Above: Original painting for 12th collection of Wally and the Major and published version.
Daniel Best writes about the destruction of Wally and the Major original artwork.
Stan Cross obituary from The Canberra Times, June 19, 1977.
Stan Cross Dies at 89
SYDNEY: Stan Cross, one of Australia's most famous cartoonists, died at Armidale on Thursday, aged 89. Mr Cross died in a nursing home after a brief illness. He is survived by a son, Stephen, a grazier of Guyra, near Armidale, and a daughter, Mrs Lorraine Boric. His wife died in 1972, Mr Cross is best known for his two comic strips 'The Potts' and 'Wally and the Major' He drew probably the most famous cartoon in the history of Australian comic art. A worker, clinging to a girder on a high building, is pleading to a worker hanging on to his trousers, to stop laughing. The caption is, "For gorsake stop laughing, this is serious". Mr Cross was born in Los Angeles in 1888 and came to Australia in infancy. He grew up in Perth and for a while worked in the State's railways as a cadet. He graduated as an art student in 1912 and went to London for a few years before returning to Australia and drawing for Smith's Weekly, now defunct. He drew several long running strips including You and me which was taken over by Jim Russell in 1940 and renamed 'The Potts'. Mr Cross left Smith's Weekly in 1940 and joined The Herald, Melbourne, where he launched the strip 'Wally and the Major'. He retired about 10 years ago and lived in Sydney.
Below: Wally and the Major collections.
