On Monday 28 July 1952, the Melbourne Argus became the first newspaper in the world to print a high-speed action news picture in full colour. In what was a technological marvel for its time, there were coloured photos of sporting events on the front and back pages.

The front page banner was printed in garish alternate blue and red block letters, which hopefully has never been repeated. This was accompanied by a photo of the AV Hiskens steeplechase at Moonee Valley the previous Saturday.

The Argus, Monday 28 July 1952, p 1

The Argus wrote “Here’s a picture that makes news – and newspaper history, too. It is the first time ever that a newspaper anywhere in the world has produced a high-speed action news picture in color [sic] within hours of the event. It proves that color [sic] news photography for daily journalism is a practical proposition and no longer a newspaper-man’s dream.”

The Argus did print in colour regularly, but their dream was short-lived as the newspaper closed in January 1957. Before then it was the envy of the newspaper world, especially when it published colour photos for the Olympics, the Melbourne Cup and the Queen’s visit in 1954. Circulation increased by up to 25% for issues covering these special events. However, former staff recall that the colour printers purchased by the paper’s new owners to rescue the struggling paper were unreliable and very expensive. Sometimes, printing problems resulted in The Argus missing all early morning sales as it was not distributed until after 9 or 10 am. It was not until the late 1980s that colour became a daily feature of newspapers, so The Argus was certainly well ahead of its time.

The Argus, Monday 28 July 1952, back page

Written by Chris Wade

Newspaper Librarian