Focus on this artwork and explain the History.
Gippsland has a rich history of mysterious carved wooden characters across its extensive State forests and roadsides. They include Pons asinorum near Cann River (early 1920s), Alfonso Spaghetti near Orbost (1924), the first Mr Stringy at Dead Horse Gap (1929), several Fish Faithfull sculptures near Omeo (1930s), the Parnaby Bushfire Totems at Noorinbee (1951), the second Mr Stringy (late 1960s), through to the more recent Pretty Boy near Dargo (2016). Most are gone now, having rotted away, burnt by bushfires, stolen or damaged by vandals, their stories often lost. Gippsland’s most famous surviving wooden man is undoubtedly Mr Stringy who stands stoically at Dead Horse Flat on a lonely stretch of the Great Alpine Road between Bairnsdale and Omeo.There is often some confusion, but there have been two Mr. Stringys' at this remote spot.The original was carved into a tree stump in about 1929 by William (Bill) Harold Henham of Murrindal who was working on a nearby Country Roads Board (CRB) bridge.Bill initially named him Mr. Smokey, and it’s unclear when or how his name changed.Some early references claim he was carved by someone called "Jimmy the Liar", but now it’s generally accepted that Bill Henham carved him, and that this may have just been a nickname given to him by local CRB crews.A newspaper article in the Melbourne Herald in March 1935 referred to him as Mr Samuel Stringy.
Other colloquial names included “Mr Stumpy”, “The Wooden Man” or simply “The Man”.
He stood about 6 foot tall and there were many iterations of his appearance over the decades as historical photos reveal. He began with a kerosene tin hat, five o'clock shadow and was smoking a pipe with his right hand. Arms were later added and then removed, a moustache and heavy eyebrow were painted, along with legs.He was repeatedly vandalised and finally beheaded in the mid-to-late 1960s.The second, and current, Mr. Stringy was carved by Bill at the request of the Omeo Shire. It is located close to the edge of the road and near to the original tree stump, which is now gone.The current Mr Stringy is a heavy log set into the ground compared to the previous tree stump.At the time, Bill Henham also made a copy of Mr Stringy which he kept outside his home in Morrison Street Bairnsdale and used as a letterbox. It still survives with the family and is now owned by his eldest grandson, Graham Wigg.Mr Stringy has been refurbished many times and was once routinely maintained by CRB road crews with leftover paint. It is not certain when the community first began painting Mr. Stringy into his many unique characters.
paint Great Alpine Road Wood Country Roads Board Parnaby Bushfire Totems left Omeo