1938: Two Places?
Can’t she? It rather looks as though she is. I wouldn’t want to be seated next to her on a budget airliner.
Splendid example of the ubiquity of hats on the bus – male as well as female.
1938: Away From it all?
The suburbanite doesn’t see the problem but his pipe-smoking neighbour doesn’t think this is a good idea.
In fact we had a splendid holiday in Norway a few years back – in the summer. No problem with snow and ice at all.
1938: Recognising Insomnia
This is another example form the series that record aspects of the British character. This one looks decidedly odd. I assume that the artist suffers from this complaint and has decided to put this experience to profitable use. At least the sufferer isn’t counting sheep.
1938: A Simple Story
This artist specialises in the strip cartoon. It is a simple, though highly unlikely, narrative.
1938: Before the Act of Union
The joke here is that war between England and Scotland was unthinkable well before 1938. No doubt that still remains the case whether Scotland becomes independent or not. The knight is arguing with someone who, I suppose, is a scholar.
The use of the word ‘Scotch’ is no longer appropriate. It now has to be ‘Scots’. Unless whisky is being discussed, in which case ‘Scotch’ is the only correct appellation. I am not at all sure whether this distinction was the rule in 1938.
1938: The Harassed Man of Letters
We may safely surmise that this one of many interruptions. The bearded man’s sarcasm is reciprocated in kind.
No doubt he is working to a deadline and he is being urged on by his publishers. No doubt she would prefer him to spend less time wrapped up in his work and devote more time to her.
1938: Theatricals
This time George Belcher takes us into the world of the theatre. The man being discussed is filling his already ample frame. I suppose the point being made is that, deliberately or not, he has been working his way up to more substantial roles.
1938: Overdoing the Sang Froid
The housemaster doles out a minimal punishment. This is not all likely and we are expected to be amused at this outcome. My response is ‘just about’ but it is only one step above outright indifference.
1938: In for a Long Wait
Looking at his watch while the builders are still at work! Better to go round the corner where, no doubt, a currently available pub is ready to serve him.
Perhaps this is a joke about foreigners. The man consulting his watch could be a Frenchman (we note the beret) who doesn’t understand the inherent flexibility of the word ‘shortly’.
1938: Poor George
With so many healthy and good-looking people around him, George feels out of place. The bride however knows full well that a wedding photo needs a man even if he is rather weedy.
She’ll be bossing him about for the rest of his life.
1938: Foreigners!
With the benefit of hindsight we all know what in 1938 was waiting for the Punch community in the fairly near future, namely the outbreak of World War Two. This could not be known at the time. Some people, I am sure, had a good idea of what was to come. Most people preferred not to think about it.
The two Brits holidaying in what is clearly meant to represent Fascist Italy can’t help getting some awareness of the situation. They are not locals and so they are quite safe in not joining the saluting mob. Even if they expressed opposition they would not be molested. At worst there would be some angry shouting and an earlier than planned return to Britain. But the whole point of the drawing is that they are keeping well out of it.
I can’t help wondering if there is message here which says ‘keep out and we’ll be safe.’ This would have been quite typical of the time, however erroneous that would have been. Fascist dictatorships were spreading. Apart from Hitler’s Germany and Mussolini’s Italy Franco’s conquest of Spain was nearing completion. In addition in Eastern Europe various ‘strong men’ were emerging. The danger was increasing and Punch is accurately reflecting the public mood at the time.
When war did break out Britain was far less prepared than Germany. Hitler’s early lightning successes were due in part to innovative and ruthless tactics but also to this serious military deficit in Britain (and France as well.)
1938: In Search of a Business Opportunity
This cartoon is one of a series which transpose modern activities and attitudes into situations from history, mythology or biblical times. As is often the case the joke lies in the absurdity of such a juxta positioning. Many readers of Punch would have known perfectly well that King Nebuchadnezzar would not have wanted his garments invisibly mended even if such a service had been available at the time.
1938: Silly Cow
She wants to see evidence of his affection and finds it however unlikely the source. This form of self-induced delusion is still in evidence today.
1938: A Substantial ‘Hop’
George Belcher has caught a moment of self-awareness though the woman has not expressed herself in the happiest of terms. As he often does he has used his subjects’ feet to convey a lot of information about them. His feet are shod in well-polished shoes and I would guess that his socks are held up with those little sock suspenders. Her swollen ankles are all too evident.
1938: Precocious Child
It is difficult to imagine such a statement being made by a child today.
1938: She Wants to be Noticed
This looks like extreme measures to get a reaction.
1938: The Bank Manager Will See You Now
There used to be a personal relationship with an actual manager who was a pillar of the community. Of course he (and it always was a he then) had a great deal of discretion in making his decisions which were based on personal knowledge of the customer and the local business scene.
Here the cartoonist has caught the nature of the relationship between banker and client. The client in the red is grovelling and the banker is looking down on his customer. When in the black he is greeted by the manager as an equal.
Today the computers have taken over and it seems that the banks are now looking down at all their customers.
1938: Another Politically Incorrect Joke
This patronising joke rests on the assumption that the salesman really thinks that changing the label would make the shoe fit. Nobody seemed to complain at the time.
I sometimes wonder what it is that we are now doing or saying that future generations would find incomprehensible. Clearly we can’t imagine what it is or we wouldn’t be doing it.
1938: Plutocrats!
Ah! The joys of pressing button A and waiting for a reply before pressing button B. This is a seriously rich man in the phone box. His car seems to stretch for ever. The uniformed flunkey holding his travelling rug is clearly not the driver who is ensconced in the driving seat.
Losing tuppence shouldn’t worry him but it does.
1938: You’re the Right Man
Not being able to drive is just what the car driver wants to hear.