1939: At the psychiatrist
The joke here is that a mental condition is going to be treated as a physical condition.
By the way there is a factual error here. The bust of Freud on top of the bookcase shows that the psychiatrist is a Freudian. However Freudians always referred to the unconscious. It was the Jungians who called it the subconscious.
1937: Knowing his place
The gardener naturally chats with the children of the big house. He could hardly refuse to talk to them. He refers quite reverentially to their grandfather who kept his distance from the ‘lower orders’.
1939: Put down in the beauty salon
It does look harsh but how else can she be told that her presence is not welcome? By just being there she is lowering the tone of the place.
1938: Unwelcome visitors all at once
This apparently is what an upper middle class woman is doing when she is not expecting any visitors.
1939: War is coming … soon
These agriculture labourers were speaking for most. Soon most people would understand the point of these warplanes.
1939: The phoney war
The war has now started but we are now looking at the ‘phoney war’. Not much had changed … yet. Some businesses located out of the cities to avoid the bombing that was expected. It came, but much later. There was some action in the air and at sea but during this stage evacuation and relocation was the big story.
A lot of people would continue to compare the current state of affairs with what had happened 25 years earlier.
1939: Sarcasm
There is some class content in this joke. The private being addressed has a double-barrelled surname. This makes him fair game for the sergeant’s sarcasm. It isn’t just a tradition in one regiment. It is the way that the army functions.
1940: Tanks in the phoney war
Anton is making a little joke about the technology of war. It is a form of humour quite at home with the phoney war. It would not be thought appropriate when the ‘shooting war’ took over.
1939: Misunderstanding the function of an air raid shelter
If Winnie can fall through it wouldn’t be of any use.
I have spent a lot of time in a shelter like this during WW2.
1940: More phoney war experience
These changes were meant to deal with the challenges that had not yet materialised. When they did jokes like this ceased to appear.
The civilians are carrying a gasmask in a box draped over their shoulders. I can’t remember when we stopped carrying them but I think it was fairly early in 1940.
1939: Coping with the blackout
I am puzzled by this cartoon. It obviously relates to the difficulty of getting about in the dark. Is the driver pretending that he can’t see whereas he really can? That would account for his confident tone. I can’t think of another plausible explanation.
Maybe he’s trying to calm their fears of travelling in the dark by his bravado?
I think that you are probably right.
1939: Another nonchalant view before the war hotted up
Perhaps it is just as well to point out that ARP stood for Air Raid Precautions.
1940: Don’t expect that it is going to be glamorous
The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) was the organisation which enabled women to work in support of the British army. In no way were they ever expected to be involved in hand to hand fighting but there were many support roles available.
This certainly including driving but as the cartoonist observed women drivers could not expect to be surrounded by outrageously handsome young officers. Nor could they ever expect to see German soldiers eager to surrender when they saw this glamorous apparition. If an ATS driver drove a staff car it would contain a gnarled Colonel or above aged at least 40.
1939: Such innocence
She hasn’t experienced the real thing. If she had she would know which was the alert and which was the all clear. I can still recognise them 78 years later.
1940: Sleeping in the Shelter
I don’t remember sleeping in the shelter. Being there at all tended to be cold and damp. We went into it at the beginning of a raid and got out after the ‘all clear’ was sounded. This cartoon seems to have been drawn before there were any air raids.
1939: More innocence!
This sort of ignorance clearly relates to a time before there were any serious air raids. The bucket would have contained sand so that it could be immediately used to put out the fire caused by an incendiary bomb.
1939: Misunderstanding the purpose of gasmasks
All the other children have placed their gasmasks on the desk in front of them. This small girl tells the teacher that she is safe from poison gas because she has no sense of smell. Just as well then there were no gas attacks on Britain during World War Two.
1940: Upper class warworker
During World War Two the British government felt the need to ensure that that the population would have enough to eat. By sinking UK bound ships the German U-Boat campaign was designed to ensure that they would not. Strong efforts were made to reduce the need for external supplies by growing more food at home.
The Women’s Land Army was formed to help farmers to do this in spite of their workers having been conscripted. It was formed from all classes of society. This cartoon should not be taken too seriously. The young woman doing the ploughing would not really be accompanied by her rather grand mother. But the mother, conditioned by a Victorian upbringing would really be worrying about the way her daughter was now living. Many such situations were going to occur before the war’s end.
