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Hendrik Willem Van Loon, Van Loon’s Lives (1944)

Many of the books in the Menzies collection offer a snapshot of a moment in Sir Robert’s life, as a loose letter or newspaper clipping wedged between pages suggests that he was likely reading the book at a specific moment in his historic life. So we can imagine Menzies taking a break from the exertions campaigning ahead of the watershed 1949 election, to read from Van Loon’s Lives. A book which offers humorous takes on historical figures ranging Confucious to Thomas Jefferson, based on the model of Plutarch’s ancient biographies.

We know that Menzies was likely reading the book in early 1949, due to a letter sitting between pages 372-3, offering him all sorts of campaign tips based on his recent performances. Such as how Catholic voters who were warming to Menzies’s stance against communism, might be alienated by his criticism of Ireland undermining Empire unity. Or insisting on the need to unpack the dire consequences of socialism as practiced in Britain. There’s even an extensive critique of the music played at a recent political rally:

‘THE ORGANIST PLAYED SOFT MUSIC, THE MUSIC ITSELF BEING ABOVE THE PEOPLE; ONE ITEM COULD EASILY HAVE BEEN THE DEAD MARCH. MARTIAL AIRS ARE REQUIRED. “THERE’LL ALWAYS BE ENGLAND”, AND SUCH LIKE GEORGE FORMBY – “THERE’LL BE NO PROMOTION THIS SIDE OF THE OCEAN” ETC. AND LILTING HAPPY MUSIC. GET THE PEOPLE STIRRED, PLAY UPON THE EMOTIONS, GET THEM INTO A HAPPY FRAME OF MIND. I VENTURE TO SAY THAT YOUR RECEPTION ON MONDAY NIGHT WOULD HAVE BEEN, AS MAGNIFICENT AS IT WAS, INCREASED ENORMOUSLY IF THERE HAD BEEN A LITTLE “STAGE MANAGING”. I DON’T KNOW WHO TO APPEAL TO IN THIS REGARD – [Liberal Party Federal Director Don] CLELAND MAY BE. IF YOU CARE TO ADVISE ME, I WILL DO IT PROMPTLY’

The man whose ears had thus been offended, was one Gordon Coulter, a remarkable mid-century Melbournian who was important in his day, but has since become largely obscured to history. Coulter had first made a name for himself with a short VFL career playing for the club now known as the Demons. He then became the club’s administrator, pushing to eliminate illegal and secret payments to players, by normalising and limiting them in a regulated system known as ‘Coulter’s Law’. Which might be considered as the game’s first salary cap.

From there Coulter became a prominent businessman. As managing director of Stephen King wholesale wine and spirit merchants, Coulter would help pioneer the export of Australian wines to the United States, and his success in managing the alcohol business also saw him taken on as a director of Carlton and United Breweries. In 1951 Coulter was elected as a Melbourne City Councilor, only to have to retire in 1954 when a bout of ill health threatened his life. But once again Coulter made a remarkable recovery, becoming President of the Victorian Anti-Cancer League, and dedicating his final years to raising money in the fight against leukemia.

With such an eclectic an impactful career, it is easy to see why Coulter thought of himself as a man whose opinion mattered. And he was also clearly a friend of Menzies, with the letter referring affectionately to Pattie, Heather and Ken, and inviting them round to see his prize-winning garden on Edzell Avenue, Toorak.