Farewell Ronald Searle

Cartoonist Ronald Searle has died at the age of 91. There have been many tributes and so this blog can do no better than point readers to some of these via Matt's Ronald Searle blog.

My condolences to Ronald Searle's family and friends. The photograph is copyright Rex Features and is borrowed from The Daily Telegraph's obituary.

Sprod (1919-2003)

Sprod, Punch, 11th May 1960

Sprod was George Napier Sprod, an Australian writer and illustrator who was probably best known for his cartoons in Punch magazine. He served with the Australian Artillery during WW2 and like fellow cartoonist Ronald Searle, was a prisoner of the Japanese, spending three and a half years on the Burma-Siam Railway and in Changi jail in Singapore. George and Ronald Seale met each other in Changi jail and with others, produced a fortnightly prison magazine called The Exile.


Sprod, Punch, 26th November 1958


Sprod, Punch, 27th November 1957


Sprod, Punch, 25th December 1957


Sprod, Punch, 7th January 1959

Mervyn Wilson (1905-1959)

Mervyn Wilson, Punch, 9th January 1959

William Augustus Sillince (1906-1974)

William Augustus Sillince, Punch, 23rd September 1959

Bruce Petty

Bruce Petty, Punch, 31st July 1957

According to Wikipedia, Bruce Petty is one of Australia's best known political satirists and cartoonists. Read the full Wikipedia biography here.

James Broom-Lynne (1916-1995)

James Broom-Lynne, Punch, 4th February 1959

James Broom-Lynne, artist, illustrator and writer. Click HERE for more.

Michael Ffolkes (1925-1988)

Michael Ffolkes, Punch, 18th November 1959


Michael Ffolkes, Punch, 13th August 1958
Spot the signature!


Michael Ffolkes, Punch, 27th January 1960


Michael Ffolkes, Punch, 17th July 1957


Michael Ffolkes, Punch, 21st May 1958

Andre Francois - Pt 2

Three more Andre Francois Punch covers HERE.

William Hewison - Pt 2

I've added five more cartoons to the blog entry dedicated to the cartoons of William Hewison. Click on the link.

Jean-Michel Folon (1934-2005)

Folon, Punch, 18th December 1957

Born in Brussels, Jean-Michel Folon was an artist of diverse talent, seemingly equally happy working with pens, paint and brushes as he was sculping with wood, clay, plaster, bronze and marble. He was widely published during his lifetime.

See also: Waterloo, Napoleon, Folon, a bike and cartoon books.

Norman Mansbridge (1911-1993)

Norman Mansbridge, Punch, 22nd May 1957

I've always liked this cartoon and in fact it was framed on my wall for many years. I like the detail: the trees sprouting new leaves, the electric cables running along the edge of the track, suburbia in the distance and the pinstriped and bowler-hatted commuters lining the platfrom with their sullen expressions and broadsheets on, presumably, a late winter or early spring morning. As a rail commuter myself, I also know that whilst bowler hats and pinstripes are as rare these days as male-only passengers, the habit of picking the same spot on the platform edge each morning is one that has certainly endured. The gap in the crowd in this cartoon may have been filled by Mr Punch or maybe just another fellow commuter. Either way, it's a lovely image in my book.

Smilby (1927-2009)

Smilby, Punch, 24th July 1957

Smilby was Francis Wilford-Smith, a prolific Punch and Playboy cartoonist and also a leading authority on blues and gospel music.


Inside front Smilby cover: National Benzole


Smilby, Punch, 26th March 1958


Inside front Smilby cover: Tootal socks


Smilby, Punch, 30th September 1959


Inside front Smilby cover: Benson & Hedges Super Virginia



Smilby, Punch, 7th October 1959
The 1959 General Election, held the day after this particular Punch edition was published, was won by The Conservative Party under the leadership of Harold Macmillan. Hugh Gaitskell for the Labour Party and Jo Grimond for the Liberal Party were the unlucky runners-up. Mr Punch's opinion of all three is noted.

Cartoonist Index

You'll find cartoon artwork from the following cartoonists on this Punch cartoon blog. Illustration above, courtesy of Smilby, Punch, 10th April 1957.

Andre Francois (below)


Bruce Petty

Eric Burgin

Fougasse

George Adamson

James Broom-Lynne

Jean-Michel Folon

Kenneth Mahood

Maurice Bartlett

Mervyn Wilson

Michael Ffolkes


Norman Mansbridge

Norman Thelwell

Quentin Blake

Ronald Searle

Rowland Emett

Russell Brockbank

Sillince

Smilby

Sprod
Timothy Birdsall

William Hewison (below)


William Scully

Timothy Birdsall (1936-1963)

Timothy Birdsall, Punch, 25th November 1959



This was the advert carried on the this particular inside front cover of Punch: Senior Service cigarettes - 50 for less than 50 pence in today's money. Today, if they were still manufactured, I suppose they'd cost you about fifteen pounds.

Fougasse (1887-1965)

Fougasse, Punch, 27th February 1957.
Fougasse (real name, Cyril Kenneth Bird) was both a Punch cartoonist and later its art editor. We can only guess what his audience here was watching. The 1957 version of Lark Rise to Candelford perhaps?

During the First World War, Fougasse served with the Royal Engineers as Lieutenant Cyril Kenneth Bird. The obverse and reverse of his medal index card (below) show that he arrived overseas on the 13th November 1915 and was entitled to the 1914-15 Star and British War and Victory Medals which he applied for in 1920. (Officers had to apply for medals whereas those for Other Ranks were automatically sent). Fougasse was also entitled to wear the Silver War Badge and this was sent to him at Morar Lodge, Morar, Inverness-shire.





There appears to be a surviving service record at The National Archives, reference WO 339/29686.

Frederick Rowland Emett (1906-1990)

Rowland Emett, Punch, 6th November 1957.
This cartoon almost certainly references the launch into space of the Russian satellite Sputnik on the 4th October 1957, the first man-made object to leave the earth's atmosphere. Mr Punch, as the man in the moon, looks on disapprovingly and wonders how many more will follow.

Maurice Bartlett

Maurice Bartlett, Punch, 10th December 1958


Maurice Bartlett, Punch, 26th June 1957.
Mr Punch umpires at Wimbledon. In 1957 Lew Hoad defeated Ashley Cooper in the men's final whilst Althea Gibson defeated Darlene Hard in the women's singles.


Maurice Bartlett, Punch, 1st May 1957

William Hewison

William Hewison, Punch, 19th June 1957


William Hewison, Punch, 4th November 1959


William Hewison, Punch, 16th December 1959


William Hewison, Punch, 30th December 1959
There's an element of applied Photoshop on this scan as the original cover is very tatty indeed. Beautiful colours here though, as Mr Punch ushers in the 1960s.


William Hewison, Punch, 8th October 1958


William Hewison, Punch, 28th May 1958


William Hewison, Punch, 3rd April 1957


William Hewison, Punch, 4th June 1958.
England welcomed visitors New Zealand and the first test was played at Edgbaston on the 5th June 1958. Although Mr Punch's wicket fell early on, England won the match by 205 runs, batsman Peter Richardson (Wisden cricketer of the year in 1957) scoring a century in England's second innings.


William Hewison, Punch, 6th May 1959


William Hewison, Punch, 3rd November 1958


William Hewison, Punch, 11th December 1957