1974: Pavlov’s dog has been domesticated
I suppose we’ve all heard of Pavlov’s dog. We know that he conditioned his dogs to salivate when he made a sound with a metronome. He did this by giving them food each time he made the sound. Eventually the dogs would salivate even if no food was offered. The artist here is taking the conditioning a great deal further and shows the dog undertaking domestic tasks and also speaking.
1962: The Space Race
The Russians seemed to be winning in the early stage of the pace race. Poking fun at the Americans was quite common at the time.
That reminds me of a story, perhaps apocryphal, about NASA spending hundreds of thousand of dollars developing a pen that could work in zero gravity to take with them into space.
The Russkies took a pencil.
1970: The Space Race 2
Here is a neat example of irony – deliberately saying something which is the direct opposite of the truth.
I have a memory of its use during World War Two – 1943 in fact. A story was told of a psychiatrist who had just died. St Peter is interviewing him and asks what he did while alive. On hearing the answer Peter says ‘You are very welcome. We need someone like you. You see, God thinks he’s Montgomery.’
That reminds me of a very self-opinionated orthopaedic surgeon, Mr Carr, at a hospital where I once worked.
A young doctor dies and goes to Heaven. St Peter is showing him round and he marvels at a golden figure bathed in light, sitting on a throne at the end of a great hall and being worshipped by angels.
“Isn’t that Mr Carr?” asked the young doctor.
St Peter replied, “No, that only God. He just thinks he’s Mr Carr.”
1974: Seizing an opportunity
The drawing is blurred at the right of the picture. It should show the garage manager speaking to the car’s owner on the telephone. The Rolls Royce is certainly going to be tested!
Probably not far fetched at all.
1973: Joking about the ‘Troubles’?
Are we now too squeamish to make the Northern Ireland violence a basis for humour? I think we are.
As do I. Everything’s too PC these days.
1974: A misguided attempt
He is right. The cat does not have the needs as a human being. When it wants to come in it will.
1974: Not the Good Life
The BBC’s sitcom ‘The Good Life’ was first broadcast in 1975. It reflected a general vague yearning for a simple lifestyle. This cartoon is surely a warning.
1968: Loser’s grudge
Not only has he lost but tries to convince himself that he ought to have won. She just knows that he is going to tell her all about it and why he is right (as always).
1968: How can you avoid it?
How could you tell the patient about his Pools win without getting him excited? No mention yet of the lottery which began in 1994.
1971: Cruising on the cheap
By 1971 the overseas travel market was rapidly expanding. The high-status cruises of the past were now being replaced by the cheap and cheerful. No doubt this cartoon is a gross exaggeration but it does suggest a general lowering of standards.
That’s brilliant 
1975: A lack of good taste?
Years earlier Punch cartoons frequently mocked people who lacked the refinement of the typical Punch readers. Here is a late (and now rare) example of the same genre.
Yes, that’ll be Blackpool!
1976: An early attempt at diversity
The chairman does not think that he is being patronising. By the standards of 1976 I suppose he was being quite supportive. No one would say this today but would he think it?
1975: Industrial Relations
The cartoon seems to imply that Mason would have been justified in his attack if the man had been a real shop steward. This cartoon reminds us of the time when frequent crippling strikes were the order of the day. Britain was called the ‘sick man of Europe’. Have times really changed?
