Mulga Fred: The Face of Pelaco

Artist unknown 'Mulga Fred' (also known as 'Pelaco Bill'), glazed ceramic head, engraved verso 'Pelaco' and other words which are not legible. (the only example known to US.), 11 x 8.5 cm, in 1917 the clothing manufacturers Pearson & Law renamed their firm Pelaco Ltd. The company's advertising soon depicted a bare-legged, bare-foot Aboriginal man striding along in a pristine white Pelaco dinner-shirt and exclaiming: 'Mine Tinkit They Fit'. A. T. Mockridge drew the original sketch. By the 1930s 'Pelaco Bill' sported a monocle and cigar, or stood resplendent in shirt, tie and trousers beneath the Australian flag. What began as a racist play on civilization and savagery had become something more inclusive. Pelaco bill proved popular for almost forty years and contributed to the company's rising fortunes. Mulga Fred always maintained that he was the model for Pelaco bill. Although the Company acknowledged his claim by sending him shirts, it oscillated its connection with him.