Having recently opened to the public, the Jimmy Possum History and Mystery exhibition shares a lot of traits with the hand-crafted bush chairs bearing his name – both have legs, solid backing and were created with passion and love.

A collection of nine chairs – recognisable by their interlocking, tapered design – are the centrepiece of the exhibition, and while none of them were made by Jimmy Possum, museum volunteer Roger Nutting says they are undoubtedly his design.  

“You don’t see this design in English chairs, you don’t see it in American chairs, the legs are tapered and the holes are tapered so it locks in nice and tight,” Mr Nutting said. “There’s not another chair designed anywhere on the face of the planet that’s like this, it’s unique.”

While the chairs remain Possum’s foremost legacy, much of the exhibition focuses on the man behind the creation, and in particular how little is known about him.

No written records of Possum exist, but historians believe him to have lived in the Deloraine area between the late 1800s and the 1900s. 

“There’s a whole range of theories as to why (he was called) Jimmy Possum – the main one is he was reputed to have lived in a big old tree stump, so they say ‘the possum living in a tree’.

“He was reputed to have helped people out on their farms in exchange for a bit of food and maybe for a bit of money from time to time, and they say that he exchanged chairs for provisions and drink. 

“We can’t find anything except to say that he certainly did exist and it’s known that he came up with this particular style of chair.”

Mr Nutting said the museum was hoping to make the exhibition a permanent fixture.

“The local tourism association has recently rebranded itself ‘history and mystery’, so the Jimmy Possum thing fitted in perfectly with what’s happening there.

“In Australia when you think about bush furniture the first thing that comes to mind is Jimmy Possum and its time we cashed in on something that’s ours and make something of it.”