Snake Tales was originally titled The Old Timer and was first published in The Daily Telegraph on 25 April 1974.
The initial group of characters featured: The Old Timer, an elderly bloke with a long thirst and a reluctance to shout for beers; The Con Man; The Kangaroo, who constantly avoids being killed for food; the Flyin' Doc; and The Last Lost Tribesman and his Wife, who are determined to stay lost.
In July 1975 The Sun News-Pictorial published the strip as a replacement for Les Dixon's Bluey and Curley.
Sols gradually added characters including Crazy Croc, Lillie (the Old Timer's distant admirer), a devious butcher, a group of duck hunters, the comic strip did not make a great impression until the introduction of the character 'Snake'.
When it was syndicated in the United States (through the Newspaper Enterprise Association),[3] Sols was asked to re-draw Lady Snake, as her "two lumps" were said to be offensive.