November 1934 saw the launch of a new Australian monthly magazine. For the purchase price of one shilling, and bearing the title Walkabout – a more familiar and less pejorative term in 1934 than today – the first issue boasted a striking front cover (Figure 0.1). Stylistically it established a design that with minor amendments endured for much of Walkabout 's long run. The title Walkabout, appearing in white capitals across the top with the subtitle ‘Australia and the South Seas’ in smaller-font capitals immediately below, was imposed on a bright red background. This framed a close-up black-and-white photograph of a weathered, unnamed Aboriginal man's head and shoulders, facing the camera, wearing a string headband and carrying a clutch of spears. It is an image that even today commands attention.

Those opening the front cover found very high production values – a standard vigilantly maintained until the magazine's final decade – and an eclectic mix of articles, photographs and advertisements. There were advertisements for the Jenolan Caves – ‘“Nature's Masterpiece” across the Blue Mountains’ – AMP insurance policies, a number of shipping lines with various domestic and overseas destinations, Kodak cameras and colour film, Gilbey's gin, railway travel – ‘cross the continent on one of the most comfortable and up-to-date trains in the world’ – Foster's lager, opals, the benefits of installing a home telephone, hotels and various tourist destinations including Tasmania, Queensland and New Zealand. For reading there was an article by Arthur Upfield on droving, and one on the Kimberley region by Ion Idriess. Fulfilling the promise of the cover to be inclusive of the ‘South Seas’ were essays on ‘Undiscovered New Guinea’, ‘Tahiti To-Day’, ‘The Maori’ and the ‘British Solomon Islands Protectorate’. In addition to the many photographs illustrating the articles was a photographic centrepiece titled ‘… and the Cities’, featuring varied scenes from Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. Near the end of the issue was a section titled ‘Our Cameraman's Walkabout’.