Linkletter Down Under: Art Linkletter

Art Linkletter was a Canadian-born American radio and television personality. In 1954, under the spell of Harold Holt's infectious evangelism for Australia as a land of opportunity, Linkletter and some celebrity friends formed a syndicate and prepared to go prospecting in the land where winter is summer and the soldiers wore wide brimmed hats turned up on one side. They were sure to meet koala bears and kangaroos and perhaps see some Stone-Age aboriginals wandering across the vast deserts, but beyond vague trivia, these 'babes' knew literally nothing about the 'land down under.' What they did meet was wild ducks and water buffalo who refused to give up their squatters' rights in the investment rice fields; plenty of sheep and plenty of Australians. A revealing, though dated, character sketch of Australia and its people. Illustrated by Paul Rigby.