Editing John Curtin (section)

===Early working life===
In early 1899, Curtin began working as an office boy at a weekly magazine called ''The Rambler'', earning five shillings per week. His employer was the artist and writer [[Norman Lindsay]], who had also grown up in Creswick and knew his family.{{efn|Norman Lindsay's father, Robert Lindsay, had been the attending doctor at Curtin's birth.}} The magazine did not last long, and over the following years Curtin held down a series of short-term jobs, including as a [[copy boy]] at ''[[The Age]]'', a potter's apprentice, and a houseboy at a [[gentlemen's club]]. These were interspersed with periods of unemployment.{{sfn|Day|1999|pp=49–50}} He did not secure a permanent job until he was 18, taking up a position as an estimates clerk with the Titan Manufacturing Company in [[South Melbourne]] in September 1903. By that time he was the family's primary breadwinner, as his father was a virtual invalid.{{sfn|Day|1999|p=72}}

As a youth, Curtin was a talented sportsman. Between 1903 and 1907, he played as a half-forward flanker for the [[Brunswick Football Club]] in the semi-professional [[Victorian Football Association]] (VFA). His teammates gave him the nickname "Bumble".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://john.curtin.edu.au/sport/bouncedown.html |title=Bouncedown at Brunswick Football Club |publisher=John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library |access-date=26 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180423010602/http://john.curtin.edu.au/sport/bouncedown.html |archive-date=23 April 2018 |url-status=live  |date=18 December 2002 }}</ref> His nephew [[Claude Curtin|Claude]] played for [[Fitzroy Football Club|Fitzroy]] in the [[Victorian Football League (1897–1989)|Victorian Football League]] (VFL).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://john.curtin.edu.au/sport/barracker.html |title=A great barracker: Curtin and footy |publisher=John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library |access-date=26 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180423010636/http://john.curtin.edu.au/sport/barracker.html |archive-date=23 April 2018 |url-status=live  |date=18 December 2002 }}</ref> Curtin also played cricket for the [[Brunswick Cricket Club]], where he had a reputation as a solid [[batting (cricket)|batsman]]. He remained involved in both sports throughout the remainder of his life, as an administrator and supporter. He was said to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of cricket statistics.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://john.curtin.edu.au/sport/innings.html |title=A fine innings: Curtin and cricket |publisher=John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library |access-date=26 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180423010656/http://john.curtin.edu.au/sport/innings.html |archive-date=23 April 2018 |url-status=live  |date=18 December 2002 }}</ref>