Re: The Pages of Punch

1947: Not so good at understanding children

In the post war era psychologists were widely distrusted. This little scene illustrates this attitude quite nicely.

Re: The Pages of Punch

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.

Re: The Pages of Punch

1946: Industrial art

Another Emmett fantasy. A cooperative art project. More whimsy from the master of whimsy.

Re: The Pages of Punch

1947: Mistaken identity

No words are needed here and Anton isn’t offering any. It is clear who is the real person being wooed.

Re: The Pages of Punch

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.

Re: The Pages of 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.

Re: The Pages of Punch

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.

Re: The Pages of Punch

1955: American interlude

The readers of Punch would no doubt be familiar with American films which were already dominating the cinema screens.

Re: The Pages of Punch

1954: Office World

This scene shows an executive who has not been ‘incentivised’. Otherwise he would not have asked the question.

Re: The Pages of Punch

1946: A rose tinted view

The harassed mother cannot understand why the visitor regards this as an idyllic scene.