12-06-2017, 09:43 AM
1091
Re: The Pages of Punch
1918: Recycling a Catch Phrase
During World War Two I remember people saying ‘don’t you know that there’s a war on’ to excuse shortages and inefficiency. From this cartoon I assume that that was also the case in the earlier war. The artist here is pointing out that even without a war these things will still happen.
I wonder why it is all portrayed in France. Perhaps the artist had just returned from a post war visit to France. Possibly it shows anti French prejudice that can now express itself since France was no longer an ally in the war.
14-06-2017, 08:54 AM
1093
Re: The Pages of Punch
1918: Welcome to the President of the United States
The President, Woodrow Wilson, arrived in readiness for the Paris Peace Conference. He had issued a document containing fourteen points. This was welcomed as a noble manifesto which was intended to achieve a just and lasting peace. The lady welcoming the President is Marianne the symbol of France in the same way that John Bull was the symbol of Britain.
Like the current incumbent of that mighty office Wilson was to find that American policy was not entirely in his gift. His pet project was the establishment of the League of Nations which would ensure that meaningful discussions would replace war. The League came into being but the United States did not become a member because Congress refused to ratify American entry.
15-06-2017, 09:43 AM
1094
Re: The Pages of Punch
1918: Votes (and membership of Parliament) for women
Once the war was over a General Election was held. For the first time women were now able to vote and to be candidates for election. At the time this was limited to women aged 30 and above. Complete equality was not achieved until ten years later.
In this cartoon a voter reacts to the-would-be MP in a patronising way. Does he really think that the election is about beer and tobacco? She probably has a better grasp of the issues than he does.
16-06-2017, 09:43 AM
1095
Re: The Pages of Punch
1918: The General Election
As always profiteers are again the butt of Punch humour. This profiteer’s idea of canvassing is to bribe the voters. Banknotes were called Bradurys after the name of the company that printed them. The cartoon shows the candidate as unable to understand the democratic process.
20-06-2017, 09:29 AM
1100
Re: The Pages of Punch
1918: Explaining the election result
This was a time when most readers of Punch could be expected to know their Latin or, failing that, pretend to know it. Nowadays we tend to talk of three party politics. At the time this was new a development.
Since Victorian times the political landscape, excluding Ireland, had consisted of Conservatives and Liberals. Now a third party, the Independent Labour Party, was emerging as a force to be reckoned with. The Latin tag literally meant ‘the third thing’. It was used to explain any situation in which a third element had come into the discussion. The man on the left has not understood what the man on the right is saying. He merely meant that Jones would normally have won but now Robinson has attracted enough of Jones’ votes to enable Brown to win. I would guess that Robinson is the Labour Party upstart who has taken enough votes from the Liberal Jones enabling the Conservative Brown to be elected.
The Punch readers who understood the Latin quip would be laughing at the expense of the man on the left.
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