Swaggie Santa

The Swaggie's Story

The Swaggie is an icon in Australian culture, so-called because of the "swag" or bed-rolls these itinerant travellers used to carry their possessions around with them. Especially prevalent during the Depression era, it was not uncommon for a man to leave his family and go "on the road" in a vain attempt to alleviate the financial distress he and so many others suffered at that time. Often covering many miles looking for work, swaggies would most likely turn up at a homestead just on dusk hoping for a meal and a place to stay, maybe in a shearing shed or the like. Swaggies got to know where they could safely call by the stone placed on the fencepost at the front gate of land-owners willing to take them in. Hence the "stone on the fence" is a symbol of welcome and even today it is still possible to see such stones on fences, even in suburbia sometimes.

Swaggies seem to represent an era when people still trusted each other and there are many heart-warming stories of swaggies turning up to help out a harried woman whose own husband was out "on the road" by doing odd jobs in return for a little to eat. Whatever, there is still something slightly mysterious about these strangers who traversed our land in all kinds of weather. There was no dole in those days and it probably never even crossed their minds that someone should give them that kind of hand-out.

About the L P King cloth Swaggie Santa

He's been around for a few years and he exists basically because I wanted to encapsulate some of that pioneering spirit whilst acknowledging that Christmas in Australia can indeed reflect our own "Australian" culture. His swag is yellow and it can be scented with fragrant eucalyptus oil if you want. Christmas parcels dangle from the swag. He is dressed in red pants with twine around his middle for a belt and a red checked shirt. His hat can be either brown or black with a holly motif. He can hang around all year if you want or you can simply change the colours of his clothes and change the holly for gum leaves or gum nuts. No changing the corks around his hat though. How else is he going to keep the flies off? Then there is his walking "stick" - also essential because the poor bloke has a long way to go on foot, don't forget.

He is lean and hungry-looking and I deliberately didn't give him glasses because someone said to me, "Have you ever seen a swaggie with glasses?" Well, no, I guess not; and he probably couldn't afford them anyway. But, he is a cheery fellow and I hope you can see the facial features from the pictures. All hand-embroidered and the pattern has instructions as to how to do this. Or... you could cheat and use fabric paint if you so desire. I don't think it's the same though. If properly looked after this old bloke should last forever. Medium plus skill needed, I suppose. Small quantities of calico for head and body, black or brown fabric for boots, toy fur for beard and red and red-checked flannelette or something similar for clothes, embroidery floss, little presents, hessian or similar for swag, felt for hat and holly, twine and corks and the rest (gum leaves and stick) you will probably find in your garden.

He is approximately 18" tall and would suit a 7" extendable doll stand (optional). He can be filled either with polyfill or woodshavings. Orders for complete dolls being shipped overseas will have to be filled with polyfill as I don't like the chances of woodshavings getting through customs. For local orders though, the woodshavings I use give off a nice fragrance and they are just as durable as polyfill. Remember, the old teddy-bears used to be filled with sawdust. I often use woodshavings for the bodies because they give a little extra weight and can be impregnated with oil if required.

Pattern in PDF Adobe Acrobat 6.0

Item No: D1

$14.95 AUD

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Finished Doll:

Item No: D2

$55.00 AUD plus p&h

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