May 10, 2013, was the day Skywhale was shown off to Canberra on our front page in all her booby glory. I remember because it was the day my mum died.
In our grief, our family joked that this bizarre centenary gift to the city she loved so much had been her final straw.
In truth, she knew nothing of the balloon and the controversy that blew up around it when we published photos of Centenary of Canberra director Robyn Archer's grand commission.
She would, I'm sure, have been in the camp of former chief minister Jon Stanhope, who railed at the "giant tortoise shape with pendulous breasts" all the way from his posting on Christmas Island.
"It is the great irony that Robyn has spoken so forcefully and wonderfully against Canberra-bashing and in support of Canberra, but I think she has unwittingly fed the voracious beast," he steamed.
Even our open-minded columnist Ian Warden described it as a "no fun" disappointment. Despite his admiration for creator Patricia Piccinini's other work, he wrote: "Perhaps in thinking of the best balloon for the centenary messrs Archer and Piccinini should have done the demanding work of imagining something that had mass appeal, that gave delight rather than a challenge."
For the record, I shared both of their views. I didn't particularly mind the look of Skywhale, but as a Canberran I was miffed that it was the thing we were gifting ourselves at a cost of $300k to mark our centenary. It heaped onto my annoyance at One Big Day, Archer's "high-brow alphabet spaghetti" celebration on the lake.
And what was Skywhale supposed to say about Canberra at its 100th birthday?
It's some irony then that, as part of The Canberra Times' own centenary, we're about to celebrate its undeniable place in our identity.
On Monday, we published Skywhale Milk, the newest addition to Pope's Canberra: The Centenary Collection. It's a tribute to not only Piccinini's creation but touches on our long-time affection for local milk and our growing coffee culture.
It belongs in the best cafes of our city.
David Pope has been playing with the infinite creative possibilities of Skywhale from the moment she was revealed.
And while she's been only rarely in our skies, his representations over the years have reflected the truth of what her original backers predicted - that she would become a symbol of Canberra. Yes, for better, not worse.
In 2023, on the 10th anniversary of her launch, Sally Pryor revisited the controversy and the gradual softening of attitudes. She even spoke to Stanhope, who chuckled to recall the force of his initial outrage.
"I personally think it's, you know, quirkily beautiful. My concern was that in the context of the celebration by we Canberrans of the centenary of our city, a place that we call home, a place that we love, it was unfortunate that one aspect of that celebration divided rather than drew us together," he said.
"I stand by that concern, but that's now in the past ... I think I would have to accept that Canberra as a whole has fallen in love with Skywhale."
And you know, I actually think my mum would've come around to her, too.
