The Pages of Punch

[Judd]

@Mr Magoo

1951: Joking about modern art

Punch habitually ridiculed ‘modern art’. The whole movement was repeatedly treated as a joke. The hanging committee surely referred to the practice at the Royal Academy. Artists are free to submit their work for display at the annual summer exhibition. The point of that exhibition is that visitors are able to purchase work that they have seen. Before an artist can get his work accepted it has to be submitted. The hanging committee of the Academy will tend to have old fashioned ideas about art. The artist here shown looks exactly how ‘modern’ artists are expected to look. What we see of his work also conforms to the widely believed stereotype.

That’s a belter.

[Mr_Magoo]

1951: A contribution to psychic research?

Here we see an attempted outside broadcast by the BBC. Capturing a ghost for the camera was being actively pursued by the Psychic Research Society. On the lookout for a scoop we see the cameras poised and the OB van outside the ancient building ready to witness the resident ghost taking his habitual walk. However, he is eagerly watching cricket on television. Emmett is again treating modern subjects with his own antique outlook.

[Mr_Magoo]

1957: Bubble cars despised

Brockbank was a prolific cartoonist almost exclusively dealing with motoring. Here the tiny single passenger bubble car is being inaccurately denigrated. The angry pedestrian is shown larger than life whereas the bubble car is shown very much smaller than life. 1957 is just too early for the mini which was launched in 1959.

[Judd]

An Isetta model by the looks of it.

[Mr_Magoo]

1949: Intelligence Testing

At that time intelligence testing was regarded as absolutely accurate. Later opinion is more divided. This was the time when the Eleven Plus test was used to decide who could attend Grammar Schools. This cartoon suggests a very suspicious attitude to the testing of children. The teacher looks just as much surprised as the children being tested.

[Mr_Magoo]

1952: Safety in being small

This cat is not going to catch this mouse. Less is more.

[Mr_Magoo]

1957: This man’s best friend

Larry used to specialise in cartoons that particularly featured men. The dog is engaged upon an impossible task. Though he would do it if he could.

[Mr_Magoo]

1952: Addressing the muse

The author doesn’t feel that he needs a muse but is unimpressed with the way that his work is received by the critics.

[Mr_Magoo]

1957: Big American cars

Brockbank doesn’t like the big gas guzzling American imports. The hapless owner has to hurry and feed several meters owing to the length of his vehicle. Exaggeration of course but it makes its point.

[summer]

@Mr Magoo

1957: This man’s best friend

Larry used to specialise in cartoons that particularly featured men. The dog is engaged upon an impossible task. Though he would do it if he could.

Love it

[Mr_Magoo]

1957: Lion on the loose

Hoffnung takes a topsy turvey view of a lion on the loose. The people have placed themselves in ‘cages’ which don’t really give any protection. The keepers, armed with broomsticks, don’t stand much of a chance. The lion, however, looks quite friendly.

[Mr_Magoo]

1947: Shrinkage

Thelwell is taking a break from little girls and their ponies. These sheep don’t have shrink-proof wool.

[Mr_Magoo]

1953: The consumer society

By 1953 the country was slowly beginning to shake off the austerity of the war and the immediate post-war period. These Brits were living it up in Paris. She is blithely telling him that they are being grossly over charged. The restaurant staff look quite guilty.

[Mr_Magoo]

1957: Another zany idea from Hoffnung

This is a totally weird drawing. The sleeping woman and the bed seem to have been turned into each other. Its craziness has a somewhat hypnotic effect on anyone trying to make sense of what one sees.

[Mr_Magoo]

1948: All rise? No!

This is also an amusing concept. The cook’s head gear is directly connected with the state of the soufflé. Fougasse was a prolific cartoonist during the war and the post war period. During the war government public information posters frequently used cartoons drawn by Fougasse. Whenever I see one of his cartoons I am immediately reminded of the war.

[Mr_Magoo]

1953: Satirising the idle rich

Anton is having a swipe at the super-rich. The woman has not grasped the progress that has enabled an expensive turn table to operate. We are also witnessing the early signs of a consumer boom which eventually followed the post war austerity.

The hostess and her visitor (wearing her hat) are both shown with ridiculously small feet and absurdly high heels.

[summer]

@Mr Magoo

1953: Satirising the idle rich

Anton is having a swipe at the super-rich. The woman has not grasped the progress that has enabled an expensive turn table to operate. We are also witnessing the early signs of a consumer boom which eventually followed the post war austerity.

The hostess and her visitor (wearing her hat) are both shown with ridiculously small feet and absurdly high heels.

Ladies did have tiny feet then though, my mum wore size three shoes…I agree though that lady would topple over on these tiny stilletos

[Mr_Magoo]

1957: Beware of the bull

Looking carefully, we can find the auctioneer dressed in black with a black hat. He isn’t likely to get any bids. Once again, in a Thelwell cartoon - no ponies or little girls in sight.

[Mr_Magoo]

1957: A literal interpretation

Since it is ‘invisible’ we can’t expect to see what the lady shopkeeper is sweeping away. I am not aware of anyone offering to do invisible mending today.

[Mr_Magoo]

1957: Those new-fangled computer thingies

By 1957 I was already working in the computer industry as a programmer. I was well aware of the popular misconceptions about this new phenomenon. The machines tended to be massive because they still used valves which were bulky as well as being unreliable. Transistors changed all that. They were not only small but much more reliable. Nobody in my experience was ever wearing a white coat.