1960: Uses of jam
This scenario looks very odd to me. Portable TV sets in 1960? I don’t remember them and I wonder whether it only existed in the cartoonist’s imagination. I suppose it is meant to be battery powered. It would have had to be a pretty big battery.
1960: The wind of change in 409 AD
The cartoonist imagines that the then current end of colonialism had some similarity with the situation when the Romans left Britain. He was quite wrong.
The Romans left simply because they no longer had the resources to defend this island. They had not taught the Britons to defend themselves. Indeed, the locals had not been allowed to bear arms – in order to prevent a later day Boudicca from rebelling. We don’t know what exactly happened when the legions departed because we have no written records as to what happened after they left. Some records might have been written but, if so, none of them have survived.
1960: Mocking ‘Pure’ Maths
The cartoonist is having fun at the expense of seriously advanced boffins. There is a tendency to mock things that people don’t understand.
1963: Gerald overdoing things
Exuberant Gerald does not suit the speaker who expects a more restrained attitude.
I certainly can’t do this.
1961: The Music Scene
1961 is a bit early in the development of the music scene. It clearly was at the start of its tremendous growth.
1962: The corset industry
The stout customer knows what she really needs. Her absurd shoes and tiny feet show that Anton will not depart from her signature feature. Corsets are now out of fashion and the profession of corsetier is entirely obsolete.
1973: Real Estate
Martin is basking in his wife’s praise.
We can identify the artist Bud Handesman as an American not only because of his name but also because of his use of the term ‘real estate’. His humour is also essentially American.
1961: The retreat from Moscow
Gerald Scarfe treats us with an example of his sardonic take on life. Napoleon has underestimated his Russian foes. Without coming to terms with him they leave him with no option but to make an ignominious retreat short of food and warm clothing. The French soldier on the left is ignoring the suffering experienced by making a crude snowman.
1962: Responsive toes
The snake charmer turns his attention to his own toes.
1961: Heavy Sunday Paper
Here Anton is drawing attention to the plethora of supplements that were then becoming essential to the Sunday papers.
1969: King of the jungle past his prime
This is a problem for two-legged ‘monarchs’ as well as for the four-legged kings of the jungle.
1968: Wearing the right clothes
What Bill Tidy clearly has in mind is the Bolshevik revolution of 1917 when the Winter Palace was stormed. The palaces in question had belonged to the Tsars but now belonged to Kerensky regime that briefly ruled after the downfall of the Romanov dynasty. They no longer acted as palaces but the names stuck.
1961: School architecture
Taking a break from small girls and ponies Thelwell conjures up a drawback in modern school architecture. The glass walls enable nine different classes to witness the late arrival of a small boy. The clock on the wall shows us (and the late-comer) exactly how late he is.
1979: Desperate salesman
You would need to be truly gullible to accept this line of reasoning.
1963: The Profumo Affair
In 1963 the media were obsessed with the Profumo Affair. Christine Keeler was the model said to have slept both with the Cabinet Minister in charge of the army and with a Russian envoy. Anton here is presenting a situation where all the men are staying away from the attractive young women in case their careers will also be ruined.
Tiny feet for everyone!
1963: Punch v. Modern Art
A frequent theme in the pages of Punch is the disparagement of modern art.
1963: Down with accountants!
Cynicism about financial matters is not unusual in these cartoons.
1963: A popular myth
With the discovery of Tutankhamun’s grave stories were frequently told of a curse on anyone who opened up the grave. No curses have ever been found on inscriptions in the Egyptian tombs.
1964: Intellectual property
This is quite an unusual Punch cartoon. The white coated scientist has an idea and the avaricious business man, known as JBC, instantly steals it. There is a strong political agenda at work here. Such ‘thefts’ do occur but never as crudely as shown here. There are also some quite honourable examples of co-operation between scientists and commercial companies.
1963: ‘Progressive’ Education
Lampooning progressive education was a frequent theme in Punch. We note that the teacher is wearing sandals.
