Sunday 11 November 2007

new book





Anyone living in Adelaide has most certainly attended the Magic Cave or Christmas Pageant at least once. And during the Christmas Pageant 75th anniversary lead up, a book has been released chronicling the 75 Pageants and the 111 year old Magic Cave.

The Legendary Magic Cave and Christmas Pageant is by Lee Lennan, is a 310 page, hardbound, coffee table sized book. The book lovingly looks at all facets of these two local icons. Nine chapters delve into the history of John Martin’s Magic Cave from it’s design and creation to the changes it saw over the years. The author has spoken with many key people who designed and built the cave every year – so you can expect some wonderful behind the scenes stories.

The Pageant is also lovingly looked at (16 chapters in all) – from float design and construction, the media coverage from early radio to today’s satellite TV broadcast, a definitive history of Nipper and Nimble, costumes, carpentry, certainly nothing is overlooked. Countless colour and black & white images convey a great sense of time travel through Adelaide history.

I personally think Lee’s book will become a bible over the years for anyone wanting to know about these two iconic events. The $69.95 price may deter a few people but it’s certainly great value for your money. This book was well overdue and a pleasure to read. Available at all South Australian bookstores now.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Didn't know you had a journal/blog/diary. Good on ya!

This is the first time I heard about book about the Adelaide Xmas Pageant , so I'm glad you told us about its contents. $70 is not much to have a little piece of history.

Great review A.