Re: The Pages of Punch

1918: Who is exuding confidence?

The Voluntary Aid Detachment provided basic care in support of trained nurses. They tended to come from upper middle class families. The cartoon tramp clearly feels outclassed. Many well-known women had served in the VAD. Vera Britain was the most famous. It was she who wrote that famous W.W.1 book Testament of Youth.

Various other years have contained burglary jokes but for 1918 there have not been any. This is the sole instance of a tramp joke.

During World War Two some jokers used to say that V.A.D stood for 'victims always die'. I am sure that it was said with a twinkle of the eye.

Re: The Pages of Punch

1918: Still obsessed with food

Peter is trying to understand what is happening in his world. He has been taught to pray. He wrestles with the morality of praying for peace when he is really interested in eating an apple.

Not long to wait now, Peter.

Re: The Pages of Punch

Yes, whether or not they pray for it to end, I'm sure most people don't like war.

My dad used to say, it is politicians who cause war, and I believe he was right.

Re: The Pages of Punch

1918: The ‘poor’ are rich

Again the issue is that a factory worker has more disposal income than a middle class woman customer at the fishmonger’s. £14 takes some getting though. Does he really intend to spend it all? This seems unlikely though the readers of Punch might well have wanted to think so. After the peace things would soon return to ‘normal’.

Re: The Pages of Punch

1918: Newly Arrived Landworker

She closely identifies with the horse. The farmer doesn’t expect a horse to be sensitive. If anything, it is the young woman who is sensitive.

Re: The Pages of Punch

1918: An unlikely event

State of the art submarines in 1918 would hardly be a suitable place for Grandma to visit however brief the stay. I would imagine that the point of the joke is that Grandma thinks that you need to hold your breath all the time that the sub is under water. That wouldn’t work, would it?

Re: The Pages of Punch

1918: Inflation Again

She hasn’t got the hang of this inflation thing.

Re: The Pages of Punch

1918: Wearing her heart on her sleeve

The meaning is quite clear. Has the Canadian soldier been a war casualty or has he (or she) just moved on? Is the kangaroo the best symbol for Australia? The Australian flag features the Southern Cross – a constellation only seen from south of the Equator.

Re: The Pages of Punch

1918: Dry Wit

It was a silly question truly deserving the gentle ‘put down’ administered by the soldier.

Re: The Pages of Punch

1918: A sensible question

Wartime rationing has been a consistent theme in 1918. Mabel understands the issue. How much ham to balance against the egg? Weighing up the balance seems quite bizarre to us but this cartoon suggests that this was quite normal at the time. The persons present in the cartoon are all upper middle class yet they need to make calculations like this. That, of course, is the point of rationing.