A BEGINNER'S GUIDE...
Now where have I seen such incredibly skillful and clever concealments as I have seen here in the Hay Internment Camp banknotes.
This post will cover just some of the amazing examples of concealment, I estimate that there are well over 100 instances on this single note.
At the bottom of this post, I will leave an explanatory note explaining just how this banknote and its incredible contents is linked to the Somerton Man case. For now though, here are the examples of concealment that have left me stunned:
1. Anamorphic Column
The left-hand side of the rectangular-shaped border on the note shows shaded anamorphic letters and numbers, They are faded and I am working at lifting them so that you can see them more clearly. The column itself is made of row upon row of tiny sets of numbers and that makes this anamorphic level all the more interesting, they have in one stroke set up hundreds of number sets and then on top of them, they have overlaid another level.
2. Right-hand column, a slightly clearer example of an anamorphic writing image.
4. Another example of hidden in plain sight, this time we include old man emu
5. Time for a drum roll, the best has been left to the last. It's another anamorphic but done cleverly and delicately, it absolutely stunned me when I first saw it. Numbers and letters have been hidden within the name of the note's denomination. There were already known numbers amongst these larger letters again the design has added another level. The examples are highlighted, don't blink!
Each letter contains anamorphic written capital letters, I cannot read them clearly just yet, I need to spend more time on this particular example.
6, Here's another example, the surround shading to the denomination words contains concealed numbers and a few letters.
HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO THE SOMERTON MAN CASE?
The Hay and Tatura Internment camps were once home to Tibor Kaldor, Tibor was found dead, poisoned, in Adelaide 2 weeks after the body of the Somerton Man. That's one, albeit tentative link.
The most important link is that the concealment methods used on the Hay Internment Camp banknotes, turn up in the Verse 70 Inscription page of the Boxall Rubaiyat.
The Hay Banknotes notes were created in 1941 and the Verse 70 inscription was done in 1945. However it is possible and borderline probable that the designer of the banknotes, George Adams Teltscher, also designed the concealment methods used on the inscription page, they are almost identical methods. George's background was as a currency designer in Vienna. He was a very talented man and an accomplished artist in the Bauhaus tradition.
He organised the design and engaged several fellow internees in the process, the job became a focus of attention for Camp 7 at Hay.
I wondered if that cooperative effort was part of George's plan, a unique way to take everyone's mind away from the unfortunate position they found themselves in.
On his release in late 1941, he returned to the UK via the Panama Canal, what's odd about that is that the Americans were very conscious about just who got close to their borders and ex-internees were high on their list. But George traveled by that route. One thing that may have swayed the Americans is that George Adams Telscher was a direct descendant of John Adams, the second President of the USA. On arrival in the UK, he went to work for the Military and was said to have been involved in designing propaganda posters. I researched the UK archives and they have examples of such WW2 posters including the names of the designers, I could not find George's name among them.
However, in early 1943 the SOE produced a manual on clandestine operations including the INK H technique and other concealment methods. It is possible George went to work for them. Codes were sent to Australian Military intelligence at around the same time.
The Hay Banknotes notes were created in 1941 and the Verse 70 inscription was done in 1945. However it is possible and borderline probable that the designer of the banknotes, George Adams Teltscher, also designed the concealment methods used on the inscription page, they are almost identical methods. George's background was as a currency designer in Vienna. He was a very talented man and an accomplished artist in the Bauhaus tradition.
He organised the design and engaged several fellow internees in the process, the job became a focus of attention for Camp 7 at Hay.
I wondered if that cooperative effort was part of George's plan, a unique way to take everyone's mind away from the unfortunate position they found themselves in.
On his release in late 1941, he returned to the UK via the Panama Canal, what's odd about that is that the Americans were very conscious about just who got close to their borders and ex-internees were high on their list. But George traveled by that route. One thing that may have swayed the Americans is that George Adams Telscher was a direct descendant of John Adams, the second President of the USA. On arrival in the UK, he went to work for the Military and was said to have been involved in designing propaganda posters. I researched the UK archives and they have examples of such WW2 posters including the names of the designers, I could not find George's name among them.
However, in early 1943 the SOE produced a manual on clandestine operations including the INK H technique and other concealment methods. It is possible George went to work for them. Codes were sent to Australian Military intelligence at around the same time.