The Mayor Of Tiny Town vs Australia's Shiftiest Showman – Part One

The Mayor Of Tiny Town vs Australia's Shiftiest Showman – Part One

From a digitised formerly secret Australian military intelligence file comes one of Forgotten Australia’s strangest stories.

In 1911-1912, from Sydney to Brisbane, Perth to Melbourne, and all points in between, Australia was enthralled by the little people entertainment troupe known as Tiny Town.

Everyone was especially fond its undisputed star, 'The Mayor of Tiny Town', aka 'The Turkish Tom Thumb', the incomparable small-man performer Hayati Hassid.

Yet how did this beloved celebrity - who also acted as editor of 'The Tiny Town Times' - become designated an enemy alien after the Great War broke out?

What did this dark twist have to do with showman and self-professed father of Australian aviation Frederick Hooper Jones?

And just where do genocidal Turkish sultan Abdul The Damned, legendary escapologist Harry Houdini and Aussie rock band The Angels fit into this picture?

Join me for a four-part deep dive that takes us from the harems of the dying Ottoman Empire to the roller-skating-mad London vaudeville scene, from a forgotten antipodean box office blockbuster to the controversial very earliest days of Australia aviation.

You won't believe your ears.


Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia


My new book Hanging Ned Kelly is out now and will make a cracker of a Christmas present.

You can read a free excerpt here - and get 26% off the RRP: https://affirmpress.com.au/publishing/hanging-ned-kelly/

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Jaksot(316)

This Week in 1966 – Part One: The Dawn of the Decimals

This Week in 1966 – Part One: The Dawn of the Decimals

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This Week in 1986 – Part Three: The Murders of Anita Cobby, Sallie-Anne Huckstepp and Megan Kalajzich

This Week in 1986 – Part Three: The Murders of Anita Cobby, Sallie-Anne Huckstepp and Megan Kalajzich

Australia is shocked by three Sydney murders – even as a spate of brutal attacks on sex workers goes ignored by the police and tabloid media. Plus: Lindy Chamberlain freed as the newspapers dodge acco...

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Spotlight – History Daily – The Rum Rebellion – 26 January 1808

Spotlight – History Daily – The Rum Rebellion – 26 January 1808

Welcome to the first episode of Forgotten Australia Spotlight, which is to showcase the work of other history storytellers. First up, History Daily, with their episode about the Rum Rebellion, which t...

23 Tammi 19min

Death-Defying Death Divers – Part Four

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Having left his mark on Australia, Professor Charles Peart’s legend is to fade with the years, even as others step up to even greater heights for even more dangerous plunges – intentional and accident...

19 Tammi 27min

Death-Defying Death Divers – Part Three

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Arriving in Australia, Professor Charles Peart lives up the hype and wows crowds in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, before showing New Zealand audiences what he can do. But the daredevil has...

14 Tammi 58min

Death-Defying Death Divers – Part Two

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After a diving tragedy shocks London, Professor Charles Peart rises to fame with his daring and dizzying head-first pool stunts. When Australian circus owners come looking for acts to take Down Under,...

11 Tammi 47min

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