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1966: The fear of automation

This cartoon reflects the widespread fear of mass unemployment caused by automation. In the intervening years we have indeed seen many factory manual labour jobs being automated. No one has yet designed an electronic executive.

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1971: Sarcasm at the garage

The dissatisfied customer is in effect criticising the quality of the workmanship at the garage.

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1972: Checking in at the airport

Travelling by air was becoming much more affordable by 1972. This cartoon can’t really be called a joke but is quite amusing in its depiction of innocent travellers.

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1963: She has understood the subtext

It is not only the TV set that has slender feet. Watching TV with excessively high heels?

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1961: Not beyond the fringe

Ronald Searle has produced a caricature of the four famous stars of Beyond the Fringe. He has used the familiar technique of over emphasising the physical characteristics of each member of that group. Dudley Moore is shown as even shorter than he really was. Jonathan Miller is shown even taller with his large nose over-emphasised. Peter Cook’s hair is even woollier than in real life. As for Alan Bennett his face is over long, his glasses are too large and his posture looks even more awkward than in reality.

The subsequent careers of this group went into wholly different directions. Dudley Moore dropped out first. Peter Cook came next. Sir Jonathan Miller soldiers on as a polymath – a qualified medical doctor and a director of operas. But it is Alan Bennett who continues to be a national treasure.

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1968: Partisanship

A specialised unit has been imagined to protect referees who have made unpopular decisions.

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1969: Burying an elephant

Presumably the graveyard has a policy to dig graves to a standard depth. Of course, giraffes would present a bigger problem though naturally they could be buried lying sideways.

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1977: A legal obligation

Here is a bit of ‘fun’. The boa constrictor has just swallowed its owner. The vet now insists on a legal permission to kill the snake, thereby assuming that the owner is still alive. This ‘joke’ presumably comes under the heading of ‘gallows humour.’

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1966: Priority

A bit exaggerated bur there is a strong element of truth here. She carries the ample food for her dog who is carrying her meagre sustenance. Not funny but true.

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1964: A poor attempt at humour

1964 was rather early to attempt humour at a fraught issue that is barely resolved today.