1947: Not so good at understanding children
In the post war era psychologists were widely distrusted. This little scene illustrates this attitude quite nicely.
1952: Sadly prophetic
In 1952 this was just a humorous comment on how tall the New York skyline has become. Two generations later it reminds us of an all too successful terrorist attack.
1946: Industrial art
Another Emmett fantasy. A cooperative art project. More whimsy from the master of whimsy.
1947: Mistaken identity
No words are needed here and Anton isn’t offering any. It is clear who is the real person being wooed.
1955: Surrealism
‘Beware of the fog, not the dog’ seems to be the surreal message here. Not the usual kind of humour displayed in Punch.
1952: Patronising
Television was in its early days. Punch cartoons tended to be rather patronising about this new form of entertainment. In time the triumph of ‘telly’ would contribute to the end of Punch.
Here we see the family watching the TV repairman with the same sort of fascination that the producers expected them to have for the actual programmes. In truth most of them weren’t really up to much.
1953: Thelwell’s Trademark
Thelwell was famous for his cartoons of girls and their ponies / horses. Here the blacksmith is asking the pony’s rider how the newly shod hooves ‘feel’. The rider is taking the question seriously assuming that she knows how her pony is feeling.
1955: American interlude
The readers of Punch would no doubt be familiar with American films which were already dominating the cinema screens.
1954: Office World
This scene shows an executive who has not been ‘incentivised’. Otherwise he would not have asked the question.
1946: A rose tinted view
The harassed mother cannot understand why the visitor regards this as an idyllic scene.
1949: Describing the economy in a nutshell
The spiv is easily identified by the hat and the shape of his suit. His nylons are almost certainly not genuine. But his comment reflects a real issue concerning the way the country was being run. Nationalisation was the then preferred answer to the nation’s post-war problems. There were critics not all of whom were as self-interested as the spiv flogging dodgy goods.
1947: Most important news
The ship is sinking but knowing the football results is still of paramount importance.
1948: English Literature
This is not satire. I suppose the humour lies in the fact that the two women would not have used that word: immortalised.
1948: Surrealism
It would have needed a great deal of persuasion to get ‘Mr Dali’ to make a matching pair for his surreal art. Symmetry is the very antithesis of surrealism
1947: The arch villain
The cat has masked its eyes in order to exemplify its evil intent. I don’t think any milk deliveries in 1947 involved a horse drawn delivery. Milk contained in glass! I remember it well!
1956: Canine bed warmers
These dogs aren’t going to stay in place for long!
1956: Medical malpractice
Doctors aren’t supposed to do this sort of thing!
1950 French Grammar
I suppose these women are teachers. At least they didn’t expect the waiters to understand English. Shouting English at foreigners was often the standard form of behaviour. These days it often works.
Indeed. More foreigners understand English than care to admit it, especially the French for some reason!
1955: Super Rich and French!
This is satire, pure and simple. She chooses to be seen with the dog that best matches her new English tweed coat.
By 1955 it was already somewhat unusual for Punch to expect its readers to understand French. Up to 1945 it was quite normal. No mass circulation media outlet would do so today.