Re: The Pages of Punch

1938: Celebrity

This seems to be a highly unlikely scenario. The mass fascination with film starts is not at all unlikely. Perhaps the point of this little picture is to poke fun at this phenomenon.

Re: The Pages of Punch

1925: Deliberate misunderstanding

The shop assistant is trying to find a diplomatic way of saying ‘you can’t have it until you settle your outstanding debts’. The ’shopper’ take his words to mean that they can’t add up. The assistant is going have to flag this up so that a more senior person can nail this posh cheapskate.

Re: The Pages of Punch

1925: A Caledonian issue

I can easily imagine such a conversation actually taking place.

However, I am pedantically amazed at the use of the word ‘scotch’. It is now many years since it was dinned into me that the inhabitants of Scotland were Scot in the singular and Scots in the plural. On the other hand when referring to that country’s whisky the word ‘scotch’ is not just permitted. It becomes mandatory.

Re: The Pages of Punch

1924: Reckless driver

The lure of driving a fast car is not new.

Re: The Pages of Punch

1925: Contempt for other people

Why is he buying this car? To show how much richer he is than the hoi polloi that litter the roads. He really wants to rub this to all the people that he despises.

Re: The Pages of Punch

1925: The must see show

Every-one is talking about it. They are so desperate to see it.

The man is wearing the Oxford trousers that we saw a few days ago.

Re: The Pages of Punch

1925: Earthquake

No doubt this monument has been put up as a memorial to those local men who had been killed during World War One. These memorials are still largely intact as a permanent reminder of the huge numbers who lost their lives during that great misfortune.

Re: The Pages of Punch

1925: Being precious

Such people are always around although these days the internet offers an outlet since in the wide world there will always be people who are just as precious as this speaker.

Re: The Pages of Punch

1925: Overegging the pudding

I don’t suppose that she would understand the implied rebuke.

Re: The Pages of Punch

1925: Dancing with Army Officers

I wish I could understand this cartoon. It feels to me like a coded message where I don’t have access to the key. I think that I can understand some of it. Even that might be wrong but I have no theory at all about the rest of it.

I suppose the general meaning could be that this young woman is thinking about a potential husband while dancing with successively more senior (and older) officers.

I feel fairly confident about the fourth image when she is dancing with the colonel. Although he is quite spry he is obviously too old for him to marry her. On the contrary he seems like a favourite uncle and she feels secure in his company.

The first image is not so clear to me but at least I have a theory to account for it. They look very shy as they dance together. Without a doubt at his age he is the only appropriate man for her to marry. But a lieutenant’s pay is too low for matrimony. Indeed in many regiments they were not allowed to marry.

As for the captain and the major I feel far from certain. They neither of them look suitable for this young lady. The dancing looks quite vigorous. Is this a metaphor for what would ensue in the marriage bed? How do we distinguish between the two from the way that they dance?

Any suggestions?