http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h8/S22904945/Myalbum/TeddyBoy_zps00161ea4.jpg
1960: Teddy Boy at a Public School
I remember the teddy boy phenomenon. Indeed I was aware of it as early as 1955. Here the cartoonist is indulging in another conceit in which the school authorities are trying to find a respectable argument for telling this rebel to conform – pretty smartish.
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h8/S22904945/Myalbum/inviting_zps519fe393.jpg
1960: Another Jibe at Telly
Those TV sets with closable doors have gone right out of fashion. Smug presenters are still very much with us. We don’t need doors to get rid of them. Even now every set has an off button on the remote.
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h8/S22904945/Myalbum/distress_zps3b5a9160.jpg
1960: False Alarm
Here is an amusing little joke with no hidden message. I suppose that this kind of incident could really have taken place. Although I wonder how the speaker had managed to get his shirt that high.
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h8/S22904945/Myalbum/gardener_zps75d01a78.jpg
1960: Work / Life Balance
I can actually recall having seen this joke in 1960 so it obviously had an impact on me. I am not suggesting that my life closely resembled (or would ever closely resemble) that of the tycoon. But even quite early in my career it was already further away from that of the gardener than that of his employer.
I did not read Punch regularly at that time. I might have seen this cartoon in a doctor’s waiting room or having made a casual purchase. We don’t remember everything to that level of detail.
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h8/S22904945/Myalbum/carefree_zpsfb6c622d.jpg
1960: Not Conforming to the Current Style
I don’t think I noticed the fashion for ‘carefree’ hair in 1960. If I had, I think I would have remembered it. Christine’s ‘disadvantage’ doesn’t seem to be hindering her at the moment.
Jealousy!
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h8/S22904945/Myalbum/uniformity_zpsf852a0ac.jpg
1960: Uniformity Among the Upper Classes
I do wonder whether the artist is exaggerating quite a lot. All those businessmen and no females travelling by train? Every single man wearing a hat? By 1960? My memory tells me that by then men wearing hats was then already quite unusual.
Those boys catching the train look very colourful but again I suspect that the reality was far more sober. Surely girls also went to boarding school?
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h8/S22904945/Myalbum/supermarket_zps89975edc.jpg
1960: A Supermarket in the Morning
Although we regard supermarkets as a very modern concept everything in this cartoon reminds us that it they are not that new. In particular we note how dated are the trolleys, the cash register and the clothes that the shoppers are wearing. Putting on a hat in order to go to a supermarket! The young lady at the checkout seems to think that she is a fashion model. As to husbands waiting for their breakfasts…
A very prescient cartoon with one of the the women doing her shopping in her nightie and dressing gown - how many have you seen these days doing their shopping in their pyjamas?
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h8/S22904945/Myalbum/hiding_zps42c30df9.jpg
1960: Drawbacks of ‘Contemporary’ Furniture
Surely the reluctant hostess can see in the mirror exactly what her unwanted visitors can also see? Indeed, even without this unfortunately placed mirror the would-be visitors can also see her feet sticking out at the side of the sofa.
I do remember the vogue for ‘contemporary’ furniture. Those who had it felt superior to those who didn’t.
That one is very funny 
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h8/S22904945/Myalbum/gullible_zps42f0acf7.jpg
1960: How Does She Do It?
She doesn’t need to ‘read’ his palm to know that.
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h8/S22904945/Myalbum/gulty_zps51f7f195.jpg
1960: Jury Persons
I rather think that it then was still necessary to own property in order to be eligible for Jury Service. The likelihood is that these two ladies were the only females in that jury room. (I served on a jury at the Old Bailey in 1973 and I rather think it was all-male. The judge and the barristers were also men.) The point of the joke is that the women are not thinking about the evidence as they should.
Clearly political correctness had not yet kicked in and when it did, Punch would hardly have been a place in which to find it.
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h8/S22904945/Myalbum/treatments_zps4289f598.jpg
1960: Not What They Used to be
They wouldn’t have been in need of the treatment before the war.
Yes, I’d say that they’re flogging a dead horse at their age!
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h8/S22904945/Myalbum/prison_zpsc395981b.jpg
1960: A Puzzle
With no narrative to help us we are obliged to create our own scenarios to account for this picture.
I start off with the general perception voiced at the time that the ‘master criminals’ were a lot smarter than people like the police and prison guards. So we are not surprised to see the uniformed types looking helplessly at a railway line leading straight into what seems to be a prison. It doesn’t really matter whether it was a break-in or a break-out. The cons have triumphed over the screws.
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h8/S22904945/Myalbum/dog_zpsa2399c0c.jpg
1960: One Way Communication
The dog’s feelings are crystal clear. Although, unlike the pet, the owner does possess the power of speech his words will carry absolutely no meaning to the sorrowful animal.
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h8/S22904945/Myalbum/YouRang_zps9b401dd1.jpg
1960: Upper Class Conventions
This type of joke tends to be called ‘gallows humour’ and is rarely to be found in the pages of Punch. Is the butler short sighted or does he feel obliged to ask this traditional question in spite of his master’s suicide? We will never know.
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h8/S22904945/Myalbum/WomensGolf_zps437eb2af.jpg
1960: Prejudice from a Bygone Era?
Due to my complete ignorance of golf I can only guess that Eileen has not made a good shot at all and it seems to me that every scene on this page consists of a put down. 1960 is already 56 years ago but to me it feels more recent than that because I was already 29 years old at the time. It makes me wonder if this really was the prevailing attitude at the time. Did I in fact share it? I don’t think so but I continue to wonder.
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h8/S22904945/Myalbum/tax_zpsaef235d3.jpg
1960: Surprisingly Topical Cartoon
He clearly doesn’t have an off-shore tax haven in the Cayman Islands nor an accountant to advise him on becoming ‘tax efficient’. David Cameron’s father was setting up these fiddles aka ‘initiatives for prudent tax planning’ sometime after 1960.
There will now be a few days in which there will be no Punch cartoons. Normal service should resume in a week’s time.
