the autograph and automobile.

A handy young fellow named Stubble,
Made an 'auto' without any trouble.
He went 'round selling soap,
And he murmured, 'I hope,
I can patent my little soap 'bubble'

There was a young man of Perth,
Who was born on the day of his birth,
He was married they say
On his wife's wedding day,
And died his last day on earth.

Conundrums were also popular:

Be thou my star in reason's night,
Be thou my rock, in danger's fright,
Be thou my guide 'mid passion's sway;
My moon by night, my sun by day.
Who is it?
Answer?

And so too the 'battle of the sexes':

She's a right to be saucy, a right to be smart,
But she hasn't any right ti break a man's heart;
To the 'breaches of promise' she has every claim,
But 'wearing the breeches' is a far different game.

Then there was the 'art of the autograph':

Some write for fortune,
Some write for fame,
But I write simply to -
Sign my name.

This little book is like a cabbage patch
Where every little hen must have a scratch –
And so must I.

May each page of your album be brightened
By the grace that a friend's hand will lend
And each day of your life's journey be brightened
By the touch of the hand of a friend.

Without a doubt the prized position in any autograph album was the very back page:



I've read these pages over and over
To see what others have written before
And in this quiet little spot
I write the words 'forget me not'

Back here just bout of spite
These two lines do I indite.

By hook or by crook
I'll be the last in your book!

By the 1950s autograph albums witnessed a dramatic change. It was still common to collect sentiments and autographs of friends but it was more important to collect signatures of 'celebrities' Young girls appeared obsessed with pursuing celebrities, even minor known celebrities, for their autograph. This coincided with the launch of television and an entertainment that put faces to many stars. It was also the birth of rock and roll and a newfound freedom that allowed young women to 'hunt' stars. I remember the old Sydney Stadium (Rushcutter's Bay) when it was the venue for the first 'big shows' presented by impresario Lee Gordon. Thousands of young girls, and some not so young, waited at the stage doors screaming, crying and desperately waving their autograph books at Johnny Ray, Crash Craddock Johnny O'Keefe and other 'stars' of the time. Time has seen many of these signatures become real collector's items worth considerable dollars.

The past fifty years has seen Australians, like most of the world, become celebrity obsessed to the point where entire television channels (E Television) and magazines (Who, National Enquirer etc) are pumped out weekly to satisfy the seemingly insatiable market. Anyone want to trade a Paris Hilton for a Don Bradman signature?

I'll leave the last word to 'Maggie'

If on this page you chance to look
Just think of the writer and shut the book.