A Santa and the Drover biscuit tin, with the drover modelled on the artist himself, Jack Waugh. Photos: Andrew Waugh.
That iconic Christmas image of Santa taking a break with an Aussie drover — once found on Arnott’s biscuit tins and the back of The Australian Women’s Weekly — has long been part of the nation’s festive folklore.
But its creator was no big-city art star; he was Jack Waugh, a Jamberoo artist whose talent quietly reached millions.
Born John Edward Waugh in 1910, Jack was a commercial artist and illustrator whose work featured in Australian publications such as Man, Man Junior, Adam and Cavalcade.
Son Andrew Waugh, who still lives in Jamberoo and ran its newsagency until 2022, said his father was one of the artists who were part of the K.G. Murray publishing group in Sydney.
Andrew said Jack was known for his double-page paintings that graced the pages of Man magazine during its heyday in the late 1940s and ’50s through to its demise in the ’70s.
However, he said his most recognisable painting was Santa and the Drover, commissioned by Arnott’s Biscuits in 1964.
That same image appeared on the back page of The Australian Women’s Weekly each Christmas for more than a decade.
“It was a picture of Santa Claus sharing a billy tea with an Aussie outback drover, and his horse and some reindeer are getting to know each other in the background,” he said.
In an Australian Women’s Weekly article in December 1973, Jack revealed that the drover was modelled on himself.
“I usually arrange myself in front of a mirror and model for the sketches I need,” Jack told the magazine.
“This results in some near dislocations and occasionally some rather peculiar left-handed drawings.
“But the model is always at hand, and knows exactly what the artist wants.”
In the interview, he admitted the initial idea of a drover talking to Santa Claus sounded “corny as hell”.
“I worked out a composition with the horse making friends with the reindeer,” he said.
“Oddly enough, it didn’t turn out as corny as I thought it would.”
The interview also revealed how an Arnott’s executive felt that the illustration had become Australian property and, in recognition of the value it had brought, Jack was paid a token royalty some years later.
Andrew said his father was an unassuming type of man who had always been interested in drawing.
Jack Waugh’s biscuit tin artwork appeared on the back page of The Australian Women’s Weekly each Christmas for more than a decade.
“There’s a newspaper photo of Dad when he was school-aged accepting first prize in a Felix the Cat drawing contest,” he said.
“He then joined his uncle’s signwriting business when he was only 14 and learnt a lot there.”
Among Jack’s possessions that Andrew has kept is a handwritten diary from a long trek taken with a mate just before Australia and Japan went to war.
“They set off to walk from Sydney to Brisbane, and during the trip Dad drew caricatures of people they met and sold them for four shillings each to cover expenses,” Andrew said.
“They also earned money timber felling at Coffs Harbour, which helped buy a horse and sulky, subsequently converting it into a small covered wagon — far better than sleeping under the stars as previous.
“When they got to Brisbane, they joined the armed forces.”
Andrew said Jack was put into signals and became a motorcycle dispatch rider.
It was during this time he would meet his future wife, Phyllis, with whom he went on to have four children: John, Andrew, Bradley and Patricia.
“Unfortunately, whilst in the army, the long motorbike rides in the outback on what were just dirt roads caused lifetime damage to Dad’s eyes,” Andrew said.
“He used to say that he saw things as if they were through a church window, but it never seemed to impact his art.
“I remember watching him working away in his studio and he’d have all sorts of props to help with his magazine illustrations.”
Andrew said his father would continue to ride a motorbike, his prime form of transportation between Jamberoo and Sydney, with his latest art in saddlebags for discussions with Murray magazines and others.
He said he would return home at night, riding close to the tail-lights of a truck all the way because the bike had no lights.
Another highlight of Jack’s work was a self-portrait he entered in the Archibald Prize in 1948.
“It was painted on a cow rug because there was a shortage of canvas,” Andrew said.
“It actually received really positive comments from the judges.”
Jack died in 1996, with family members cherishing the many examples of his work they have kept.
