Parnaby Totems
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Two bushfire awareness totems were carved by forester David Parnaby in about 1951. They sat outside the Noorinbee office of the Forests Commission Victoria (FCV) until the mid-1960s before being moved to a new office at nearby Cann River. The totems were well known tourist icons of the township until they collapsed from rot in the late 1990s. The heads were also thought to be lost until they turned up in 2021 and were used as templates to make replica totems which were reinstated outside the DEECA office in 2023.
Gippsland in eastern Victoria has a rich history of mysterious carved wooden characters across its extensive State forests and roadsides. They include Pons asinorum near Cann River (early 1920s), Alfonso Spaghetti near Orbost (1924), the first Mr Stringy at Dead Horse Gap (1929) followed by the second Mr Stringy (late 1960s), several Fish Faithfull sculptures near Omeo (1930s), the first Parnaby Totems at Noorinbee (1951), through to the more recent Pretty Boy south of Dargo (2016).[1]
Most are gone now, having rotted away, burnt by bushfires, stolen or damaged by vandals, their stories often lost.[1]
Gippsland's most famous surviving wooden man is undoubtedly Mr Stringy who stands stoically at Dead Horse Flat on a lonely stretch of the Great Alpine Road between Bairnsdale and Omeo. In 2024 replacement Parnaby Totems were erected at Cann River.
