Punch 1921

My grandfather was given this book called Punch 1921. It is a collection of articles and illustrations from Punch, or the London Charivari from July - December 1921.

Punch, or the London Charivari was a British weekly magazine of humor and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and Ebenezer Landells. It was most influential in the 1840s and 50s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration. It became a British institution, but after the 1940s, when its circulation peaked, it went into a long decline, finally closing in 1992. 

All the illustrations have captions and some are funny and some are very political. I may not know the specific historic context very well, but these illustrations are clever and give me a great deal of information. Indeed I read the pictures. The illustrators really knew their craft and they understood how to use visual metaphor to communicate in an effective way their readers.

I really think the illustrations in this book show the issues that effected Britain in 1921and they are also relevant to us in modern Britain.

I really like crosshatching and this book is full of skilful illustrations using just line. They range from delicate vertical lines to bold graphic crosshatching, depending on the message. I have gained a lot from this book and it has really stoked my passion for crosshatching.

I particularly like this one. Fitting for today's budget I think!

This too has relevance to today's climate

I really like the way words are used in the hatching.

 

A good example of how women's confidence was growing.