DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY School of - DORAS

DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY
School of Communications
'ONE HUNDRED LAUGHS FOR ONE HALFPENNY':
Early British Comics and the
Investigation of Popular Culture, c.1890 - c .1902
A Thesis submitted to Dublin City University
in candidacy for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Marcus Free
January 1990
DECLARATION
I, Marcus Free, being a candidate for the
degree of Doctor of Philosophy as awarded by
Dublin City University, declare that while
registered
as a candidate for the above
degree I have not been a registered candidate
for an award of another University.
Secondly, that none of the material contained
in this thesis has been used in any other
submission for any other award.
Further,
that the contents of this thesis are the sole
work of the author except where an
acknowledgement has been made for assistance
received.
Date
Signed
Marcus Free
Date
Signed
Professor Farrel Corcoran
Head - School of Communications
Dublin City University
Date
Signed
Professor James Curran
Goldsmith's College
University of London
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank the following people,
without whose advice, encouragement, patience and
practical assistance this work would have been
impossible.
My supervisors, Dr. Desmond Bell and
Professor Farrel Corcoran.
Fellow postgraduates Niall Meehan, Tanya Kiang,
Pat Campion, Raymond Boyle, Jean O' Halloran, Celia
Keenaghan, Meldy Pelejo and Enda Scott for a
combination of critical feedback, typing, proof­
reading, empathy and lunchtime company through the
smog-bound winters.
John Fleming for his typing and punctuational
corrections.
The staff of the School of Communications and the
library staff at Dublin City University, especially Ann
Rafter for the inter-library loan service.
Kevin Carpenter and the staff of the library
at the University of Oldenburg, at which I
conducted most of my primary research.
The Grap family, and in particular Frau Grap,
whose generosity and good humour kept me going
through the many long weeks in the "ra-ra raum" .
Finally, my parents for their endless patience
and support.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Abbreviations
List of Figures
Introduction
Chapter 1 ...
Tradition, History and the Comics
- Notes
Part One
Chapter 2 ...
Theory and Popular Culture: a Problem of Périodisation
- Notes
Chapter 3 ...
Culture and Class In Victorian Britain
- Notes
Part Two
Chapter 4 ...
The Origins of the Comics: The Victorian Periodical
Press
- Notes
Chapter 5 ...
Towards a 'Mass' Entertainment: Ally Sloper's
Half-Holiday
- Notes
Chapter 6 ...
Ally Sloper and the 'New' Democracy
- Notes
169
Part Three
Chapter Seven ...
Harmsworth's Arrival: 'Scissors and Paste1 and
'Good Taste'
- Notes
170
193
Chapter Eight ...
Rereading the Comics, Part I: Condescension, Cartoons
and Competitions
- Notes
196
243
Chapter Nine ...
Rereading the Comics, Part II: Fictional and
Non-Fictional Narratives
- Notes
Part Four
248
268
270
Chapter Ten...
The Emergence of the Comic Strip: Chubblock Homes
to the 'World Famous Tramps'
- Notes
271
294
Chapter Eleven ...
The Quixotic Travels of Weary Willy and Tired Tim:
the Ideology of the Tramp
- Notes
296
324
Chapter Twelve ...
Towards the Modern Comic Strip:
the 'Happy Hooligan'
- Notes
'Neglected Jim' and
Conclusions
326
359
361
Chapter Thirteen ...
Comics and Contemporary Culture: Populism and the
'Popular'
- Notes
Bibliography
362
373
374
Section I: Primary Sources Cited
374
Section II: Secondary Sources
380
List of Abbreviations Used in the Text
Ally Sloper's Half-Holiday
Comic Cuts
.............. ..........
Illustrated Chips
Funny Wonder
Big Budget
........
ASHH
CC
.................
IC
......................
FW
........................
BB
List of Figures
Page
Figure
4.1
5.1
5.2
6.1
6.2
7.1
7.2
7.3
'Tom and Jerry "Masquerading it" among the Cadgers in
the "Back Slums" in the Holy Land'
(from Pierce Egan and George Cruikshank (1821),
Life in London - reproduced from Louis James (1976)
English Popular Literature 1819-1851, p.147)
111
'The "Unprofessional Vagabond"' (from Judy,
2 July 1873, p. 112 - reproduced in David Kunzle,
'The First Ally Sloper: The Earliest Popular Cartoon
Character as a Satire on the Victorian Work Ethic',
Oxford Art Journal Vol. 8, no.l, 1985)
135
'The First Favourite Everywhere' (from ASHH
(date unknown) * reproduced in Peter Bailey,
'Ally Sloper's Half-Holiday: Comic Art in the 1880s',
History Workshop 16, 1983)
136
'Sloper's Christmas Appeal'
1889)
158
(from ASHH, No. 294,
'A. Sloper Tackles the Strikers' (from ASHH
No. 284, 1889)
159
'Portrait of the Editor of "Comic Cuts"'
(from CC 57, p.2, 1891)
186
'Mr. Chips's Little Game'
(from IC 27, p.l, 1891)
186
'Ally Made a Freemason' (from ASHH, No. 207, 1889)
187
7.4
'Mr. Chips's Adventures'
8.1
Comic Cuts 119,
p.l, 1892
204
8.2
Comic Cuts 119,
p.2, 1892
205
8.3
Comic Cuts 119,
p.3, 1892
206
8.4
Comic Cuts 119,
p.4, 1892
207
8.5
Comic Cuts 119,
p.5, 1892
208
8.6
Comic Cuts 119,
p.6, 1892
209
8.7
Comic Cuts 119,
p.7, 1892
210
8.8
Comic Cuts 119,
p.8, 1892
211
8.9
(from IC 35,p.l, 1891)
'He wanted to make an "impwession"' (from IC 70,
p.2, 1892)
8.10 'Through the seaside window'
1891)
188
212
(from CC 54, p.2,
8.11 'Hirsute adornments extraordinary,'
p.l, 1891)
212
(from CC 54,
212
8.12 'An optical error' (from CC 53, p.4, 1891)
'Behind and before' (from CC 53, p.4, 1891)
213
8.13 'Who they thought they would marry and the
specimens they got' (from CC 18, p.8, 1890)
213
8.14 'The "Patent Safety" Burglar Ejector'
(from CC 53, p.l, 1891)
214
8.15 'Some puzzles of the seaside' (from CC 16,
p.8, 1890)
215
8.16 'A quiet drive by the sea' (from 'Mr. Punch
at the seaside' (no date)) - reproduced in John
K. Walton (1983), The English Seaside Resort:
A Social History 1750-1914, p.204
215
8.17 ''Oof gatherers at Margate' (from ASHH No. 269,
1889)
216
8.18
217
'After the Regatta'
(from CC 23, p.4,
1890)
8.19 'Blouses and Bloomers - A case of general utility'
(from CC 259, p.l, 1895)
217
8.20 'The spinning wheel' (from FW 187, p.4, 1896)
217
8.21 'Keeping up with the procession' (from IC 49,
p.5, 1891)
'Profitable athletics' (from IC 49, p.5, 1891)
218
8.22 'Real portrait of the editor of "Comic Cuts" at last'
(from CC 16, p.8, 1890)
218
8.23
'Got a bite' (from IC 10, p.4, 1890)
218
9.1
'A Sad Mishap' (from ASHH No. 234, 1898)
260
10.1 'Innocents on the River' (from 1C 298, p.l, 1896)
276
10.2 'Adventures of Chubblock Homes and Shirk the Dog
Detective' (from FW 219, p.l, 1897)
277
10.3 'Adventures of Chubblock Homes and Shirk on the scent
of Babez Jalfour' (from CC 256, p.5, 1895)
278
10.4 'Ephriam Broadbeamer, smuggler, pirate and other
things' (from FW 284, p.4, 1898)
278
10.5
279
10.6
'Hiram B. Boss' (from FW 259, p.1898)
'A shock from a telegraph
p.8, 1895)
pole' (fromCC 256,
10.7 'Mr. Comic Cuts' new office-desk'
p.l, 1895)
280
(from CC 282,
280
11.1 'Weary Willy and Tired Tim have a lively time at Tudor
Street' (from IC 396, p.l, 1898)
300
11.2 'A wild night's adventure with Spring-Heeled Jack'
(from IC 471, p.l, 1899)
301
11.3 'The adventures of the Wandering Knight Don Quixote
de Tintogs and Sancho his pal' (from CC 442,
p.8, 1898)
302
11.4 'Remember Majuba' (from FW 35, p.l, 1899)
303
11.5 'The noble army of weary unwashed wanderers
spifflicate the Boer Army' (from IC 486, p.l,
1899)
304
11.6 'How Pretoria was captured by Weary Willy and
Tired Tim' (from IC 503, p.l, 1900)
305-6
12.1 'Editorial Chat' (from CC 659, p.6, 1902)
332
12.2 'The Mackabeentosh family compete in a great walking
contest' (from CC 686, p.l, 1903)
333
12.3 'Jim tries to stop a motor-car and gets a very
nasty jar!' (from CC 714, p.l, 1904)
334
12.4 'The private diary of the Mackabeentosh family, Neglected Jim's great idea' (from CC 702, p.l,
1903)
335
12.5 'Bat-eared Bill and Mooching Mike start a cat's
meat round' (from The World's Comic, No. 295, p.l
1898)
336
12.6 'The Adventures in Australia of Happy Ikey Hoogan and
his brother Gloomy Gus' (from BB 322, pp. 164-65,
1903)
337
12.7 'Hans und Fritz' ((no date) - from George Perry and
Alan Aldridge (1971), The Penguin Book of Comics,
pp. 98-99)
338
12.8 'Tommy Tootle and Billy Bootle at it again'
(from CC 315, p.5, 1896)
339
12.9 'Happy Ike introduces his nephews to the Bunsey Boys'
(from The Jester and Wonder 82, p.l, 1903)
340
12.10 'Neglected Jim tumbles up against the amazing luck
of Lucky Lucas' (from CC 728, p.l, 1904)
341
12.11 'Lucky Lucas saves Neglected Jim from being monkeyised'
342
(from CC 737, p.l, 1904)
12.12 'Lucky Lucas and Happy Harry are painted and pained
this week' (from CC 766, p.8, 1905)
343
INTRODUCTION
2
CHAPTER ONE
TRADITION, HISTORY AND THE COMICS
I
Exploring Comicology
'Comics' [1] are becoming an increasingly complicated phenomenon.
Though normally associated in Britain with juvenile diversion, in
both Britain and the US they appear to be undergoing a
significant transformation.
The American comics industry has long straddled the worlds
of children's and adult reading.
Increasingly now, the industry
revolves intentionally around a mature, adult readership, and the
product itself is characterised by greater sophistication.
One
recent development, for example, has involved the resurrection of
the superheroes of the '40s and '50s in a critical, questioning
way.
The latent undercurrents to the caped crusaders, the
authoritarian obsessions with eliminating criminality and
deviance are made overt in Moore's and Gibbons's Watchmen and
Frank Miller's revamped Batman, the Dark Knight. Moreover, the
'fanzines' and reviews like the excellent Comics Journal combine
the enthusiasm of the fan with an incisive critical analysis of
the current state and historical evolution of the industry.
Artists and writers are exalted.
artwork are valuable commodities.
First issues and original
Reprints abound.
The
3
'popular' has been unproblematically elevated to literary and art
form combined, and dealt with as a respectable and complex
phenomenon worthy of appreciation.
In both the product itself
and in these related enterprises the American industry feeds off
its own history and progenitors with a voracious appetite.
But
the process is not merely reproductive, it is both creative and
critical.
The state and status of the British comic are undergoing
similarly radical changes.
The industry has for some time been
dominated by two publishers, IPC Magazines and D.C. Thomson.
Until recently their output was ranged across four categories
that were basically established in the 1950s.
Titles for
youngest readers, up to the age of about six, consisted largely
of strips populated by upright, anthropomorphic furry animals
with descriptive paragraphs, including dialogue, below each
frame.
These, it seems, were to be read to the children.
For
seven to twelve year olds, the titles were dominated by manic
figures in relentless pursuit of amusement, gifted with balloonenclosed speech, and a penchant for outrageous visual and verbal
puns.
For roughly nine to fourteen year olds, there were
specifically boys' or girls' comics.
The boys' comics consisted
largely of war and sports strips, while the girls' comics showed
a predominance of school stories, revolving around the
psychological complexities of alliances and rivalries among the
girls.
While these categories still exist, there have been several
important new additions.
IPC's 2000AD (1977-), ostensibly a
4
boys' science fiction comic, has consistently managed to smuggle
in some very sharp satirical potshots at contemporary British
society and has long maintained a cult status with a large adult
following.
2000AD editor Steve McManus and writer Pat Mills have
actually gone on to promote overtly leftist political ideas
through the comic strip in IPC's fortnightly Crisis (1988-).
Viz, another new arrival, scores from the novelty of a
bombardment of male adolescent jokes, conveyed in the visual and
narrative styles of the various genres of children's comic and
teenage girls' magazines. These are significant developments in
an industry formerly characterised by an apparent stagnation in
every respect.
A recent Channel 4 documentary on new
developments in the British and American industries called itself
'The Day Comics Grew Up'.
It described the phenomenon as 'a
revolution ... by writers and artists themselves.
themes have brought more mature readers.
More mature
Comics, in every sense,
are growing up' [2].
In an earlier project [3], I tried to establish the roots of the
current developments in the British comic industry, and this led
to what I deemed to be a fundamental transformation in the
industry in the mid-1970s, manifested by the appearance of three
new titles: Battle (1975, now Battle Action Force) , Action (19761977) and 2000AD (1977-).
It appeared to me that there was a
certain progression in these titles away from the classic boys'
comic formulae.
Battle introduced elements of cowardice and
sadism to its war stories.
Action's heroes included a shark,
'Hookjaw', which unlike Spielberg's ultimately disappointing
rubber villain in Jaws, is dedicated to ridding the oceans of
5
their human, ecological threats; a British secret agent, Dredger,
who is the quintessential sadistic bastard; and apprentice footballer
Lefty, a cynical, hard-nosed contortion of the classic formula of
working-class kid made good by limitless hard grafting.
2000AD
developed into the often covert, disguised satirical weekly it is
now.
The same artists, writers and editors who originated these
titles progressed to the current developments in both the British
and American comic.
Most noticeably, Alan Moore and Dave
Gibbons, former collaborators on 2000AD, were to become the
creators of Watchmen.
It seems to me that the essential elements in these new
titles in both the US and Britain were the reappraisal of the
classic formulaic modes of the comics in ways which question the
constancy of their 'ideological' representations or
'stereotypes', and the manipulation of the classic scenarios to
generate alternative readings.
The outstanding figure in this
regard is the cult character Judge Dredd, the star of 2000AD and
various reprint versions of his adventures in Britain and the US.
A masked, authoritarian bastion of 'justice' who regularly
indulges in seemingly arbitrary sentencing to the 'iso-cubes' for
minor offences, Dredd can be seen in one sense as an updated
Judge Roy Bean cum Dirty Harry with traces of the fascist
superhero.
But his alienating, futuristic world, mastered by
obssessive 'judges' dedicated to the surveillance of the citizens
is actually a thinly disguised Britain in the '80s.
His cynical
observations on the insanity of post-industrial 'Mega City One'
and the horrors of the aftermath of nuclear war in 'The Cursed
6
Earth' double as satirical swipes at a contemporary police state
in the making, and at the inanity of much contemporary cultural
production in Thatcher's Britain.
Who exactly Judge Dredd is
supposed to be is a difficult question to answer, because there
is little consistency to his character.
He is at once a pillar
of a rigid social order and the populist enemy of corporate and
government corruption.
He embodies all sorts of levels of
meaning which can facilitate any number of readings, and in these
multiple roles he questions the constancy of the generations of
comic heroic characters that he draws upon.
What these new comic
titles were suggesting was that 'stereotypes' are by no means
unitary or inviolate entities.
The natural trajectory of that first project was to try to
pull outwards from an empirical analysis of what was happening in
the comics, to explore how exactly this transformation came
about.
In order to do this, it was necessary to pose some
initial questions.
Firstly, there were the problems of
establishing how and why the comics developed as rigidly
formulaic products; and of how these formulae related to the
maintenance of power in a class dominated society.
Could these
formulae be read as containing inherent, unchanging meanings
which to a large extent legitimated existing social relations by
perpetuating an outdated imperialist ideology or stereotypical
sex roles?
For help in this regard, I sought support from
existing critical studies.
This led inevitably to the single
most influential work in critical approaches to British comics,
George Orwell's famous 1940 essay, 'Boys' Weeklies'
[4],
I
found, however, that this article and those works which have been
7
influenced by it were of little use in solving this problem.
A
brief review of such works will reveal the difficulties I had
with them.
History and continuity in the comics: analytical difficulties
'Boys' Weeklies' was a caustic review of the sexual hangups and
the class and racial prejudices in cheap public school oriented
periodical fiction.
'comics'.
The 'boys' weeklies' of the 1930s were not
They did not contain pictorial sequences, but
consisted mostly of one or more fictional, usually non-serialised
narratives with occasional illustrations.
Orwell's essay is
important, however, for his conclusions and method have
significantly affected subsequent work on comics.
Orwell concentrated his analysis on Frank Richards' St.
Jim's and Greyfriars stories in the Gem (1907-1940) and the
Magnet (1908-1940).
He concluded that these stories inculcated a
petty bourgeois world view, pitched firmly in support of the
imperialist fervour of 1910.
world uneroded by time.
It was a public school fantasy-
He argued that the stories abstracted
themselves from any current social and historical reality, and
were written in an easily imitated, tiresome and repetitive style
- he believed, erroneously in fact, that the 'author' Frank
Richards, was a pseudonym for a team of writers working to
formula.
Recreating the atmosphere of the stories, Orwell begins
as he concludes, stressing the complete absence of any temporal
reference framework:
8
'The year is 1910 - or 1940, but it is all the same ...
Everything will be the same for ever and ever1 [5].
As for the ideological contents, racial prejudice is an implicit
undercurrent, sex is taboo, and the working classes 'only
enter ... as comics or semi-villains (race-course touts etc.)'
[6],
The appeal of the stories is put down to a combination of
encouragement to wealth and status-fantasy (reflecting the
particular association of education with class unique to
England), and of reader identification with one or other of the
characters:
'there is a model for very nearly everybody'
[7].
Orwell argues that the boys' weeklies have a sort of selfcontained, self-referential quality through which they have
somehow perpetuated the prejudices of the social elite from their
inception. Yet how exactly their production relates to the
social-structural or institutional perpetuation of
disadvantage is uninvestigated.
And there is no explanation
as to how or why they survived undeveloped, despite their
anachronisms, for over thirty years.
Orwell ironically
reinforces the ahistorical world which he claimed the papers
created for themselves by abstracting them from any real
historical context, and by ignoring the possibility of
alternative readings.
It seems to me that Orwell's principal assumption in 'Boys'
Weeklies' is that what makes them so effective is their
predominantly juvenile readership.
Ultimately, Orwell's
revelation of what appears a fairly crude set of messages is
legitimated by an insistence on effect. It is evident that
he assumes both that the papers themselves worked consistently in
9
the same way and that their reception was unidimensional,
regardless of the spatial and temporal context.
In the latter regard, one aspect of Orwell's essay that is
overlooked is the fact that these papers were among the first
casualties of the wartime paper shortage and this suggests that
their circulations were by then some way below their peak of
about 200,000 in the '20s [8].
Orwell does examine those papers
which were superceding the Gem and Magnet, but he assumes the
enduring popularity of these weeklies at something close to their
circulation peak.
This abstracts them from the need to
investigate changing 'popular taste' and its relation to changing
social conditions.
Most existing studies approach their subjects from a nonacademic, journalistic angle and either apologise for the
quirkiness of the topic or are characterised by an undisguised
repugnance to the comics from the outset.
Many of them preface
their remarks with a reference to Orwell [9].
This establishes
both a continuity between his boys' weeklies and the comics and,
by extension, the legitimacy of their own analyses by situating
them among celebrated company.
As for the analyses themselves,
they tend to be vulgarisations of the basic tenets of 'Boys'
Weeklies'.
To cover these works in detail would be a tedious
exercise, given their predictability.
A brief overview will
hopefully capture their flavour.
Working on one or more of the dimensions of representations
of violence, class or race such studies generally open with bold
assertions or rhetorical questions:
10
'Can comics join the multi-racial society?'
'Boys' Comics: Violence Rules'
[10]
[11]
'War-like children's toys and American horror-comics
encourage militarism and distort history' [12]
In addition, there are a number of articles on romantic fantasy
in teenage magazines for girls.
These, too, are generally
condemnatory.
'The magazines preach a stultifying message expressed
in excruciating style. It is not snobbish or middle
class to believe impressionable girls deserve better' [13]
It is not reductive to group these studies, because there is a
fundamental tendency to defend the taking of comics seriously on
the grounds of their effects.
The defence is generally in more
overt language than Orwell would use:
'... naturally they are affected by the contents ...
The younger the children, the faster they learn.
That's what makes comics so important'. [14]
'It is a fact that children, even of primary school
age, learn prejudiced attitudes and beliefs with
disturbing ease' [15].
Bob Dixon, who includes the comics in a survey of children's
reading in Britain, uses emotive language for what is essentially
an unproven assertion that the effect of the comics is 'drug­
like '. He concludes that
'it's a pity that the young people of the country are
being imbued with an ideology which will so cripple
them in the world in which they will grow up' [16].
It is admitted by such writers that the messages are obvious
enough:
11
'they are ... all about love - love as substantial as a
pink marshmallow' [17]
'All our old friends are present, the Nips, the
Jerries, the Fuzzy Wuzzies, the Ice Cream Men from Rome ...'
[18].
But it does seem that the main reason they are deemed worthy of
consideration is that they are received and consequently absorbed
by children.
This kind of defence is calculated to ward off
critical attacks on the legitimacy of such studies.
Julie
Burchill exemplifies one kind of criticism that might be levelled
at these works in her dismissal of Angela McRobbie's and Barbara
Hudson's (see below) comparatively sophisticated analyses of
girls' magazines and comics:
'the thought of two grown women in receipt of
expensive, extensive state educations behaving like two
particularly banal pubescent schoolgirls is grotesque,
to say the least' [19].
The extravagant claims for the comics' effects are an effective
means of countering such blanket dismissals.
In terms of their actual methodology, one could argue that the
concentration on isolated questions of representation actually
limits the ways in which comics can be seen to operate.
That is,
they are seen in terms of their negative or positive
representation of violence, race, sex etc.
This constitutes a
rather mechanical version of the basic methodology of 'Boys'
Weeklies'.
The isolation of factors in representaion, and their
subjection to content analysis, loosely or rigourously
controlled, decontextualise them from the surroundings of the
12
episode or the entire serial version of the strip.
The potential distortion as a result of this is most clearly
evident in John Heeley's Sunday Times article [20],
Comics: Violence Rules'.
'Boys'
Heeley claims that a comic strip story
in 2000AD, which shows an attack on robots by an anti-robot gang,
is reflective of the 1980s Thatcherite 'dog eat dog' mentality,
in which violence is an automatic solution to any social problem.
The Sunday Times letters page the following week had some
articulate replies to Heeley's analysis, in which it was argued
that this futuristic setting was indeed a disguised version of
contemporary reality.
However, the depiction of the anti-robot
gang, the 'Human League', contextualised in the full narrative,
could be read as an indicting commentary on any form of 'mindless
violence'
[21].
Another of Heeley's examples, in which the
inhabitants of 'Shanty Town' sell their own limbs for money is
likewise given an alternative interpretation.
These people are
seen as victims of their own corruption ('a good moral there, Dr.
Heeley'
[22]). Heeley made the mistake of grouping 2000AD, which
makes satirical attacks on aspects of contemporary Britain through
the guise of a sci-fi weekly, with the unproblematic regurgitated
World War Two heroics of titles like Warlord [23],
The trouble with Heeley's analysis, and it is undercurrent
to virtually all of these works is the idea that 'ideological
representations' can be judged on the basis of isolated elements
from a comic strip, the comic as a whole, or a series of issues
of a title.
The danger with this sort of abstraction is well
illustrated here.
It is assumed that within any one generic
form, representations are constant, and titles are
13
interchangeable.
Moreover, it is believed that only a single
interpretation is possible.
Where the issue of formula in narrative is dealt with, there
are similar assertions:
'The themes are perennial in girls' fiction'
[24].
'The plots or stock situations ... follow regular
patterns' [25].
This insistence that formulae are perpetuated unchanged, and the
negative interpretation of these formulae reinforce Orwell's
conclusions on the boys' weeklies.
And again, as with Orwell,
there is an invariable mechanism of effect based on the reader's
identification with characters.
The danger of 'identification'
is heightened by Heeley's claim that 'alternatives to violent
behaviour have no place whatsoever in the world of comics'.
Dixon similarly claims, in rhetorical and emotive terms, that the
comics deliberately exclude alternative ideas and behavioural
models:
'Where's working-class history? Where are the strips
about the Tolpuddle martyrs or the Luddite movement?' [26]
The logical extension of Orwell's ideas is brought to its
most articulate level in Angela McRobbie's analysis of Jackie, an
early teenage girls' magazine-cum-comic [27].
This essay was
part of a radical feminist reappraisal of popular reading for
women at the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies in
Birmingham in the 1970s.
While McRobbie is quick to rule out
conspiracy theories as an explanatory model for the endurance of
14
an 'ideology of adolescent femininity', her basic thesis is that
Jackie consists of an internally coherent ideology equivalent to
a 'false sisterhood'
[28],
McRobbie is, moreover, insistent that
alternative concepts of femininity are consistently and
deliberately excluded from this world.
Jackie constructs a giddy
girlishness which sets itself apart from the real issues of
female adolescence.
It claims simultaneously to be ever new,
trendy, modern, and trades on its natural, biological
universality.
Jackie claims to cater for innate, feminine needs,
but these are in fact 'false' constructions.
The problem with all of these studies is their insistence
that ideological or stereotypical representations are constant
and invariable entities with which the reader identifies - because as
child or adolescent, he/she is vulnerable to them, no matter how
crude they may be.
Any alternatives to this formulation are
systematically eliminated.
By reducing analysis of the comics to
their representation of predetermined categories, by insisting on
the perpetuation of representation and on the inevitable effects
on the reader, these critics reveal their assumptions about the
readers.
The comics seem to fit a predetermined picture of their
operation which does not stem from the initial question: how do
the comics work?
Rather, that question is: how do children
attain prejudiced attitudes?
And from this point on, the comics
can only be seen to operate in such a unidimensional way.
I argued the case that the common undercurrent to most of
these studies is the thesis that effect is determined by the level
of the reader's biological development.
Ironically, the comics
themselves, ostensibly the object of consideration, are
15
consistently unexplored to any great extent.
The consequence is
that such works perpetuate the notion that the comics somehow
reinforce the status quo through their formulaic modes.
Moreover, this notion is a set of assertions, rather than an
empirically-based argument.
To return to the project to
establish where and how such formulae originated, these works
suggest some kind of deliberation by their creators without
identifying it specifically.
They implicitly work from a theory
of the exclusion of ideas from the comics' internally coherent
ideologies.
In opposition to this picture, I argued that what really
provided continuity in the history of the British comic was the
creation of a childish world, refracted through various carefully
constructed categories of age and sex, and it was through this
that these ideologies were unproblematically conveyed.
Paradoxically, those studies which predicated their conclusions
on the vulnerability of the reader actually reinforced the basis
from which the comics operated.
This argument drew heavily on
Mattelart's and Dorfman's (1973) analysis of Disney comics
exported to Chile, How to Read Donald Duck [29].
In attempting to assess the apparent transformation of comic
publishing in Britain in the 1970s, I argued that what was
shocking to their critics, what marked a revolutionary twist to
the development of the comics was their questioning of the limits
of childhood reading.
By manipulating the classic formulae, they
undermined the limited 'suitable for children' ideas which have
determined the form and content of the comics.
Their heroic
16
figures are no longer stiff upper lips whose assaults on the
'krauts',
'nips' and varieties of 'native' at the outposts of
empire are couched in a boyish enthusiasm which conceals the
political inflection of their ideologies.
They consistently
question the validity of such figures and the innocence of their
adventurous narratives.
I attributed the genesis of this reappraisal to a group of
artists and writers who, in a period of drastically declining
circulations, when the comics were under increasing attack from
children's television and the children's book trade, were allowed
to emerge as key figures in the revitalisation of IPC's juvenile
division.
Trained in the IPC and DC Thomson workshops, they
essentially worked within the same formulaic modes, but injected
a degree of cynicism to the classic figures and scenarios [30].
The issue of how these formulaic modes originated is, however,
unanswered.
The notion of a construction of childhood in the
comics has rather conspiratorial overtones which make it, in
retrospect, a simplistic explanatory framework.
I had created a
picture of an unauthored and self-perpetuating construction of
childhood innocence against a vision of a range of creative
talents 'subverting' the classic formulae.
In effect, I had
reinforced the predominant image of the comics as a collection of
ahistorical, constant ideological representations which stand
above historically moving class relations. A potential solution
to this problem is suggested by Martin Barker's (1984 and
1989) approach to the comics [31].
17
Comics and the art o^f 'conversation'
Barker's (1984) A Haunt of Fears was a study of the British
'horror comics' campaign in the 1950s.
Calling for the
censorship of certain imported American titles, or 'horror
comics' as they were labelled, this campaign was the forceful
impetus behind the Harmful Publications Act of 1955.
Claims were
made by American critic and psychiatrist Fredric Wertham [32] for
direct causal links between the violence depicted in the comics
and juvenile delinquency.
Wertham and his examples from the
comics were cited in campaign literature and exhibitions.
Meanwhile, the principal British critic was teacher George
Pumphrey.
He made a classification of comics available to
children as 'inoffensive' and 'harmful'.
The British comics
were reckoned to have no positive attributes as such, but by
comparison with the American imports they were, at least,
'inoffensive'
[33],
Barker argues that these criticisms of the comics were more
to do with preconceptions about children than with analysing the
comics themselves.
The notion of 'identification' between the
reader and the characters in the text made the comic a convenient
explanatory tool for the understanding of delinquency [34],
In
support of this theory comic strips were mutilated and single
frames exhibited in isolation from their original context as
'evidence' of the comics' content.
Following his exploration of the campaign's ideologies,
Barker examines those comics which were cited most by
campaigners.
His analysis of the strips as integral narratives
18
suggests that in many cases they were in fact rather clever
probings of contemporary issues, overtly or through more
disguised means - they dealt with the lunacy of McCarthyism, with
racial prejudice, with sexual and adult-child relationships.
They did so in ways that could question the 'common sense' view.
The most striking example, a strip called 'The Orphan', explores
the limits of the concept of 'childhood' itself [35],
A Haunt of Fears rescues the comics from the condemnation of
their critics as simply 'harmful'.
By contrast, the comics
engage the reader in a complex examination of his/ her own social
location through the complexity of their narratives.
Barker
makes a similarly radical reappraisal of Owen Dudley Edwards'
accusation against the British comic, the Beano, that it was
obsessed with the corporal punishment of children [36].
His own
analysis of the same strip used by Edwards (a 'Minnie the Minx'
episode) argues that the sympathies of the strip are very much
with the child in her efforts to negotiate her father's seemingly
arbitrarily meted out punishment [37].
Barker's latest work (1989) is an attempt to work these
ideas about formulaic comic strip narratives and the reader's
orientation to them into a more rigourous framework for analysis.
The book deals with qualitatively different kinds of comic:
Action, a boys' comic; Shiver and Shake, Whoopee and Beano, the
'funny' comics; Jackie, an adolescent girls' comic; Bunty and
Tracy for younger girls; and the Disney comics analysed by
Mattelart and Dorfman.
Barker relates the production histories
of these comics and their evolving and changing formulae to the
historically shifting experiences and needs of their readers.
19
Action, therefore, emerged as a revolutionary new title through
some initial experimentation in the early 1970s, an effort by
publishers to improve circulations at a time of serious crisis in
the industry.
Its cynicism, typical formulae and topical themes
were rooted in the needs of young working class readers (male and
female) at that time [38].
Barker draws on Vladimir Propp's research on the formulae of
folklore and Valentin Volosinov's marxist theory of language to
elaborate a theory of the comic's functions [39].
He extends
Propp's formalist analysis to the comics, but moves a significant
step further to posit that
'there is a symbiotic relationship between formulaic
narratives and particular social groups. To the extent
that a narrative formula emerges, that signifies the
existence of such a group. The formula expresses the
typified social life of its symbiotic group, both in
the way it is internally organised and in the way it
relates symbiotically to it' [40].
From Volosinov he develops the notion of 'a dialogical approach
to ideology'.
That is to say, ideologies in forms of popular
entertainment are not in any way impressed upon the reader.
He
argues that a comic can adopt the character of a 'speech genre',
so that it enters into a form of 'conversation' with the reader.
It 'invites imaginative projection.
A world is offered whose
relation to our own lived world is problematic'.
To read a
comic, or any story, then, 'is to agree to orient oneself to its
imaginative progression.
of sequence,
It is to follow its proposal for kinds
unfolding, and resolution' [41].
contains 'sedimented themes',
Each story
'typified social experience[s]'
20
from the past, with which the typical readership will be
familiar.
The formula of the story is constrained by the
production history of its producer.
Therefore there are
regularities to its transformations of formulae, as there are to
the kind of response it will invite for the reader.
In addition,
in order to understand both the functioning of the formula and
the reader's response, we need to study the specific social
characteristics of the readership.
These, then, are the principles on which Barker bases his
analyses of various genres of comic.
This approach goes beyond
any straightforward picture of individual artistic or authorial
inspiration 'subverting'
'classic' comic strip formulae.
Furthermore, it allows us to transcend the notion of selfperpetuating formulae, and to look for different kinds of
'conversational' relationships between readers and their comics,
dependent on geographically and historically specific social
conditions.
His approach is predicated on an acceptance of the
fact that the tendency in comics, as forms of 'popular' cultural
production, is inevitably towards their formularisation.
Rather
than indulge in a condemnation of this fact, coupled with a
normative critique of what the comics should include (which he
considers a pointless avenue for exploration) he deals with what
the comics do include, and how they relate to their readerships.
That is, any imbalance in the quantitative representations of sex
and race in comics, compared with real proportions in society, is
not necessarily pertinent to their understanding.
Rather than
criticise on this basis, it is more useful to examine the
conversational act of reading, to which such representations may
21
be incidental, but rarely central.
Such an approach is necessarily based on a great deal of
wide ranging empirical work.
Barker combines questionnaire
schedules for former readers (of Action) with other types of
information related to readers (Shiver and Shake) and analyses of
the strips as integral narratives. That is, they are unmutilated
for the purposes of making points about stereotypes, volume of
representations and identification between readers and
characters, arguments which depend on the isolation of individual
elements.
In at least one case, the analysis of the girls'
comics - Bunty etc. - as negotiations of the particularly
marginalised social positions of working class girls [42], the
conclusions look somewhat tenuous, but generally, Barker's
understanding of the comics is a successful reappraisal of the
major critical works.
His review of the Disney comics analysed
by Dorfman and Mattelart is especially successful, as he
convincingly relates the politics in the comics to the real
changes in the political role of the US in various parts of the
world since the 1940s [43].
The implications of this work stretch beyond the sphere of
comics alone, for it suggests the need for a radical reappraisal
of other forms of popular entertainment which are characterised
similarly by rigid formulae.
22
II
A Return to the First 'Comics'
This project was originally intended as a continuation of the
earlier work I had done with contemporary British comics.
It was
planned as an exercise in establishing where and how the formulae
in products like comics originate and how they are perpetuated;
to go beyond simplistic dismissals to develop a strategy for
relating changes in the formulaic modes of the comics to broader
social change.
Now this plan drew me further and further back
into the history of the comic in a search for roots, until I
arrived, finally, at the first recognisable 'comics' in the
1890s.
While it was quite clear that these 'first' comics bore
little resemblance to the modern comic, that was partly the
reason why it was felt important to examine them.
As with the
contemporary comic, these first comics were based on formulaic
patterns, but the nature of those formulae was qualitatively
different, and what made them so was the very distinct social
context within which they were working.
The difference between
these and contemporary comics is not simply the difference
between different kinds of text separated by history, and
consequently at different levels of intra-textual sophistication.
We can use Barker's argument to propose that these first comics
were involved in a different kind of 'conversation' with their
23
readers, one in which the readership's characteristics of class,
age and sex were far removed from those of any contemporary
readership.
The readers were part of a different pattern of
social relations and this shaped a different kind of
conversational relationship.
Therefore the comics met, or failed
to meet, needs which bore little relation to those of a modern
readership. Yet the understanding of these early comics can
throw considerable light on the modern comic.
Barker's ultimate aim is to develop 'rules' for analysing
comics, rules which are based on the empirical study of what
comics do for their readers.
From this empirical basis he argues
that his 'rules' can eliminate subjectivity in interpretation.
This approach is based on the fact that the comics have developed
as perhaps the most typical of contemporary forms of popular or
mass culture in their strictly regulated formulaic shape.
In their formal aspects the early comics are actually most
striking for their lack of very rigidly formulated components.
These early comics are not sufficiently well formulated to
warrant the identification of rules as such.
To begin with, in
their early years, these comics contain very few 'comic strips',
and where they do have pictorial sequences, there are no regular
characters.
In fact, they are actually miscellanies of different
kinds of textual components and the cartoon element accounts for
just fifty per cent of their total contents.
Moreover, when the
first regular comic strips emerged in these papers, they bore
little resemblance to the modern strip.
They were awkward in
every respect, and actually showed a preponderance of word over
image.
In this shape it is hard to discern the sort of strictly
24
regulated formulae we see in the modern comic.
In attempting to reason why this was the case, we can put
forward the following proposition.
endedness to these first comics.
There is a degree of openThey lack coherent narratives.
They frequently address the reader directly, through various
textual devices, from the editor's address to the principal
characters in the strips themselves.
The comic strip was
actually part of an essentially verbal medium.
The most obvious
influences on its development were the miscellaneous, largely
verbal elements of the comic in its early years.
however, were not merely formal.
The influences,
We can plot these elements on a
continuum with various currents in the history of the nineteenth
century periodical press as a whole in one important respect.
The history of Victorian periodical publishing shows a
fundamental continuity
in its orientation to the question of
class and class differences.
We can perceive this orientation in
the textual components
of the comic, except that they are
mediated by a new kind
of'populist' rhetoric which confuses the
issue of class difference.
This populism is part of a new
development in forms of popular reading, a development towards an
avoidance of questions of class relations and a depoliticisation
of content.
From the editorial address outwards, the comic
promises that everybody is equal.
Yet embedded within the
populism, there are real concerns about the class location of the
reader, and this is expressed in the twin formal and thematic
obsessions with equality through correct self-presentation and
the marginalisation of 'low-lifes' or 'semi-criminals' as an
25
underclass over which the reader can claim superiority.
When the
regular comic strips emerged in the mid-1890s, they were
concerned with essentially the same subjects, and in a shape
which shows the influence of the verbal elements, rather than any
history of narrative art.
Furthermore, their 'popular' appeal
can be read as quite specific to the 'lower middle class', for
these concerns were a direct function of the precarious social
location of this class.
Yet, if we can identify a certain class- and historical
specificity in these comics, this argument needs to be qualified
by the evidence of the role of the early comics and their comic
strips as part of a new development in 'popular' entertainment.
The emphasis on the 'popular' in these new kinds of entertainment
marked a transition to modes of popular leisure consumption where
real political or class differences were made secondary or
ignored altogether.
In their development of pictorial
narratives, no matter how awkward to begin with, the early comics
were a harbinger of a new kind of 'popular culture' which
actually advertised itself as formulaic 'escapism'.
Therefore, these comics stand between the decline of one
type of entertainment, which might be characterised broadly as
concerned specifically with differences of class, and a new type
of entertainment which presents itself as appealing to a 'mass'
audience.
Their development of an awkward formula reflected
their intermediate position between new and old, what we might
call 'mass' and 'class' entertainments.
They constitute a useful
means, therefore, of understanding how formulae in popular
culture develop and how a readership or audience is oriented to
26
them.
Now in forwarding this thesis, we are disputing the general
tendency in approaches to comics towards the dismissal of their
formulaic shape as some kind of imposition on unsuspecting
readers.
We can adopt Barker's argument that the function of the
comic as a form of popular culture is 'conversational', that it
actively fulfils needs for a reader fully participant in the
conversation; furthermore, that their different types of
conversation are dependent on the class location of the reader.
Studying these 'first' comics is a particularly useful exercise,
for since their readership is clearly adult and class-specific in
these early years, the problems of analysing a medium with a
predominantly juvenile readership on the dimension of class are
to some extent overcome.
By establishing the very differences
between these first comics and the modern comic, we can get away
from the dismissive approach to the comics and move towards the
establishment of evolution and change in their history.
While broadly endorsing Barker's argument for the
'conversational' nature of the comics, the approach here diverges
from his in two important respects: the overall theoretical
framework and the notion that we can establish 'rules' for the
analysis of comic strips and other types of popular narrative.
Barker's book is a well argued polemic against the application of
'big concepts' like 'ideology' and 'hegemony' to products like
comics in ways which contribute little to a practical
understanding of the active process of reading.
This is a fair
criticism of the ways in which such concepts have been used in
27
the past.
However, the subtitle to his latest work is 'ideology,
power and the critics', and while he certainly maps the ways in
which comics are inextricably linked to shifting intergenerational conflicts in the twentieth century, his framework,
based on Volosinov and Propp, is unequal to the problem of
situating the comics within the context of shifting class/ power
relations in modern history.
It is true, as he points out, that
we need to look at the
'determinate production histories [of form in the
comics as 'cultural object[s]'; that t]hese histories
summarise the interactions of producers (their
purposes, institutional structures, external
constraints, relations with creators, writers, artists
etc.), their audiences (traditions of reading,
definitions of the medium, etc.) through which the form
is produced and reproduced' [44].
It is also true that we must examine 'the kind of proposal for an
answering role (how readers should orient themselves to the form)
offered in the cultural object's whole presentational process'
[45].
These are the most important of his many innovative
contributions to the understanding of the comics.
However, in
order to understand comics in relation to historically changing
class/ power relations, we must develop a different strategy.
To
pursue this project, we must develop a theoretical framework
based on the concept of 'hegemony'.
This is one of those 'big'
concepts that Barker eschews, but it is possible to develop this
concept into a framework which incorporates both an empirical
analysis of such hitherto neglected aspects of the comics as
'cultural objects' and the intertwining of their historical
development with broader historical changes in class relations.
28
Chapters Two and Three will explore in much greater detail the
logic by which we can arrive at this proposition, but for the
purposes of this introduction, we will firstly review briefly
some of the problems associated with understanding cultural
production in the late nineteenth century and make a brief
declaration of how this concept can be integrated with these
aspects of Barker's approach.
'COMIC CUTS': the 'first' comic
The term 'first' comic is extremely problematic.
If the
contemporary comic is, for the most part, a collection of one or
more comic strips, with a few minor non-pictorial elements, then
by this definition the first comics did not really emerge until
the 1950s.
However, humourous and non-humourous pictorial
narratives had been appearing in various humourous magazine
titles from the early nineteenth century (see Chapter Four).
Deciding what exactly were the first comics is a fairly
arbitrary task.
For our purposes here, we will deem the 'first' comics to be those
titles which introduced regular comic strips and characters, and
in which those strips were to become the primary component. That
function can be judged by the position of these strips on the
front and back pages of these titles.
By this definition, the
first such titles were Alfred Harmsworth's Comic Cuts (1890),
Illustrated Chips (1890) and The Funny Wonder (1892). None of
them used regular strips and characters from the outset, but by
the mid-1890s the comic strip was clearly their dominant element.
These comics are important, not only to the history of the
29
modern comic, but also in that they were part of a new kind of
publishing.
Their publisher, Harmsworth, was one of an emerging
generation of entrepreneurial figures in the cheap press of the
late nineteenth century.
The comics marked Harmsworth's first
venture into the halfpenny press, the lowest possible price
level,
For contemporary middle class observers also, it was a
move to the lowest common denominator of popular taste.
The
comics were part of the development of what Matthew Arnold called
'new journalism'
[46].
Like many contemporaries Arnold linked
the phenomenon to the electoral Reform Acts of 1867 and 1884, and
to the 1870 Elementary Education Act [47] which, he claimed, had
generated a barely literate, uncritical, but enfranchised 'mass'
reading public.
The 'new' voters and 'new' readers were one and
the same, 'not ... reasonable persons who think fairly and
seriously', but the potential victims of a correspondingly 'new'
journalism, with all its 'feather-brained' assertions [48].
The
problem was seen as the presentation of fragments of
'information' rather than 'knowledge', a progressive erosion of
whatever critical faculties the reader might possess.
The
arrival of Harmsworth's Daily Mail in 1896, with its visual style
of short paragraphs and its lightweight commentary, seemed to
mark the transition to a completely new kind of publishing. With
their promise of 'ONE HUNDRED LAUGHS FOR ONE HALFPENNY' displayed
across the front cover, the Harmsworth comics seem, in
retrospect, a perfectly straightforward reflection of a general
pattern.
The notion of something approaching a revolution in
30
periodical publishing persisted well into the twentieth century
[49].
However, what seemed a dramatic new development had, in
reality, a much longer history.
Williams (1962) has pointed out
that the 1870 Act was by no means a decisive moment in the
development of 'mass' literacy, that existing literacy rates were
far higher before 1870 than is generally thought [50],
Moreover,
Williams identifies a more fundamental current of change in
periodical publishing through the 1830s and 1840s, a process
which could broadly be described as one of depoliticisation and
commercialisation [51].
In Williams' analysis, Harmsworth's influence was more to do
with changing the economic basis for periodical publishing than
with 'creating' the 'popular' press.
For example there were, on
inspection, more similarities than discontinuities between
Harmsworth's Daily Mail and The Times. The principal difference
lay in the stricter regulation of format and the formulae of
individual features.
This was a means of cultivating a regular
readership conditioned to the same features in the same place
daily or weekly.
The project was tied to the strategy of hiring
full-time advertising managers and publishing sales figures, to
make advertising revenue the basis of the newspaper's or
magazine's survival [52].
This innovation has its roots in the removal of the
advertisement duty in 1853, a legislative move which had a
dramatic impact on the volume and range of periodical
advertising.
Harmsworth went a step further by gearing the
formularisation of existing journalistic and fictional formulae
in his newspapers and magazines specifically to the optimisation
31
of advertising revenue.
The comics, along with Harmsworth's
other titles, can therefore be seen both as a collective index to
a broadening range of commodities, pitched now at a 'mass
market'; and a new kind of publishing commodity themselves, aimed
at their own constructed ideal of a faceless, equalised 'mass'
readership, which they sold to advertisers.
James Curran (1978) supports this thesis.
He argues,
moreover, that the rising costs of new technology like the
printing presses, new rotary machines and the linotype machine
for typesetting limited the numbers capable of putting together
large amounts of capital investment. This further extended the
advantage of the bigger publishers.
The falling prices for
periodicals raised the level of circulation necessary to break
even.
The new publishing entrepreneurs of the '80s and '90s
were, therefore, a small elite.
Through their growing
importance, meanwhile, advertisers were able to determine the
success or failure of a publication, and there is evidence of
active discrimination by advertisers and agencies against radical
papers [53] . He argues that these economic factors conditioned a
new brand of journalism which developed a fabricated concept of
the 'national interest' and a stress on individualism as opposed
to a radical class solidarity and internationalism [54].
Far
from the contemporary fears of démocratisation among the middle
class commentators, Curran sees this new form of publishing,
freed from direct legislative interference in the late nineteenth
century, as an 'agency of social control'.
This notion, however, is extremely contentious.
While it is
32
generally agreed that that period from the 1880s saw a
significant change in the nature of forms of popular
entertainment [55], it is by no means certain as to whether this
can be characterised as a medium of 'social control' at all.
Indeed the understanding of the precise nature of the orientation
of 'popular' reading in this period to its consumers and to those
in power is still the most serious problem facing 'cultural
studies' at this time.
It is a problem which is partly to do
with the inadequate historical dimension to existing approaches
to popular culture, and which is embedded in a long-running
historiographical debate in approaches to 'social history'.
In proposing a study of these early comics, therefore, we
are not only attempting to throw some light on the history of the
comic, but we are entering a theoretical debate about the history
of popular culture, and this is entirely appropriate.
The
domination of studies of comics by a dismissive journalistic
stance reflects a persistent reluctance in cultural studies in
Britain to engage with such forms of popular amusement.
The
proj ect to examine how formulae in comics develop, how they
relate to specific social groups, must necessarily be a case
study in how the formulae of popular culture, a much broader
phenomenon, are related to specific groups. That is, it can allow
us to go beyond the notion of an unchanging 'popular', to see
this notion as an historically shifting concept, ever-changing in
terms of what it includes and excludes, and in how it is oriented
to the maintenance of power.
The second, and related function of
this thesis, then, is to conduct a case study in the
investigation of 'popular culture'.
33
'Hegemony1 and 'Common Sense'
The framework on which this study will be based is a derivation
of the writings of Antonio Gramsci.
In proposing this Gramscian
framework we are drawing on recent developments in cultural
historiography.
This framework can allow both for the
understanding of the 'conversational' role of the comics, its
part in a dialogue with the reader, and its orientation to the
maintenance of power in class relations in capitalist society.
Essentially, Gramsci was innovatory in two respects: his
reworking of the marxist concepts of 'hegemony' and of 'common
sense'.
'Hegemony', for Gramsci, is the intellectual and
political leadership of the dominant class in society.
He argued
that this leadership was based on a combination of 'coercion' and
'consent'.
'Common sense' encompasses the means by which the
non-'intellectual' classes make sense of the world and of their
locations within it.
Never a coherently structured 'conception
of the world', unlike 'philosophy', 'common sense' is the uneven
mix of ideologies drawn from the dominant classes, together with
older or oppositional ideologies which cohere to generate an
internally contradictory 'folklore of philosophy'.
There are,
therefore, different inflections of 'common sense' dependent on
different class positions.
By proposing that everyone is a 'philosopher', Gramsci
tried to establish how 'popular' interpretation of reality stood
in relation to the ideologies and to the 'hegemony' of the
dominant class, bourgeois ideology in capitalist society.
'Common sense' is no lower level version of bourgeois ideology,
34
though it contributes, by its contradictory absorption of aspects
of that ideology, to the maintenance of hegemony.
It can
represent, imperfectly, the interests of the working class, and
Marxism must therefore begin as a critique of common sense.
Gramsci argued, moreover, that the basis for hegemony and the
nature of common sense were subject to historical change.
sense is constantly transformed and reshaped.
Common
Hegemony is never
completely achieved, it is permanently under threat from
oppositional ideologies and from the deeply sedimented
contradictory elements in common sense.
That is, hegemony is
never equivalent to 'social control'.
In this thesis it is argued that the various activities of
the Victorian bourgeoisie in staking its claim for economic,
political and cultural leadership in Britain were characterised
by a progressive coherence.
In the spheres of work and leisure,
and principally through the medium of political reform, we can
perceive a gradual convergence in strategies for social dominance
which could be characterised as a project for hegemony.
This is
not to equate strategies with the exercise of social control, for
there is ample evidence (see Chapter Three) that the primarily
institutional means by which these strategies were advanced were
met with resistance from those social factions which these
institutions were designed to control.
It was nevertheless a
recognisable project refracted through discourses in Parliament,
in the review journals, the more popular middle class magazines,
and in the rhetoric of the institutional patrons.
Now in gauging
the position of products like comics in relation to this process,
it is simply inappropriate to deem their brand of would-be
35
populist politics, the cement which holds them together, to be a
means of 'social control'.
By contrast, it is argued here that they
can be read as a form of negotiation of the contemporary
bourgeois strategies for political ascendancy in terms of the
'common sense' world-view of their readership.
They are a
reworking both of the bourgeois ideological formulations of the
time, and of 'common sense' understandings of those formulations,
a reworking in which the contradictions undercurrent to both are
inherent in every element.
Moreover, this 'common sense'
understanding is class- and historically specific to the 'lower
middle class' of the 1890s.
This sets the comics apart from the
popular Sunday newspapers of the nineteenth century whose
readership was predominantly working class.
It separates them
also from the daily newspapers whose readerships were more
diverse.
The proposition that this was the case has little
empirical evidence from contemporary market research, for there
were no such projects in operation.
It is based partly on
evidence of reader response in correspondence and beyond this, it
is based (to use Barker's term) on the 'kind of proposal for an
answering role' offered implicitly throughout the text of the
comics.
It is a class-specific invitation.
That the comics are
historically specific is argued through an analysis of the ways
in which their formal and thematic developments are related to
the shifts in the social location of this projected class
readership as conditioned by political events in the 1890s.
This
proposition requires an examination, as far as possible given the
lack of available details, of the production history behind the
36
comics at this time, coupled with a close empirical investigation
of the progression of the comics through the '90s.
Essentially, then, this is an argument for the incorporation
of the central tenet of Barker's approach, that cultural products
maintain a conversational relationship with their readers, with a
framework that tries to situate them among relations of class.
This is the principal way in which the direction of the thesis
diverges from Barker's approach.
The other respect in which we disagree with Barker is in the
question of 'rules' for analysing comic strips.
Barker argues
that there has been a good deal of subj ectivity involved in the
analysis of comics in the past.
This is true.
However, whether
such subjectivity can ever be eliminated, as he argues, is a
contentious issue.
It will become evident here that most of the
components in the early comics, including the strips, can
actually be read as having ambiguous meanings, in some cases they
can be legitimately interpreted in diametrically opposed ways.
This, it is maintained, is precisely because those ambiguities
were there.
Identifying a class-specific readership or digging
into the production background of the comics cannot eliminate
this fact.
The reason why they were there is that they
encapsulated some of the contradictory aspects of the attitudes
of the comics' class-specific readership to authority and to
those who might be considered inferiors.
Moreover, as is argued
here, it is not possible to escape completely the charge of
subjectivity in analysis, and it is best to admit this from the
outset.
The use of a concept like 'hegemony' is a choice based
on a political interpretation of history as much as by empirical
37
evidence.
Barker's framework is based to an extent on a partisan
interpretation of the development of adult-child relations in the
twentieth century.
interpretation,
way.
Despite his argument for 'rules' in
these comics can still be read in
Using the concept of hegemony, we allow for
more thanone
this kindof
subjectivity and can try to contextualise the open-endedness,
ambiguous or ambivalent nature of the contemporary comic in a
network of class and power relations, in which those relations
are negotiated variously by different social fractions.
In summary, then, the aims of this thesis are as follows:
1.
to attempt to amend the failings of existing
approaches
to comics through a case study in
critical
writing the
history of the comic;
2.
to develop a theoretical framework for this exercise which
can explain historical differences between comics or phases
of a single title in terms of catering to the changing
class-specific needs of the reader in negotiating his/her
social location;
3.
to examine a range of products which are an index not only
to the tendencies in the history of the comic, but also to
what have retrospectively been deemed 'popular cultural'
objects, so that
4.
we can gain an insight into the ways in which the term
'popular' has been manipulated by the 'culture industry' to
sell consumers to advertisers and in politics in the pursuit
and attainment of power.
By examining how one kind of
'populism' was cultivated, we can begin to understand how
38
the connotations of this word are dependent on class and
historical context.
The establishment of historical
differences in the uses of these concepts allows us to
understand more fully the relationship between cultural
objects and the maintenance of bourgeois hegemony over the
past century.
As the overwhelming success of the Thatcher
government in the 1980s is being interpreted as stemming to
a large extent from the manipulation of a particular brand
of 'populism', it is important to understand the historical
roots of the concept, and how it has been variously
refracted in cultural products through history.
On the Methodology and Structure of the Thesis
At the core of the thesis is an empirical analysis of a sample of
the three titles which have retrospectively been deemed the
'first' comics, over the period 1890-1902 - that is, Comic Cuts
(1890-1953), Illustrated Chips (1890-1953) and The Funny Wonder
(1892-1953).
The sample consists of one randomly drawn issue per
month from the comic's inception onwards.
As has already been
pointed out, from around 1893 we can perceive a very clear
domination in the comics of the comic strip as their central
component.
It is necessary, therefore, to concentrate in those
chapters which deal with the comics in the latter half of the
1890s on those comic strips on whose popularity, perpetuation and
imitation the comics appear to have depended very strongly.
Moreover, while each issue is randomly drawn, in cases where the
issue contains a serialised narrative, or where a comic strip
39
story is carried over from one week to the next (an occasional
occurrence) the story is traced through subsequent issue(s) in
order to gain a real sense of its narrative integrity.
Additionally, where there is a good deal of 'plugging' for a
particular story or strip in issues immediately preceding its
arrival (this is conducted largely through the editorial column),
an examination of these elements is deemed essential to a
thorough understanding of that story or strip.
This close empirical analysis of the dynamics within the
comics is an attempt to analyse a conversational relationship
with the reader.
The thesis that it was, indeed, to a
specifically 'lower middle class' readership that these comics
appealed is supported by recourse to debates within social
history and urban demographic studies on the increasing
complexity of class relations at this time, and the virtual
emergence, for the first time, of this 'class' as a recognisable
social faction.
To understand fully the nature of the comics requires more
than this, however.
The miscellaneous contents of these titles
focus a number of developments in different types of Victorian
periodical publishing, and in order to appreciate these, we need
to establish an overall picture of the trajectory of periodical
publishing as a whole in this period, and of humourous
periodicals in particular.
This task will be preliminary to the
analysis of the comics per se.
Here, then, is an initial overview of the structure of the
40
thesis.
Part I (Chapters Two and Three) is a critique of existing
theoretical approaches to popular culture and specifically their
understandings of the new forms of popular entertainment which
appeared towards the end of the nineteenth century.
Chapter Two
examines the shortcomings in the dominant and broadly
oppositional paradigms in 'cultural studies' over the last thirty
years:
'culturalism' and 'structuralism'.
Chapter Three looks at
the problems in understanding the evolution of 'popular' culture
at the end of the nineteenth century and how they have been dealt
with by the related but differently inflected approaches of
'social',
'cultural' and 'leisure' historians.
Finally the
Gramscian framework for historical analysis is elaborated as a
solution to the shortcomings in these approaches and as the basis
for this thesis.
Parts Two (Chapters Four, Five and Six), Three (Chapters
Seven, Eight and Nine) and Four (Chapters Ten, Eleven and Twelve)
trace the historical precursors to and evolution of the comic
strips through the nineteenth century.
To some extent, this
evolution has been simplified by identifying three phases of
development.
However, the empirical evidence of the Victorian
periodical press broadly supports this periodisation, and these
phases are related to the arguments of social historians in
plotting the narrative of change in social relations in Britain
through the nineteenth century.
Chapter Four examines the first 'phase' in this development.
It is argued that since the first recognisable 'comics' were actually
miscellanies of different types of visual and verbal textual
41
elements, it is appropriate to seek their roots in the origins of
the Victorian periodical press as a whole.
We identify a period
of rapid change and expansion in the late 1830s and 1840s in the
publication of those titles which were to be the precursors to
these elements.
This change can be characterised broadly as a
move from overtly politicised types of periodical in the 1830s to
a new range of titles which professed no political ideology, and
which expressed a distinctly 'family' orientation.
This
transformation is linked to the beginning of a new period of
political reform and attempts at social amelioration in the early
1840s, the inception of a concept of 'moralised capitalism'.
Chapters Five and Six explore the second phase in this
development through the emergence of new kinds of humourous
periodical from the 1860s onwards as typified by Judy (1867) and
Ally Sloper's Half-Holiday (1884).
These titles were continuous
with the new direction in periodical production in their 'family'
orientation and in their treatment of politics in a playful way,
if they dealt with the subject at all.
They also marked the
inception of a new era in periodical production through their
common feature of a single cartoon character, Ally Sloper.
This
character was quite unique in that, unlike occasional figures in
other humourous magazines, his appearances were regular, and he
was not identifiable with any single social type.
Indeed his
persona was a mixture of aspects of different social types and
his function as such was to offend no-one.
Ally Sloper promised
limitless improvements in the readers' social status through
social reform, and in particular the apparent extensions in the
range of organised leisure pursuits available.
He acted as an
42
index to the commoditisation of leisure, and the context of his
publication, Judy and especially the Half-Holiday, were among the
new leisure commodities.
However, while we argue for the interconnection of these two
phases in the development of periodical production with
ideologies of social reform, they are not seen as a direct
reflection of the political promises of Whigs and Tories.
Rather, they are a negotiation of those promises for their
readers, in which the inherent contradictions in the promises are
sublimated within their texts.
Specifically, we can see a
continuity in that the promise of democracy - the equalisation
and inclusion of the journal's readership - is actually based on
the exclusion of those classes who are deemed unworthy of a place
in this democracy: the 'low-lifes', the 'semi-criminals', the
tramps, beggars etc.
Moreover, in Judy and the Half-Holiday,
which ostensibly introduced a new kind of 'mass appeal'
irrespective of class and politics, we can see that their appeal
is targetted specifically at those class fractions which
benefited most from the social reforms of the late nineteenth
century, the 'lower middle' and 'skilled working' classes.
The
combination of democratic inclusion dependent on the exclusion of
the lowest classes expresses the hopes for self-improvement and
the fears of being swamped from below which characterised these
fractions at that time.
In identifying these phases in the development of Victorian
periodical publishing in general, and of humourous weeklies in
particular, we are applying the Gramscian framework.
These phases
43
mark a shift in the nature of the negotiation of bourgeois
hegemony in Victorian Britain, for the grounds on which that
hegemony was based shifted radically from the middle decades of
the century onwards.
The tensions running through that hegemony
were refracted through the various kinds of periodical.
Having thus established the backdrop to the emergence of the
'comics' in the 1890s, in Parts Three and Four we examine the
third phase in this development of Victorian humourous
publishing, the comics themselves.
These sections are the
empirically based heart of the thesis.
Part Three looks at the miscellaneous structure of the
comics in the early 1890s.
These are seen to mark a further
development in the move to a populist,
'mass' entertainment, but
that even more so than the Half-Holiday they encapsulate the
hopes and fears of the 'lower middle class', in the social
conditions of the 1890s more than the 1880s.
with the terms of their editorial address.
Chapter Seven deals
Chapters Eight and
Nine analyse the miscellanity of the comic as an integral whole
which maintains a 'conversational' relationship with the reader
surrounding his/her lower middle class social location.
All of
the textual elements of the comics in these years show a concern
with the reassurance of the reader's status by eliminating the
very lowest social fractions from the privelege of normal social
participation.
Part Four traces the development of the first regular comic
strips.
Chapter Ten looks at some initial, failed efforts at
pictorial narrative.
Chapter Eleven examines those figures which
were to become the most successful and long-lived comic strip
44
characters, a pair of tramps.
It is argued that in the
adventures of these characters, we can see a continuation in the
concerns about the elimination of 'low-lifes' from what was being
seen increasingly as a social organism.
And yet the tramps also
hold out the promise of a sort of symbolic escape from the
constraints of codified social behaviour within which their lower
middle class readership were living and working.
The most
significant episodes in these adventures were during the Boer War
(1899-1901).
It was during these years that the combination of
apparent security and the undercurrent threat of crisis to a
British economy dependent on the empire was exposed by a
protracted and difficult war.
It was simultaneously refracted in
the tramps' efforts to fight the Boers in the comic strips.
The
argument, therefore, is that the development of formulae in the
comic - the strips - is quite specific to the social tensions,
and to the particular needs of the lower middle class in
negotiating the shifting ground for bourgeois hegemony at the end
of the century.
Chapter Twelve looks towards the emergence of a new kind of
comic strip (1902-1905), in which the figures are not so easily
recognisable as social types and the backdrops do not readily
correspond to any social reality.
strip.
This is the early modern comic
It is maintained that in order to understand these strips we
need to trace their roots to the continuity in the Victorian
humourous and related periodicals in their concern with the
questions of democracy, who was to be included and who was to be
excluded; and to the progressive move away from the engagement
45
with specific social issues and types towards the generation of
formulae, but formulae in which real social tensions are
embedded.
Finally, in the concluding chapter, a more detailed case is
made for the relevance of this project to the understanding of
the history of the comic in particular and the formulaic nature of
forms of popular culture in general.
In addition, I draw attention to the needs to understand the
terms 'popular' and 'populism' through history in all their
complexity.
46
CHAPTER ONE - NOTES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
To begin with, a fundamental distinction must be made
between comic strips and comic books. Comic strips, as
occasional or regular features tucked away on the inside
pages of newspapers or magazines, are sequences of pictures
of up to no more than a page in length. The sequence may
lead to a moral resolution, or in serial form, to unresolved
weekly climaxes. Newspaper strips are situated among
miscellaneous, usually unconnected items, which nevertheless
affect the inherent meaning of the strips by determining
when, where, and among what material they are read. Comic
books are regular periodicals which consist primarily of one
or more comic strips, from a few frames to several pages in
duration. They may also include editor's address, letters
pages, jokes pages, non-pictorial feature articles and
stories, puzzles, competitions, free gifts and
advertisements. Together they constitute a single, packaged
commodity calculated to target specific readerships. The
term 'comic', as used here, will always refer to this
recognisable, generic periodical form, the comic book. The
distinction is simple enough, but an important one
nonetheless.
'The Day Comics Grew Up', a Signals documentary forChannel
4, broadcast on 18th January 1989.
Marcus Free, 'Ideology and the Boys' Comic' - Dissertation,
BA Communication Studies, NIHE Dublin, 1985.
George Orwell, 'Boys' Weeklies', (1983) Collected Essays,
Vol II.
Ibid., p.518.
Ibid., p.517.
Ibid., p.514.
Kevin Carpenter (1983), Penny Dreadfuls and Comics, p.58.
For example, A. Roberts, 'What Bunty does at school',
Times Educational Supplement, Aug. 22, 1980; N. Johnson,
'What do children learn from war comics?', New Society, July
7, 1966; S. Dunne, 'Biff! Bam!! Phew!!!, The Sunday Press,
July 8, 1985.
Jean Laishley, 'Can comics join the multi-racial society?'
'Times Educational Supplement, Nov. 24, 1972.
John Heeley, 'Boys Comics: Violence Rules', The Sunday Times,
Feb. 27, 1983.
Cyril Hughes, 'The war game', Humanist, Vol. 83, May 1968.
Polly Toynbee (no title), The Guardian, Oct. 30, 1978.
Margarette Driscoll, 'Is YOUR daughter being brainwashed?',
Daily Mirror, March 7, 1983.
Laishley (1972), op. cit.
Bob Dixon, 'Comics. More Eek! than Tee Hee', in his (1977),
Catching them Young, Vol. 2 , p.46.
Campbell, F. and Campbell, M . , 'Comic Love', New Society,
No. 14, Jan. 3, 1963, p.24.
David Shayer, 'Warlord: images for the seventies', Use of
English, No. 27, Aut. 1975.
47
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
Julie Burchill, 'Prole Junkies', New Society, Vol. 70, No.
1147, Dec. 13, 1984, p.415.
Heeley (1983), op. cit.
George Armstrong, letter to the Sunday Times in reply to
Heeley (1983) - The Sunday Times,Mar. 6, 1983.
Ibid.
Without the original strips it is hard to judge such
opposing opinions. However, it is pointed out by another
correspondent to the Sunday Times that the depiction of the
'Human League' is uniformly negative, it is presented as an
extremist group which the strip's hero, 'Robo-hunter' Sam
Slade, is attempting to stop. It seems possible that such a
scenario is in fact a way of dealing with the psychology of
racism, a subject 2000AD has handled intelligently in the
past. Judge Dredd's struggles against futuristic cowboys
farming intelligent alien life, for example, was a clever
and worthy extension of the television serial Roots in the
late 1970s (2000AD, 'Programmes' (Numbers) 69-71, June 17thJuly 1st, 1978).
Roberts (1980), op. cit.
Connie Alderson, 'Love Comics', New Society, Mar. 30, 1967,
p .454.
Dixon (1977), op. cit., p.52.
Angela McRobbie, 'Jackie: an ideology of adolescent
femininity', CCCS Occasional Paper, 1975 - reproduced in B.
Waites, T. Bennett, G. Martin (1982) Popular Culture: Past
and Present.
Ibid., p.265.
Armand Mattelart and Ariel Dorfman (1973) How to Read Donald
Duck: Imperialst Ideology in the Disney Comic (see below,
Note 43).
I owe this information to Martin Barker, who has been
researching the developments in the British comics for some
years (see below). This picture is born out by interviews
with several of these figures in the Signals documentary
(Note 2) and in a recent issue of The Comics Journal
(Issue n o .122).
Martin Barker (1984), A Haunt of Fears: the Strange History
of the British Horror Comics Campaign and (1989) Comics:
Ideology , Power & the Critics.
Fredric Wertham (1954), Seduction of the Innocent.
See, for example, his article 'Comics' in School Librarian,
1953.
A concept which, as Barker points out in Comics (1989), pp.
92-116, has a long history. See the brief discussion of
the 'penny dreadful' campaign in the nineteenth century in
Chapter Four, below.
Barker also reveals that some of the campaign's key
orchestrators were actually members of the British Communist
Party. This is indicative of the inability of the British
Left, throughout its history, to come to terms with 'mass'
or 'popular' cultural production. It led to the absurd
situation whereby leading CP member Sam Aaronovitch could
cite great bastions of 'high' culture in a defensive
reaction to the 'threats' of American 'mass culture' - see
48
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
(1984), op. cit., p.21 (also below, Chapter Two).
'The Orphan', from A Haunt of Fear No.l, 1954. Reproduced
in Barker (1984), op. cit., pp.98-105.
Owen Dudley Edwards, 'Cow pie and all that', in Paul Harris
(ed. 1977) in The DC Thomson Bumper Fun Book.
Martin Barker, 'Dennis rules OK! Gnashee!', New Society, 13
November, 1980. Nicholas Tucker ('Comics', in (also ed.)
Suitable for Children, p. 83) and Ray Brown ('An Analysis of
Comics in Britain and their Possible Contribution to a
Visual Culture', in Alphons Silbermann and H.D. Dyroff
(1986 eds,) Comics and Visual Culture), also express
sympathetic attitudes to the 'thick ear trade' end of the
market. Tucker sees the characteristically 'ugly, lazy,
badly dressed and greedy' figures as 'a welcome balance to the
idealised characters [of] conventional literature for
children' (p.84). Brown, like Barker, stresses the
frequently honourable but thwarted intentions of the
characters: Dirty Dick actually tries to keep clean, etc.
(p.92).
Barker (1989), op. cit., Chapters Two and Three.
Vladimir Propp, 'The Structural and Historical Study of the
Wondertale', in (1984) Theory and History of Folklore,
trans. Ariadna and Richard Martin (ed. Anatoly Liberman);
Vladimir Volosinov (1973), Marxism and the Philosophy of
Language, trans. Ladislav Matejka and I.R. Titunik.
Barker (1989), op. cit., p.129.
Ibid., p.273.
Ibid., Chapter 10, 'The trouble with Dad: Bunty, Tracy, and
fantasy'.
Ibid., Chapter 13, 'Deconstructing Donald'. Mattelart's and
Dorfman's approach was a derivation of classic Frankfurt
School 'critical theory'. Their opening 'apology for
duckology' (1973, op. cit., p.25) echoes Horkheimer's and
Adorno's apology for taking the 'culture industry ... more
seriously than it would seem to deserve' (M. Horkheimer and
T. Adorno (1972), Dialectic of Enlightenment, trans. John
Curry, p.xvi). As P.J. Wilson has argued, the academic
rhetoric of their introduction, calculated as a pre-emptive
strike at anticipated criticism from Chile's right-wing
press, lends it an over-assertive tone which
unidimensionalises the comics and their reception
('Historietas and Fotonovelas: The Nature and Role of the
Mexican Comic', M. Phil, thesis, St. Peter's College,
Oxford, 1985, p.35). Cultural imperialism is seen to work
in one way only, and their examples, likewise, can have just
one interpretation. In addition to Barker's counter­
argument, Wilson points out that this book is wrongly
accepted as the authoritative work on the imperialism of
imported cheap American literature in Latin America, since
in Mexico, at any rate, the domestic product consistently
outsells U.S. imports (p.26). We could also identify a
certain irony in such claims for the effects of the comics,
given that Allende's 'Popular Unity' party was
democratically elected to government.
Barker's argument for studying the historical and
49
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
geographical specificity of the comic's readerships is
parallelled, to an extent, by Jean Franco's comparison of
Harlequin Romances and Mexican Popular Narrative', in Tania
Modleski (1986 ed.) Studies in Entertainment) ; and by Thomas
Andrae ('From Menace to Messiah: The History and Historicity
of Superman', in Donald Lazere (ed. 1987) American Media and
Mass Culture: Left Perspectives) who sees the changing roles
of Superman through the 1940s as politically mediated by the
rise and fall of Roosevelt's 'New Deal' politics.
Barker (1989), op. cit., p.275.
Ibid.
Matthew Arnold, 'Up to Easter', Nineteenth Century, XXI,
1887.
The electoral franchise was extended to skilled male urban
workers in the 1867 Second Reform Act and to male rural
workers in the Third Reform Act of 1884. It meant that
about 60% of the male adult population had the vote. Likeminded critics included E. Dicey, 'Journalism New and Old',
Fortnightly Review, XXXXII, 1905 and J. Haslam (1906) The
Press and the People. Novelist George Gissing captured the
essence of intellectual middle class fears of the capital to
be made from the reader's childish qualities. In New Grub
Street (1987 (1891)) the character Whelpdale proposes and
succeeds in transforming the fortunes of the magazine Chat by
renaming it Chit-Chat, limiting articles to two inches, and
aiming for the 'Board School' generation of the 'quartereducated ... the young men and women who can just read, but
are incapable of sustained attention', p.496. W.L. George
creates a similar picture in his (1920), Caliban, a clearly
intended fictionalised biography of Harmsworth. George was
a bitter ex-employee.
Arnold (1887), op. cit., p.638.
Proponents of the notion of the 1870 Education Act as the
key moment in the emergence of 'mass' literacy and a
corresponding range of products have included F. Williams
(1957), Dangerous Estate and H. Herd (1952), The March of
Journalism.
Williams gives the statistic that 'there were enough
literate adults in Britain in 1850 to buy more than the total
copies of the Daily Mirror now sold each day' - The Long
Revolution (1984 (1962)), p.200. Lawrence Stone puts the
estimated literacy rate for the male population of England
and Wales in 1840 at 66% - 'Literacy and Education in
England 1640-1900', Past and Present, No. 42, Feb. 1969,
pp.120-121. This is supported by Michael Sanderson, despite
qualifications for regional variations - (1983) Education,
Economic Change and Society in England 1780-1870,p .13.
Williams (1984), op. cit., pp.177-184.
Ibid., p.224.
James Curran, 'The press as an agency of social control: an
historical perspective', in Boyce, G . , Curran, J., and
Wingate, P. (eds., 1978), Newspaper History from the 17th
Century to the Present Day, pp.68-69,
Ibid., p .72 .
See Stuart Hall, 'Notes on deconstructing the popular', in
50
Raphael Samuel (1981 ed.) People's History and Socialist
Theory.
51
PART I
In Chapters Two and Three I make a case for using a derivation of
the Gramscian framework for analysing the class- and historical
specificity of the comics in the 1890s.
Chapter Two examines the principal schools of thought in
approaches to culture in Britain over the last thirty years 'culturalism' and 'structuralism1 - in terms of their differently
founded inadequacies in dealing with the historical dimension to
popular culture.
Chapter Three looks at the particular historiographical
dilemmas in understanding the development of popular culture in
the nineteenth century.
I review some recent, innovatory
approaches to the history of 'leisure' and argue for the
application of the emerging theoretical paradigm to the
understanding of the comics as part of the emergent 'leisure
industry' at the end of the nineteenth century.
Finally I argue
for a peculiarly Gramscian formulation of this paradigm.
52
CHAPTER TWO
THEORY AND POPULAR CULTURE: A PROBLEM OF PERIODISATION
Over the past thirty years in Britain two opposed schools of
thought have vied to dominate the field of 'popular' cultural
theory.
These two schools can be characterised as having either
a 'structuralist' or a 'culturalist' trajectory.
The principal currents in cultural theory up to the 1950s
were generally concerned at the absence of a genuinely 'popular'
culture within capitalist social relations.
'Popular' could mean
different things, depending on the stance of the commentator.
On
the one hand, there was an Arnoldist exaltation of 'high' culture
combined with horror at the reader's apparent inability to resist
new forms of American-inspired cultural trash [1].
Arnold's
solution in the 1870s was the cultivation of a 'popular'
appreciation of this 'high' culture.
In the 1930s and '40s T.S.
Eliot's and F.R. Leavis' opposition to the dehumanising
homogeneous products of industrialised society generated an
alternative vision of 'popular' culture which was actually an
idealised and romanticised version of 'pre-industrial' organic
rural communities [2].
On the left there was a degree of pessimism at the weakness
of working class resistance to the imposition of bourgeois
cultural forms, a pessimism which stretched back to Tressell,
Masterman and Roberts at the turn of the century, and more
53
recently to Orwell himself in the 1930s and '40s [3].
British
Marxist writing on areas outside of economics per se was
dominated from the late 1940s on by the British Communist Party
Historians Group, set up by the economist Maurice Dobb.
Their
interest in culture stemmed, as their name implies, from an
investigation of the past rather than with any contemporary
analysis [4].
It was concerned with reinforcing a rigid
orthodoxy which would have made unfettered analysis of the
present fall foul of a need to hold to a rigid political 'line'.
As Barker shows in the case of the 'horror comics', the potential
distortion through this cultural outlook was made worse by a
tendency to construe all contemporary questions in the context of
the cold war - particularly in terms of trying to separate
Britain from its alliance with the US.
However, within the
historians group such luminaries as Christopher Hill, E.P.
Thompson, Eric Hobsbawm and others began to influence others who
were starting to write on aspects of specifically contemporary
culture.
This movement parallelled a similar development in the
sphere of 'cultural' theory per se, a movement led by Richard
Hoggart and Raymond Williams.
These figures did not self­
consciously operate within any coherent framework, but their work
has been characterised collectively by retrospective critics as
'the moment of 'culture''
[5] or 'culturalism'[6].
The essence of
the project, summed up by Thompson, was the rescue of an active,
politicised and consciously embryonic working class, defiant
within capitalist society, from 'the enormous condescension of
54
posterity'
[7].
The defiance of the imposition of capitalist
work relations was both 'economically' and 'culturally'
manifested.
Above all, the basis for analysis was the direct
records of those classes systematically omitted from official
histories, the records of 'experience'.
This analysis militated
against the notion of the absorption of imposed ideologies by
working class readers and audiences.
Rather,
'popular' or 'mass'
entertainments were mediated by a collective, peculiarly working
class and positive identity.
In the 1960s, however, this sort of approach came under
attack from the self-proclaimed 'new Left'.
Perry Anderson [8]
made the first assault on Thompson's basic premise of a nascent
working class in the early nineteenth century increasingly
politicised by the experience of economic conditions.
Anderson
resurrects the issue of the failure of the Left in Britain as an
unanswered historiographical dilemma.
Plotting Thompson on a
continuum with a 'blanketing English fog'
[9] of centuries of
empiricism which have eliminated the visibility of historical
reality, Anderson rejects the notion that a coherent working
class movement ever emerged at all in the nineteenth century.
He
sees this failure as a function of the failure of the middle
classes to establish their own identity as the 'capitalist'
class, apart from a residual paternalistic social order.
A
consequently 'supine bourgeoisie' conditioned a 'subordinate
proletariat'.
The ensuing exchanges between Thompson and Anderson evolved
into a debate over the elaboration of theory for historical
explanation.
Posited on the direct record of 'experience' as the
55
basis for narrativised history, Thompson's anti-theoretical
position is attacked by Richard Johnson as a form of 'socialist
humanist history' which vehemently denies the application of
theory while actually working within the theoretical position of
historiographical realism, the ability of the past to speak for
itself [10].
Gareth Stedman Jones explains that 'history is an
entirely intellectual operation that takes place in the present
and in the head'
[11].
Thompson's narrative of working class
resistance to the onset of capitalism, with climactic highlights
and troughs, is set in opposition to a non-evolutionary picture
of continuity in the failures of bourgeoisie and proletariat
alike to emerge as the oppositional forces under capitalism.
Consequently, the trajectory in cultural understanding initiated
by Anderson stresses the inability of the working class reader to
resist ideologies imposed from above in terms of any collective
identity.
It was closely related to the 'structuralist' approach
to culture which reached a peak of influence in the 1970s.
In
order to gain a theoretical perspective on the history of the
comic, we need to deal, in turn, with the basic tenets of each
approach with regard to 'popular' entertainments.
'Culturalism' and 'Popular' Entertainments
The 'culturalist' approach is shot through with the problem of
relating forms of 'popular1 reading to the evolution of 'class'
and 'cultural' identities.
Richard Hoggart's The Uses
of Literacy (1957), one of the earliest of these works,
illustrates the problems well.
56
Hoggart attempted, with a revelatory and argumentative air,
to prove the existence of a vibrant, 'lived' urban working class
culture founded on a 'muscular tradition of speech'
[12], the
communality of neighbourhood [13], a fiercely exclusive selfidentity [14], a hedonistic rejection of middle class variants of
deferred gratification and a cultivated respectability in the
ever-virginal front room and 'Sunday best' clothes.
And having
established the authenticity of this world, he tried to gradate
popular magazines according to their veracity in reflecting the
opinions and activities of 'ordinary lives'.
In these aims,
Hoggart represents a considerable advance on various
condemnations of such magazines as alienating impositions on the
proletarian victims of a dehumanising industrial society.
However, his distinctions between the 'true-to-life'
magazines and those which work through the sensationalist
manipulation of the reader by 'endless inflation and distortion
of angle' [15] are always somewhat arbitrary.
His reconstruction of 'working class' life is achieved
largely through the record of personal olfactory and tactile
sensations. It becomes more real by his own recollection of the
sound, feel and especially the smells:
urine - dog, cat, and human'
[16].
'the pervasive aura of
This subjectivity carries
through to the analysis of the magazines.
When he cites some of
the older women's magazines as 'still have[ing] a felt sense of
the texture of life in the group they cater for' [17], this
status is as much to do with their aged feel and smell as the
contents: they
57
'can often be recognized by their paper, a roughly
textured newsprint which tends to have a smell strongly evocative to me now, because it is also that
of the old boys' magazines and comics - of something
slightly damp and fungoid' [18] .
Certain magazines are woven into its fabric by virtue of
age, feel and smell while others are alien, manipulative threats
- they are smooth, odourless and 'new'.
The generalisation from
subjective physical sensation obfuscates historical understanding
both of the culture and of its reading matter.
This is a
reconstructed 'traditional' world where exact origins are
obscure.
Furthermore, Hoggart's periodisation is distinctly
problematic. Peg's Paper, Secrets and other women's magazines,
about twenty years extinct, are grouped with music-hall performer
Marie Lloyd from the 1890s, the Sweeney Todd serial (from 1850 in
its earliest form), and the Sunday newspaper, News of the World,
from the 1840s.
These are held in opposition to the 'new', post­
war titles, as though they were not subject in any degree to
similar commercial influences or pressures, and as though the
social conditions or class relations surrounding their various
origins were identical.
In a defensive reaction to elitist
notions of 'culture' and elitist literary criticism, Hoggart
ironically homogenises those titles he defends, as he likewise
groups the object of his attack as one, without contextualising
them in any social-structural or historical pattern.
The former
are part of a 'way of life', the latter a threat to induce 'a
passive visual taking-on'.
Hoggart embodies a different problem to Thompson in the use
58
of 'experience' as the basis for analysis.
Thompson weaves the
records of others into an historical narrative.
Hoggart expands
his subjective observations into an historical continuity of
working class 'traditions' and categorises the magazines
according to a discontinuity of 'new' and 'old', which have no
precise historical time spans and do not correspond to empirical
evidence.
'Working class culture' is something unitary and
coherent which stands apart from relationships of power and
exploitation, and likewise, popular magazines are abstracted from
any network of class and therefore power relations.
Somewhat
like Orwell's analysis of the 'boys' weeklies', certain of these
magazines are seen as manipulated and manipulative media for the
elite, but it is not clear how these manipulations are effected.
Raymond Williams' early work, by contrast, tackled both the
broad issue of the definition of 'culture' and the tasks of
analysing the trajectories of forms of 'popular' entertainments
in terms of historically shifting social relations.
Beginning,
as with Hoggart, with the anti-elitist position that 'culture'
must include the 'ordinary', Williams' analyses were much less
subjective, and were elaborated into an explanatory framework of
his 'The Long Revolution'.
The press and popular literary forms
are contextualised in a complex of political, economic,
technological and institutional changes in industry, culture and
democracy which together contributed to the 'growth of the
society'.
For example, his analysis of the popular publishing boom in
the 1840s links the 'commercial exploitation of culture' by
speculators who had no direct literary input into their products,
59
with technological improvements to printing and a new
distributive network in the railways.
for 'mass' production and distribution.
These provided the means
A new climate of
political reformism manifested in the factory legislation and
'enlightened public provision' of parks, museums etc, made the
growing reading public more receptive to non-politicised forms of
reading.
This is a history of the 'meanings' and 'ideals' of
different classes working in tandem towards democratic progress.
The political reforms and the emergence of a consciously
apolitical, 'lighter' literature are class-mediated thus: 'the
aristocratic ideals tempering the harshness of middle-class
ideals at their worst; working-class ideals entering into a
fruitful and decisive combination with middle class ideals at
their best'
[19].
Williams moved the culturalist trajectory in a more
precisely historicist direction, but his framework of the 'long
revolution' assumes, as with Hoggart, that class identities
developed in the late nineteenth century as unitary entities, and
that the social democratic process was a progressive negotiation
of inter-class differences.
This negotiation is, then, refracted
through the various forms of popular reading.
All of these early 'culturalist' works are also
characterised by an imprecision of analytical category.
Thompson and Williams,
'ideology',
In
'ideals', 'consciousness' and
'value systems' are variously used to describe the emerging
cultural identities of the different classes, but because they
60
are not woven into a theoretical framework for the explication of
class relations in the nineteenth century, their exact meanings
are never clearly defined and they are variable in different
contexts.
Consequently, there is a degree of arbitrariness to
the understanding of the 'ideologies' in forms of popular
reading, and of how they are grounded in social relations.
What is at issue in the anti-culturalist arguments is the
validity of this picture of coherent class identities, for it is
predicated on an assumption of conscious class subjects fighting
the causes of oppositional class interests, and these are
expressed through directly conflicting 'ideologies' or 'values'.
For Williams, popular reading was part of a process of the active
negotiation of these 'ideologies' or 'values'.
The anti-
culturalist position attempted to minimise or eliminate human
action and volition from class struggle, and in attempting to
explain a continuous social stability from the nineteenth century
it elaborated a theory of 'ideology' in which the concept ceased
to be an expression of the interests of social classes or
factions and became a legitimation of existing social relations
which encompasses the entire social spectrum.
The principal
architect in this review of 'ideology' was French marxist Louis
Althusser.
Structuralism and 'Ideology'
Althusser's reworking of the classic marxist base/superstructure
model, like that of the British 'culturalists' in the '50s and
'60s, was an effort to avoid variants of a crude economism.
elaborated a theory of knowledge and ideology posited on the
He
61
belief that ideology has real effects on the social world, as
opposed to constituting a 'mirror world' of social relations.
This move away from 'economism', however, works against every
principle of the culturalist thesis.
He rejects humanism as non­
materialist idealism [20]; empiricism as a practical
impossibility, by using Lacan's theory of the fragmented self to
argue that 'experience' is invariably an artificial
reconstruction, and therefore constitutes misrecognition of
reality; finally, he dismisses the 'conception of historical time
characterised by a homogeneous continuity' central to historicism
[21].
'Knowledge' is separated from 'object' and ideology, in
appearance 'a body of ideas which stand in some relationship of
adequacy to their objects'
relationship of inadequacy.
[22], in reality stands in a
Terry Lovell summarises the position
thus :
'Individuals ... do not make history. Subjects are
merely the necessary "supports" for a world they had no
hand in making. The social role of ideology is the
constitution of subject-supports of the right kind, in
the space allotted them in a pre-given structure of
social relations' [23],
Althusser's anti-humanist and anti-historicist influence was
not confined to the sphere of marxist historiography.
His own
analysis of mass communications reduces institutions of the mass
media to 'ideological state apparatuses'
[24],
And the
development of his marxism ran in tandem with the emergence of
structuralism as the dominant framework for media criticism.
Within film theory structuralism identified the narrative form of
the film itself as ideological.
The 'discursive practices' of
62
'realist' films inscribe the viewer in a 'closed' text, so that
recognition of truth is in fact misrecognition.
The remedy, as
proposed by critics like Wollen [25], is to draw attention to the
film's 'signifying practices', the act of film-making must itself
be an exercise in revealing the world behind the camera, and
therefore must become an 'open', 'revolutionary' text.
However as Bill Nichols has argued [26], this emphasis on
the digital aspect of visually communicative media is at the
expense of their analogical functioning, ie. a universal
grammatical structure is imposed on media where style is a
determining and variable factor.
The identification of perfectly
coherent, ideologically structured forms is akin to Althusser's
insistence on a static 'social structure' with well-oiled parts
running in smooth symbiosis.
As such it is an extension of a
basically anti-marxist functionalism without any possibility of
recognition of the contradictions in the social formation.
As
Terry Lovell argues, Althusserian-related analyses become the
'exclusive preserve of an intellectual and priveleged elite'
[27].
While this is a fairly cursory overview of structuralist
analyses, it is sufficient to make the following point.
Culturalists may well have over-estimated the efficacy of selfconscious working class organisation, the degree to which a
separate, positive 'working class culture' could emerge, and
consequently confused the position of popular communicative forms
with regard to that culture.
However, structuralism's
inscription of the producer and consumer within the 'text' is
63
anti-humanist and ahistorical.
It climbs the intellectualised
spiral of its own language in the search for signifiers in the
commodity, but ultimately, as Lillian Robinson (1986) argues, it
reveals its own 'consumerist obsession with the cultural
artifacts themselves'
[28].
Culturalism has a more variable
vocabulary and has a more exploratory air than the arrogance of
structuralism, but its insistence on the primacy of recorded
experience makes for theoretical inadequacy [29].
The basic point is that the explication of historical
trajectories for forms of popular reading is frustrated in both
approaches.
One lacks a framework for contextualising the
evolution of popular literary forms in terms of shifting class/
power relationships.
The other assumes a static structure of
class relations which is unproblematically legitimated in such
forms.
It is important to situate the difficulties in approaches
to the comics within these broader theoretical problematics.
The status of the comic as children's reading has to a large
extent conditioned a range of simplistic studies, both the comics
themselves and the inadequacies of these studies are indicative
of the problems facing theoretical explanation and the failings
of existing theories.
The central problem with these approaches is their inability
to explain the transformations which took place in popular
culture towards the end of the nineteenth century.
Structuralism
may eschew historical analysis, but its influence in the 1970s
was surely based on Anderson's vision of 'supine bourgeoisie' and
'subordinate proletariat' in the nineteenth century.
It has been
shown that Hoggart's celebration of a 'traditional' working class
64
culture in the 1950s was in fact a celebration of features of
working class life which only originated in the late nineteenth
century.
They were, moreover, features of an increasingly
conservative working class [30].
Most of the magazines he
praises for their 'down-to-earth1, 'true-to-life' character have
their roots in this period.
Neither 'culturalism' nor
'structuralism' can explain the way that such titles relate to
changes in class relations at this time, more precisely to the
unanswered question of manipulation or 'social control'.
For
this reason I would see them as unequal to task of explaining the
origins of the comics.
In order to elaborate some framework for
understanding these early comics we need to look more closely at
the apparent conservatism of the working class in the late
nineteenth century, the inability of the bourgeoisie to escape
the residual influence of the aristocracy and how these relate to
'manipulation' in popular entertainments.
65
CHAPTER TWO - NOTES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Matthew Arnold (1869), Culture and Anarchy - reprinted in
P.G. Keating (ed., 1987), Matthew Arnold: Selected Prose, pp.
202-300.
F.R. Leavis (1930), Mass Capitalism and Minority Culture;
T.S. Eliot (1948; rpt. 1962), Notes Towards a Definition of
Culture.
Novelist Robert Tressell's (1914) The Ragged Trousered
Philanthropists exemplified the pessimism of the left in the
early twentieth century. Charles Masterman bemoaned the
extensive working class support for the Boer War campaign
in (1901), The Heart of the Empire - cited in Gareth Stedman
Jones, 'Working-Class Culture and Working-Class Politics in
London, 1870-1900; Notes on the Remaking of the WorkingClass', Journal of Social History, Vol. 7, Summer 1974, p.
460.
In the Depression of the 1930s, George Orwell claimed
that 'during the past dozen years the English working class
have grown servile with a horrifying rapidity' - (1987
(1937)), The Road to Wigan Pier, p. 111. 'Boys' Weeklies'
was fairly typical of Orwell's and his predecessors'
ambivalent attitudes to the working class subject - an
admiration for the rich, long-established culture and an
abhorrence of their susceptibility to manipulation. 'Boys'
Weeklies' suggests that there is practically no resistance
to, or mediation of such manipulation by the 'lived' culture
of the reader.
See Perry Anderson (1983), In the Tracks of Historical
Materialism, pp.24-25.
Richard Johnson's phrase, from 'Histories of Culture/
Theories of Ideology: Notes on an Impasse', in Ideology and
Cultural Production (ed. M. Barrett, P. Corrigan, A. Kulin
and J. Wolff 1979), p.51.
Tony Bennett, among others, uses the phrase as a generic
label for this movement in cultural theory - see Bennett,
C. Mercer Woolacott (eds., 1986) Popular
Culture and Social Relations.
E. P. Thompson (1963; rpt. 1980), The Making of the English
Working Class 1890-1932, p.12.
Perry Anderson, 'Origins of the Present Crisis', New Left
Review, No. 23, 1964.
Ibid., p .31
Richard Johnson, 'Thompson, Genovese and Socialist Humanist
History', History Workshop no. 6, (1978), pp.79-100.
Gareth Stedman Jones, 'From Historical Sociology to
Theoretical History', British Journal of Sociology, 27,
1976, p.296.
Richard Hoggart (1957; rpt. 1986) The Uses of Literacy, p.
28.
Ibid., pp.33-71
Ibid., pp.72-101
Ibid., p.203
66
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
Ibid., p .65
Ibid., p.121
Ibid., p.122
Raymond Williams (1962; rpt. 1984), The Long Revolution, p.
80.
See S. Clarke 'Althusserian Marxism1, in One Dimensional
Marxism (1980, Clark, S., Seidler, V. J. Robins, K.,
McDonald, K. and Lovell, T.), p.5.
Ibid. p .47
Ibid.
Terry Lovell, 'The Social Relations of Cultural Production:
Absent Centre of a New Discourse', in ibid., p.238.
Louis Althusser, 'Ideological State Apparatuses' in (1971)
Lenin and Philosophy.
Peter Wollen (1969), Signs and Meaning in the Cinema.
Bill Nichols, 'Style, Grammar, and the Movies', in (ed. 1976)
Movies and Methods Vol. 1
Terry Lovell (1980), op. cit., p .241.
Lillian S. Robinson 'Criticism: Who Needs It?', in her
(1986) Sex, Class and Culture
As for the latest, 'post-structuralist' approaches, I find
these an exaggeration of the most negative aspects of
structuralism, grounded even more strongly in Lacan's notion
of the 'fragmented self'.
This was the thesis elaborated by Jones in his influential
(1974) article, 'Working Class Culture ...', op. cit.
67
CHAPTER THREE
CULTURE AND CLASS IN LATE VICTORIAN BRITAIN
Retracing the 'supine bourgeoisie1 and 'subordinate proletariat':
the 'labour aristocracy' thesis
The explanation for the apparent conservatism of the working
class in the late nineteenth century has been dominated by the
'labour aristocracy' thesis.
Eric Hobsbawm's (1954) revival of Lenin's concept [1] was,
in its original form, an economic explanation for the decline of
working class political organisation.
He saw the vanguard of the
Chartist movement 'bought off' by employers through various
privileges on the factory floor.
This has since evolved into a
heavier stress on the carrot of respectability attached to the
persistence of a semi-medieval 'artisanal' status for these
higher wage labourers, and their achievement of institutional
standing in various types of club or society [2].
Hoggart's
working class 'traditions', then, have actually been identified as
aspects of a depoliticised working class in the late nineteenth
century.
With either an 'economic' or 'cultural' emphasis, the
implicit assumption of an active bourgeoisie intent on 'social
control' is as such continuous with Thompson's thesis, and it was
the essence of this argument that Anderson was attacking.
68
However, the 'labour aristocracy' thesis has been mooted in
various forms which complicate Hobsbawm's and Anderson's
arguments.
This is partly a function of the actual variety in
experience among skilled labourers, depending on time and place,
and this militates against generalisations [3],
There was some
complexity in every sphere with respect to the ways that
privilege was awarded, or won by bargaining on the factory floor,
and this confuses the picture of skilled labourers being 'bought
off' by employers.
Robert Gray's review of the literature surrounding the
'labour aristocracy' suggests that it is more at the 'cultural'
level that any homogeneity can be perceived.
However, although
he identifies the same aspects of 'respectability' that Hobsbawm
more recently stresses, it is seen to be permeated by
contradictions which are bound up with the broader complexity of
class relations within the factory.
The concept of 'respectability', broadly equivalent to
autonomy and self-control, or the ability to provide comfortably
for oneself and family, can be seen in part as a filtering
downwards of bourgeois attitudes.
To this extent, it was
principally manifested in the widespread adoption of the ideals
of domesticity by better-waged artisans: the domestication of
women and the desire for home ownership.
Yet although this was
encouraging to middle class reformers, these ideals were seen by
those who adopted them as a means to independence from those very
reformers.
In the working men's clubs, which organised schemes
69
for home ownership, there was a long-running battle between
members and middle-class patrons for control [4].
It was through
such institutions, along with friendly societies and co­
operatives, that an identity was forged, both self-assertive
within legitimate limitations and expressive of a broader
idealism rooted in Chartism.
The ambivalences and contradictions
in these forms of organisation suggest some complexity to the
apparent conservatism of the 'labour aristocrats'.
'Rational Recreationism'
If the conservatism and depoliticisation of the working classes
is in doubt, likewise the issue of whether the bourgeoisie ever
fully established itself as the 'capitalist' class intent on
'social control' is itself problematic.
Patrick Joyce has argued that the persistence of certain
crafts in the factories was matched in many cases by the
persistence of pre-capitalist work relations, since many gentried
Tory families which turned to manufacturing in the mid-nineteenth
century transferred an already "legitimate" and "natural"
paternalism to their dealings with the workers [5].
Richard
Price has directly countered this view with the argument that the
workplace was the site of well-orchestrated resistance to the
onset of capitalism [6].
However, Joyce's study complicates the
issue of who that capitalist class consisted of.
Not merely the
'middle class', it had a strong aristocratic element.
This could
provoke ambivalent attitudes from workers.
The attempted upper class patronage of the working men's
clubs was part of a broader programme for 'social' control in the
70
cultural integration of the classes through the sort of symbolic
media of shared institutions.
Paradoxically, however, it was
grounded in an effort to emulate their aristocratic betters in
social cohesion through the paternalistic control of leisure
pursuits.
From the 1850s onwards there was a series of articles
in the quarterly and monthly 'review' journals on the
opportunities for social control through organised,
recreation.
'rational'
Bailey (1978) and Cunningham (1981) [7] see the
attempts to replace cultural hangovers from pre-industrial times
(like the unofficial 'St. Monday holiday) with managed leisure
venues and times (the bank holidays in the 1870s), as part of a
new philanthropic emphasis on inter-class participation through
the patronage of existing popular activities.
However, as with the patronage of the clubs, these efforts
were a series of failures, however.
Bailey emphasises that
working class resistance to this programme of control was
indirectly expressed by the middle-class established Football
Association allowing the ultimate concession of professionalism
in 1885 [8].
Of equal importance, Cunningham argues that
'rational recreation' actually negates the ideals of capitalism.
Its feudal, paternalistic language and the latent 'wish to escape
back into a simpler patron-client kind of society'
[9] bore no
relation to the realities of class relations in the nineteenth
century.
71
Bourgeoisie and Aristocracy
This observation is significant, for it reinforces Martin
Wiener's argument that the English bourgeoisie never established
a separate identity as the capitalist class.
Rather, its history
after 1850 is of a 'decline of the industrial spirit'
[10].
Wiener plots the 'consolidation of a "gentrified" bourgeois
culture'
[11] through the hangover of the social and
psychological limits imposed by a flexible aristocracy.
Extending Joyce's thesis, Wiener argues the increasing influence,
from the 1840s, of landowners investing in mines, canals,
railways etc. on the ascendant middle class.
The effects were
psychological: a dismayed Richard Cobden exclaimed that
'manufacturers and merchants as a rule seem only to desire riches
that they be enabled to prostrate themselves at the feet of
feudalism'
[12].
These also had practical effects, in the sense
of 'persistent economic retardation'
[13].
The growing range of
middle-class professionalism, especially in the south, retreated
from commitment to industrial development.
The 'world's
workshop' at the time of the Great Exhibition in 1851 became
Kipling's vision of a land of 'trees and green fields and mud and
the gentry' in 1902 [14].
This was an imaginary picture of
course, but a practically restraining one.
At both 'economic'
and 'cultural' levels, therefore, the middle class was restrained
by the residual power of the aristocracy.
Yet, this pseudo-aristocratic self-elevation by the middle
class was not merely a negative counterweight to the unbridled
logic of capitalism.
It had a creative impulse towards social
72
stability in the wake of the serious revolutionary threat of
Chartism in the 1830s and '40s.
The factory legislation in the
'40s, which began a series of social reforms running to the end
of the century, initiated a period of 'moralized capitalism'
[15]. It was a peculiarly English combination of residual,
paternalistic aristocratic influence and of a middle class acting
in the rational interests of preserving capitalism.
Ultimately
it was to evolve into the more organic political understandings
of social relations in the emerging political ideologies of 'new
liberalism', 'social imperialism' and 'Fabianism' at the end of
the century (see below).
'Rational recreationism' was likewise
permeated by a language of class conciliation, reminiscent of a
feudal model, which bore no relation to contemporary reality, and
was a heavily romanticised version of feudalism.
The evidence of
resistance to this project suggests that it was ultimately
unsuccessful. Yet the demise of Chartism, and the relative
political stability of the post-1850 period suggest some sort of
compromise in class relations along the lines of Williams' (1962)
formulation in The Long Revolution (see above).
However,
Williams' social democratic model is unequal to a full
explanation of these internal, mutual and shifting class tensions
at every social level.
The struggle for hegemony
The theoretical model employed by Gray (1981) and Cunningham
(1981) is a derivation of Antonio Gramsci's concept of
'hegemony', and their use of this analytical concept is
representative of a broader development in popular cultural
73
studies [16].
Gramsci's theoretical concept was developed during his
imprisonment under Mussolini in Italy in the 1920s as a means of
exploring the cultural dimension to social stability in an
historical context.
It has been revived, not as an all-inclusive
explanatory framework, but as a way of resolving the mutual
exclusivity and historical confusion engendered by both
structuralist and culturalist paradigms.
In essence, Gramsci's
version of hegemony meant the 'moral, cultural, intellectual and,
thereby, political leadership over the whole of society1 [17] of
a class within an alliance of class fractions.
This was,
firstly, a more culturally oriented version of the concept as
used by Marx and Lenin.
Gramsci concentrated on the development
of middle class hegemony in the nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries through the evolution of the concept of the 'state'.
And he advanced further by emphasising the duality of 'coercion'
and 'consensus' in this achievement.
This duality has been
vulgarised by opponents of the Gramscian model as a crude variant
of a theory of 'social control', with overtly functionalist
underpinnings, and which loses the issue of class struggle en
route [18].
Against this position it is argued that this duality
actually provides a point of entry to unravelling the complexity
of class relations, in which the struggle is partly resolved, and
partly sublimated in the tensions undercurrent to bourgeois rule.
For Gramsci stresses the fluid, historical shifts in the struggle
for hegemony, the permanent threat to equilibrium, which
translates periodically into a 'crisis of authority':
74
'If the ruling class has lost its consensus, i.e. is no
longer 'leading' but only 'dominant', exercising
coercive force alone; this means precisely that the
great masses have become detached from traditional
ideologies, and no longer believe what they used to
believe previously, etc. The crisis consists precisely
in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be
born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid
symptoms appear' [19].
The 'crisis of authority' is not merely resolved by the use of
repressive forces, or through an accomodating adjustment to
dissenting voices by the hegemonic elite.
The process of
readjustment of the current hegemony is achieved through a
renegotiation of class relations in every sphere.
It is a
negotiation that is as much won from below as conceded from
above.
This model, as I have outlined it, still suggests a fairly
static picture of opposing, conscious classes without internal
dynamics of change.
It is, however, its flexibility, its
versatility in explaining the uneven and fluid power
relationships in historical change that is its essential
strength.
Robert Gray's application of these ideas to explicate
the hegemonic shifts in Victorian Britain illustrates this point.
In 'Bourgeois hegemony in Victorian Britain', Gray argues
that the development of 'stable class rule [after 1850] depended
on the construction of a power bloc of allied, dominant classes
and fractions'
[20],
The coalition of forces in the power bloc
resulted from the 'organic crisis'
[21] of existent class
relations: failure to integrate the newly emergent and dominating
fraction in the bourgeoisie, industrial capital, and failure to
contain adequately the Chartist threat of the self-assertive
75
working class.
Within this power bloc, landowners continued to
exert a high degree of influence, despite the tensions up to and
following the 1832 Reform Bill.
But the 'hegemonic fraction’, to
be distinguished from the 'governing fraction', which includes
the intellectual agents of the state apparatus, was the
industrial bourgeoisie.
Through the superficially opposite, but
in reality twin arms of utilitarianism and evangelism (the former
reinforcing the neutral appearance of economic laws, while the
latter pushed the domestic ideal, religious observance and sexual
morality), the industrial bourgeoisie can be seen to have
dominated State structures and policy-making.
In addition, much
state control was delegated to local bodies - Gramsci's 'civil
society' - in which industrial capital dominated.
The formation of this power bloc cannot be seen, however, as
a rational, deliberate move by classes with perfectly coherent
ideologies.
Nor was it, as Perry Anderson argues, a 'symbiotic
fusion' of bourgeoisie and aristocracy, in which the former
conceded ideological supremacy to the latter.
It constituted, in
part, a resolution of the tensions between and within different
currents in developing class ideologies.
The continued
aristocratic presence in government had the apparent advantages
of inducing 'mass deference' and equivalence with the 'dignified
part of the constitution'.
It also had the contradictory aspect
that the opposition it provoked from radical workers and the
petty bourgeoisie bolstered support for demagogic bourgeois
politicians [22].
This contradiction is made retrospectively
more stark by the fact that it coexisted with bourgeois attempts,
76
through state agencies and through philanthropic efforts, to
exercise pseudo-aristocratic patronage of popular activities; and
in the domestic sphere, to cultivate a hybrid of landed
aristocratic behaviour and bourgeois moral integrity in a process
of gentrification.
We can see, then, that the constitution of the power bloc is
inevitably contradictory: it is 'constantly reconstituted,
modified, strengthened or undermined ...' [23],
The hegemony of
the dominant fraction is constantly renegotiated, compromised by
the various ideologies of the partners, and also by the
subordinate classes.
Gray's work on the institutions of the 'labour aristocracy'
and Cunningham's and Bailey's work on the sporting institutions
emphasise their ambivalent stance with regard to authorities, and
this ambivalence must be seen to be conditioned to some extent by
a radical resistance to the imposition of external controls and
by the complex ambivalences in those programmes of control.
Music hall and the emergence of 'mass' entertainments
This theoretical framework, based around the concept of hegemony,
allows us to weave the study of popular entertainments in the
nineteenth century into the resolution of these historiographical
dilemmas.
This is well-illustrated by recent studies of
Victorian music hall.
The music hall, which had its origins in the drinking
saloons and penny theatres in the 1840s, showed a marked trend
towards increasing 'respectability' from the 1860s onwards.
trend parallelled the institutionalisation of popular sports.
This
77
Peter Bailey has shown that while middle class attempts at
respectable alternatives to the halls generally failed, the
impetus for their reform actually came from the proprietors
themselves.
Seating was rearranged in rows and drinking was
prohibited as a means of disciplining for the audience.
The
'turn' system disciplined the 'stars'. And the acts show a
progression from the bawdy or politically radical in the '40s to
the vaguely naughty or pro-imperialist in the '90s.
Proprietors
even asked the Home Secretary for a form of legal censorship in
1876 [24].
Bailey remarks of this process from a 'class' to a
self-proclaimed apolitical 'mass' entertainment that
'the manipulations of the music hall entrepreneur
manifested a potential for defining and enforcing
socially appropriate behaviour - the rules of good
citizenship - which identify the emergent mass
entertainment industry as a conscious and effective
agency of rational recreation' [25],
Yet, despite the appearance of complete conformity to
'respectable' pressures from above, Bailey emphasises that in
both the managerial aspect and at the level of popular perception
- the personae adopted by the performers - the dictates of
rational recreation are negotiated in terms of a residual,
radical culture of working-class self-identity.
In the acts, attitudes to class and work were highly
ambivalent. The excesses of the toff, the pretensions of the
clerk and the 'innate laziness' of the unemployed were lampooned
simultaneously with contradictorily happy-go-lucky attitudes to
hierarchical work relations and exaltations of skiving.
The
heavy sentimentality of songs like 'My Old Dutch', sung in front
78
of a workhouse backdrop as the couple which had 'been together
for forty years' were to be separated by workhouse rules, could
induce tears or laughter.
Like many music-hall songs, it had the
double-edged appeal of striking a real and unpleasant chord in
popular memory, and alternatively a ridiculous, manufactured
'popular' memory which could be downright laughable, depending on
the mood of the audience.
'Follow the Van' told the (first-
person) story of a girl who loses her way by not following the
family furniture van after eviction.
Bailey's and Cunningham's understanding of music hall
suggest some complexity to this nascent 'mass' entertainment,
from management to performance.
These songs are a long way from
the radical Chartist poetry of the 1840s, but they show an
ambivalence to authority which was part of the contradictory
'common sense' understanding of reality.
This analysis stands in
stark contrast to Senelick's (1974) summation of the imperial
songs in the halls as the principal song type.
He claims that
the songs showed
'... very little evidence of innately popular feeling
on social issues ... on the other hand their
instrumentality in forming public opinion may have been
immense ... The politics absorbed by audiences under
the influence of Camaraderie, chorus-singing and
spirits, both high and alcoholic, was no doubt
superficial, but continued over the course of decades
to grow into a creed' [26],
In contrast to the notion of 'absorption' by audiences, Bailey
and Cunningham see the music hall as a medium for negotiating the
increasingly complicated class locations of the audience.
The
pro-imperialist songs were sung alongside songs which ridiculed
79
the dignity of hard work and pretensions to grandeur.
aspect of popular entertainment which Senelick misses.
It is this
If the
music hall can be seen as part of a new kind of distinctly
'working class' culture, it must not be read either as part of
Hoggart's 'tradition', to be uncritically celebrated, or as a
symptom of the subjection of the working class to bourgeois
'social control'.
It contributed to the reconstitution of
'common sense', geographically and historically specific to
working class Londoners in the late nineteenth century.
This
reconstitution involved both elements of consent to bourgeois
hegemony and dissent from bourgeois efforts at 'social control'
through codes of cultural behaviour as a counterpart to codes of
work relations.
By eliminating the element of conscious manipulation by
an ascendant bourgeoisie as the determining factor in every
instance, a more credible picture is formed of a hegemony
achieved in part through manipulation and, in varying degrees,
through the accomodation of different class interests, though not
expressed in monolithic 'working' or 'landowning' class terms.
Nor was it ever entirely successful.
The project of
gentrification by the middle classes, alongside the elevated
respectability of trades unions, and the extension of the
franchise in the 1867 and 1884 Reform Bills show on the one hand
a loss of 'industrial spirit' by those manipulative forces, and
on the other, the achievement of significant victories by the
working class through pressure from below.
The attempted
imposition of 'rational recreation' was likewise forced through
80
the persistence of 'pre-industrial' forms of leisure activity.
And the attempted conformity to respectability by music hall
management, as representative of commercial forces, does not
translate directly into the ultimate product, but must be set in
the context of the ambivalent elements in the songs.
Therefore,
if in broad terms the post-1850 period saw the hegemony of an
ascendant bourgeoisie, it was undercut by tensions and threats
across the social spectrum and in every sphere of economic,
political and cultural activity.
While these studies have gone some distance in relating
certain popular cultural activities to broader tensions in class
relations, the sphere of popular reading in the nineteenth
century remains largely untouched.
We have seen how a theory of
'social control' has been forwarded as an explanation for the
development of the 'popular' press at the end of the century.
I
would like now to contest this explanation for the development of
the press and other forms of popular reading, based on these new
developments in 'leisure studies'. A recent paper by Peter
Bailey is particularly useful in this regard.
Leisure, Text and Social History
Bailey's (1989) review of the sphere of 'leisure studies' over
the past fifteen years [27] takes up Gareth Stedman Jones'
(1983)
argument that the analysis of 'leisure' either as a form of
'social control' or 'class expression' is a redundant avenue of
inquiry [28].
Bailey argues that if, indeed,
81
'popular leisure in the late [nineteenth] century may
have restabilized as a newly customary round of
pleasures pursued amid various communities of place and
interest ... it can also be represented as a more plastic
pattern of experience, subjective as well as social,
moving across a more dispersed, discontinuous, and
typically more urbanized field of action, with shifting
thresholds of inclusion and exclusion, identity and
status' [29].
Moreover, if leisure became more 'homogenised', it also became
more 'atomized'.
This is an extension of his earlier theses on
forms of Victorian leisure - sports and music hall.
While he
stresses the 'atomized' nature of leisure and its part in an
increasingly 'pluralist culture', he qualifies this with the
argument that 'the material and cultural determinations of class
remain inescapable, their outlines still articulated beneath the
blanket categories of putative mass or common cultures'
[30],
The most important element of Bailey's paper is the
recognition that the 'characteristic mode' of popular leisure at
the end of the nineteenth century 'became that of performance'.
The analysis of the dynamics in 'leisure as text and performance'
[31] provides a means of understanding broader changes in social
relations, for these modes of leisure consumption can be read as
media for the negotiation of class identity for their consumers readers and audience.
Bailey's analysis of music hall songs and
performances constitutes one important application of this
approach.
Embedded within an apparently apolitical,
'mass'
entertainment is a complex negotiation of ambivalent working
class attitudes to the ascendant bourgeoisie.
Bailey has made an even more successful application of this
approach in his analysis of the late nineteenth century humourous
82
journal, Ally Sloper's Half-Holiday (1884-1923 - henceforth ASHH)
[32].
Bailey links the development of a regular cartoon
character in this journal (Ally Sloper) with the emergence of
distinct types in the music hall.
The difference is that Ally
Sloper actually incorporates a variety of social types in his
persona, so that he can be read in different ways by various
readers with different class-locations.
Even more so than the
music hall, he marks a transition to a self-proclaimed 'mass'
entertainment.
In the backdrops to his adventures, also, the
proliferation of new modes of leisure pursuit, he is a guide to
the promised democracy of shared leisure activities.
Yet Bailey
also shows that inherent in Sloper's populism there were certain
class-specific underpinnings.
His 'mass' appeal was likely to
register most with those classes which benefitted more from the
new political reforms: the 'lower middle class', and to a lesser
extent, the 'skilled working class' or 'labour aristocracy'.
He
encapsulated, in his visual realisation, his narrated adventures,
and in the ancillary components of the journal, both the feelings
of social elevation among these class fractions, and the unease
at their nevertheless uncertain status.
In this analysis, the
meaning of the 'mass' or 'inoffensive' entertainment is
complicated by the function of negotiating class identities.
ASHH, as analysed by Bailey, can be seen to
negotiate an increasingly coherent bourgeois project for
social control.
The liberalisation of the press and the new
legislation governing leisure must be seen as part of a history
of reformist legislation, including the various factory acts and
83
electoral reform, which evolved through the late nineteenth
century into a recognisable political programme of collectivism.
It was a programme which was realised in the different political
ideologies of 'new liberalism',
'social imperialism' and
'Fabianism', but the essence of these ideologies was the same.
They constituted a significant move in middle class political
thought away from the tenets of 'laissez-faire' liberalism, which
saw social organisation in contractual terms, and towards an
understanding of capitalist social relations in organic terms.
This ideology of collectivism evolved from the fragmented efforts
at reform in a period of political crisis in the early 1840s.
It
was a coherently devised project for social leadership by the
ascendant bourgeoisie as the hegemonic fraction, and it
incorporated a degree of aristocratic paternalism.
I am not
arguing that this ideology is directly reflected in ASHH.
Rather, the antics of Ally Sloper both legitimate and
question the claims that this ideology was making for social
equalisation.
readers.
He digested them in an ambivalent way for his
He is a playful exercise which tends to blunt
the questions, but as with music hall the questioning, however
innocent, nevertheless indicates that for a 'popular' audience
the aspirations to social control of the ascendant bourgeoisie
were never received as wholly legitimate.
Those classes where
the tensions showed most were the 'lower middle' and 'skilled
working' classes.
The significance of Bailey's analysis of ASHH to my work
here is that ASHH was a direct forerunner to those titles which I
have deemed the 'first' comics.
There are numerous formal and
84
thematic continuities.
Moreover, I feel that there are
continuities in the specificity of their appeal to these class
fractions.
If, however, the music hall and ASHH did show
something of a genuine 'mass' appeal (there were West End halls
in London and there is evidence that Ally Sloper was actually a
cult figure in upper Bohemia (see Chapter Five)) I would argue
that the appeal of the comics was rather narrower in scope.
Even
more so than ASHH, they appealed to the expanding 'lower middle
class' in the negotiation of their social identity and position
in the 1890s rather than the '80s.
In conclusion to this section of the thesis, then, it is
necessary to outline a brief summary of the logic pursued here.
To begin with, I have adapted Barker's thesis on the
'conversational' nature of 'cultural objects'.
However, it has
been argued that this approach is unequal to the task of mapping
the historical evolution of 'popular cultural' forms and their
relations to specific classes and to the maintenance of power in
society.
Overviews of the major theoretical paradigms in British
cultural theory have revealed that these suffer from differently
founded difficulties in this same regard.
Through a return to
the roots of the problems, the origins of contemporary 'popular
culture' at the end of the nineteenth century, and through an
analysis of the approaches of 'social' and 'leisure' historians
to the subject, it is now proposed that only the application of a
theoretical framework based on the Gramscian formulation of
85
'hegemony1, coupled with the central tenet of Barker's approach,
will be adequate to the understanding of the early comics.
To begin this analysis, we must deal firstly with the
predecessors to the comics.
86
CHAPTER THREE - NOTES
1.
Eric Hobsbawn, 'The Labour Aristocracy in Nineteenth Century
Britain', originally 1954, reprinted in his Labouring Men
(1967) .
2.
Eric Hobsbawn (1984), World of Labour.
3.
On engineering, see J. Melling, 'Noncommissioned Officers:
British Employers and their Supervisory Workers, 1880-1920',
Social History, vol. 5, 1980. On building, see Robert Gray
(1976), The Labour Aristocracy in Victorian Edinburgh.
4.
Richard Price, 'The Working Men's Club Movement and
Victorian Social Reform Ideology', Victorian Studies, 15,
1971.
5.
Patrick Joyce (1980), Work, Politics and Society: the Culture
of the Factory in later Victorian England.
6.
Richard Price, 'The Labour Process and Labour History',
Social History, 8, p.452, 1983.
7.
Peter Bailey (1978) Leisure and Class in Victorian England;
Hugh Cunningham (1980), Leisure in the Industrial
Revolution.
8.
Bailey (1978), op. cit., p.142.
9.
Cunningham (1980), op. cit., p.171.
10. Martin J. Wiener (1981; rpt. 1987), English Culture and the
Decline of the Industrial Spirit 1850-1980.
11. Ibid., p.10.
12. Cited in ibid., p.14.
13. Ibid., p .10.
14. From a letter to C. E. Norton, 30 November 1902, quoted in
C.E. Carrington (1956), The Life of Rudyard Kipling. Cited
in Wiener (1987), op. cit. p.56.
15. Gareth Stedman Jones, 'Rethinking Chartism', in Languages
of Class, p.176.
16. This direction has been adopted most notably by the Open
University Popular Culture Course, led by Stuart Hall and
Tony Bennett.
17. Tony Bennett's summary definition of Gramsci's concept, from
'Introduction: popular culture and 'the turn to Gramsci',
Bennett et a l . (eds. 1986), p.xix.
18. See especially Gareth Stedman Jones, 'Class Expression
versus Social Control?', History Workshop, No. 4, Aut. 1977,
pp. 162-70, reprinted in (1983), op. cit.
19. Antonio Gramsci (1971), Selections from the Prison
Notebooks (ed. Q. Hoare and G. Nowell-Smith), p.275.
20. Robert Gray, 'Bourgeois hegemony in Victorian Britain', in
T. Bennett, G. Martin, C. Mercer, J. Woollacott (1981,
eds.), Culture, Ideology and Social Process, p.238.
21. Ibid. For Gramsci's concept of 'organic crisis' see (1971), op.
cit., p p .201-11.
22. Ibid., p.243.
23. Ibid., p.242.
24. Bailey (1978), op. cit., p.165,
25. Ibid., p.168.
26. L. Senelick, 'Politics as entertainment: Victorian music-
87
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
hall songs', Victorian Studies, Vol. XIX, 1974, pp., 155156.
Peter Bailey, 'Leisure, culture and the historian: reviewing
the first generation of leisure historiography in Britain1,
Leisure Studies, Vol. 8, No. 2, 1989.
Jones (1977), op. cit.
Bailey (1989), op. cit., p. 121.
Ibid.
Ibid, p.122
Peter Bailey 'Ally Sloper's Half-Holiday: Comic Art
in the 1980s', History Workshop, 16, 1983.
88
PART II
Chapters Four, Five and Six examine some of the forerunners to
the early comics.
This examination is based on the thesis that the arrival of
the comics constituted a third phase in the development of the
Victorian periodical press, the emergence of a self-procalimed
'mass' entertainment.
Chapter Four looks at the first of these 'phases'.
It is
argued that the expansion and changes in the periodical press in
Britain in the 1830s and '40s, specifically in terms of the
'depoliticisation' of periodical publishing from one decade to
the next, can be seen as a negotiation of the emergence of a new
kind of political ideology.
This ideology was part of a new
concept of class conciliation under the hegemonic leadership of
the Victorian bourgeoisie.
Chapters Five and Six concentrate on Ally Sloper's HalfHoliday (1884) as an intermediate phase between the above and the
development of the comics in the '90s.
It is maintained that
this development can be read as an advance from the earlier phase
of expansion in periodical publishing in its negotiation of the
more coherently structured political ideologies of the '80s and
'90s as part of the reconstitution of a peculiarly 'lower middle
class' sensibility.
89
CHAPTER FOUR
THE ORIGINS OF THE COMICS: THE VICTORIAN PERIODICAL PRESS
In order to understand the nature of the 'comics', in the form in
which they first appeared, we need to examine the evolution of
the satirical journal in the nineteenth century.
Moreover, we
must situate its development within the broader history of the
Victorian periodical press.
The first comics, as pointed out
above, were collections of miscellaneous elements which were
drawn from different types of publication, so the emergence of the
comic as a type of satirical journal cannot be seen in isolation
from other developments in periodical publishing.
To establish the context within which the comics emerged we
must return firstly to that period which saw the broadest
expansion in popular publishing in the nineteenth century: the
1830s and '40s.
We can use the term 'periodical' almost in a
generic sense because this period saw an expansion in every
sphere of periodical publishing, from the middle class
intellectual 'review' journals, through the working class radical
newspaper, the miscellaneous 'family' magazine, the Sunday
newspaper and the satirical journal.
Moreover, we can detect a
distinct progression in these years from overtly politicised
reading in the '30s to a range of self-professed apolitical
journals.
As Raymond Williams (1962) has pointed out, this
90
development can be read, to an extent, as the origination of the
modern 'popular' press, in that it led to a new range of titles
which pitched themselves at the broadest possible readership
irrespective of class or politics [1].
And it is in this
development that we can trace the origins of the comics.
In
order to elaborate this, we must deal, therefore, with issues
of political change and the class-mediated nature of the
'popular' periodical in general in this period, before looking
more specifically at the satirical journal.
The Growth of the Periodical Press, 1830-1850
Louis James' work [2] constitutes the only in-depth body of work
on this period.
James has always emphasised two factors in the
expansion of periodical publishing in the 1830s: the growth of
the working class radical movement after the 1832 Reform Act
which had drawn many middle class radicals to the as yet limited
parliamentary democracy; and the increasing urbanisation of
Britain, to the extent that by 1851, over half the population of
England and Wales were living in towns and cities.
Among the working class, self-education and literacy were
elevated to an equivalence with emancipation, partly through the
influence of radicalism in the 1830s.
Carlile, editor of the
Republican (1819-26), claimed that 'the art of Printing is a
multiplication of mind'
[3] and such concrete, mechanical
metaphors were mixed with the veneration of printing as an almost
magical path to liberation [4].
This equation, perfectly
focussed in the most famous slogan of the period,
'Knowledge is
91
Power'
[5], had very real political roots which allowed it to
work.
The roots of the association of literacy and emancipation
stretch back to the Seditious Publications Act of December 1819,
an unmitigatedly repressive measure designed overtly to destroy
the new range of cheap working class weeklies which had been
spawned by the social unrest following the Napoleonic Wars.
Though it largely succeeded in this aim through the 1820s, the
revitalised radicalism of the 1830s was led by a range of new
radical 'unstamped' weeklies in direct defiance of the law, which
was commonly labelled the 'Tax on Knowledge' [6].
Among the
leading journals was Henry Hetherington's The Poor Man's
Guardian, selling at Id. as 'A Weekly Newspaper FOR THE PEOPLE'
and advertised as 'CONTRARY TO "LAW"' - the inverted commas
signifying a defiance requiring the active enlistment of the
reader.
The Poor Man* s Guardian was based around a polar vision
of social relations which it cultivated through the populist
inclusivity of its editorial address.
It even advertised for
sellers, and despite the imprisonment of more than five hundred
of Hetherington's illegal network of newsvendors, hawkers and
voluntary sellers, including himself, the Guardian actually
thrived on this open demonstration of the law's injustice [7].
Thompson (1964) quotes the defence of Joseph Swann (1831) at his
trial for selling unstamped newspapers:
'I sell them for the good of my fellow countrymen; to
let them see how they are misrepresented in Parliament
I wish to let them know how they are humbugged ...'
[ 8 ],
There is also some evidence that this radical vision of social
92
relations as a polar structure of the 'people' and a government
of corrupt political figures, including now some middle class
defectors from the radical cause, was common to much of the
'popular' theatrical production of the period [9],
If the medium of the 'periodical' was essential to the
forging of a new, specifically 'working class' identity, it
served a similar function for the middle class which was likewise
attempting to develop a separate identity in the wake of the 1832
Reform Act.
For its higher echelons, the quarterly and monthly
'review' journals were transformed from their function in book
reviewing to a new role as media for upper middle class
intellectual debate, a forum for the refinement of the basic
tenets of a distinctly bourgeois ideology through the nineteenth
century as the middle class graduated to government [10].
At a lower level, the Utilitarian strand of middle class
reformism, as represented by the 'Society for the Diffusion of
Useful Knowledge'
1831.
(SDUK) [11], produced the Penny Magazine in
In keeping with the ideology of the SDUK, this
miscellaneous magazine was in essence a legitimation of an
existent social structure, with the qualification of the
encouragement to self-betterment through self-education in the
interests of maximum resource 'utilisation'.
It used mechanical
analogies akin to those of the working class radicals, and
likewise revolved around a directly exhortative editorial
address.
But instead of a metaphor of the accumulation of
knowledge, and hence of power, it used a distributive (and
therefore democratising, levelling) metaphor with its self-image
as a railway, a carrier of
93
'"universal convenience and enjoyment to all classes",
bringing together town and country, reaching the
remotest corners of the land, and by means of "ready
and cheap communications greatly reduce[ing] the
inequalities of fortune and station".' [12]
And instead of the directly pleading presence of a Cobbett or a
Hetherington throughout, the editorial is a faceless element,
separate from the rest of the text, which normally consisted of a
natural scientific miscellany, well-illustrated by woodcuts, and
snatches of elevating poetry.
The natural world sits alongside a
picture of human self-betterment within a naturalised social
order, even if this order was pointed to only indirectly through
the extended implication of a scientifically dissected natural
world [13].
The 1832 Reform Act was by no means greeted with universal
acceptance among the middle class, however, and the middle class
brand of radicalism was continued in newspapers like the
Morning Chronicle and satirical journals like Figaro in London
(1831).
The Chronicle carried Dickens'
forerunners to his first novels.
'Sketches by Boz', the
It seems likely that it was
through the context of the 'Sketches', amid the general content
and tone of the Chronicle's features and reportage, that Dickens
developed the novelistic possibilities of his later work, with
his peculiar brand of morality aimed at the repressive
institutions of the 1830s.
James (1982) argues that the emergence of the periodical in
this period, superceding older forms of reading like the
'chapbooks'
[14], was a direct function of the political turmoil
94
of the '30s.
The form of the periodical itself, its regular
production and reception, developed a specific mode of address
to or 'tone of voice' with the reader.
The new periodicals of
the 1830s set up a range of dialogues with their variously class located readers.
These dialogues were concerned with the
refinement of peculiarly 'class' identities and the identity of
the individual class subject. The periodical became a 'way of
conditioning [the reader's] response'
[15].
The outstanding
feature of periodical publishing in the 1830s, then, is its
political mediation.
The 1840s, however, saw the emergence of a new range of
self-proclaimed "apolitical" journals, and this emergence
accompanied the gradual decline of working- and middle class
radical journals over the same period.
Various theories are
forwarded for this phenomenon.
The Emergence of 'Popular' Publishing
The 'unstamped' press had thrived on its flouting of the tax, in
self-legitimation and by undercutting the prices of other
periodicals.
In 1836, the stamp duty was reduced to Id.
The
more severe enforcement of the tax and prosecutions of the
unstamped journals meant that the costs for stamped periodicals
were reduced while those for the formerly unstamped increased.
In addition, the advertising duty was reduced in 1833 from
3s. 6d. to Is. 6d.
Combined with the introduction of more
productive printing technology this made the maximisation of
readership figures an imperative for optimising advertising
revenue and covering the large capital outlay on large scale
95
printing machinery [16].
The Poor Man's Guardian was an
immediate casualty.
However, these factors alone could not be seen as the sole
influential factors in the development of a new kind of
'apolitical' or 'commercial' publishing in the 1840s.
Raymond
Williams has described the new figures in popular publishing in
the 1840s as a breed of 'pure speculators'
[17], and the few
historical overviews of these men create a picture of virtually
Dickensian figures manipulating formulaic periodical modes with
minimal costs and staffing [18].
This is ironic, given that the
principal among these publishers, Edward Lloyd, made his fortune
in the '40s with serialised plagiarisms of Dickens.
The thin
disguises of his titles - The Sketch Book by 'Bos', The Posthumurous [sic] Notes of the Pickwickian Club, Memoirs of Nicholas
Nickleberry etc. [19] - and the stories surrounding his
techniques build up a comical picture of ruthless exploitation
of the urban masses by lowest common denominators.
Market
research consisted of
'place[ing] the manuscript in the hands of an
illiterate person - a servant, or machine boy, for
instance. If they pronounce favourably upon it, we
think it will do' [20].
John Medcraft (1945) uses comical irony to describe Lloyd's
fictional output after the Dickens plagiarisms:
'... historical tales of the type popularized by
Harrison Ainsworth, Gothic horrors in the style of Ann
Radcliffe, and so-called 'domestic' romances. The high
proportion of the last was due to an extensive feminine
following amongst the readers and in deference to their
'gentler' natures Lloyd elimininated highwaymen and
96
vampires, added an innocuous title, and confined
himself to the milder themes of pirates and smugglers,
murder and rape, seduction and abduction1 [21].
Beyond the retrospectively amusing aspects of these publishers'
activities, and the concentration on their fictional output, it
should be pointed out that such publishers were extending
processes already well under way in periodical publishing.
Lloyd's Penny Sunday Times and People's Gazette (1840)
emulated the Sunday Times' first venture into serialised fiction,
but consisted almost entirely of fiction to avoid the stamp duty
[22].
Lloyd's Illustrated London Newspaper was an obvious copy
of Herbert Ingram's Illustrated London News (1842), an innovatory
newspaper counterpart to the Penny Magazine's strategy of
carefully treading an 'apolitical' line.
Lloyd's Penny Weekly
Miscellany (1843) was a direct imitation of the Penny Magazine.
Of mostly fictional content, its editor claims 'to offer to the
poor pleasures of reading that were hitherto reserved for the
wealthy'
[23],
At a time when fiction was eschewed by left and
right alike [24], Lloyd's Miscellany was an attempt to couch
popular fictional forms in the self-educational, dignified tones
common to both utilitarians and radicals.
Editor James Rymer
established this goal from the outset:
'correct tastes, glowing fancies, and an admirable
perception of the poetic and beautiful ... are to be
found by the humblest firesides ...' [25].
While such papers did not exactly meet with 'respectable'
approval, their heavily fictional content and mildly liberal
editorial comment was perfectly acceptable to middle class
97
commentators.
In addition, their sensationalist emphasis on
murder and crime (around 70-80% of their contents) marked a
departure from the radical emphasis on the evil political deeds
of those in power, though conducted in similar language [26].
Virginia Berridge (1978) claims that this miscellaneous
combination made them 1the effective means of social control
which the establishment had always hoped the popular press might
be' [27].
This, I would argue, is not really the case.
These
processes, conditioned as they were by the new legislation for
publishing and by the technological developments in printing can
be analysed in terms of how they were politically mediated.
But
it is not appropriate to characterise this mediation as a form of
'social control1.
Just as we can see the periodical productions of the 1830s
in terms of the needs of working- and middle class radicalism, we
can also see these new ventures in terms of the changed social
conditions of the '40s.
From the high point of the working class
radical movement in the Charter of 1838, we can plot a steady
decline in the movement, leading to the dissolution of Chartism
in the late 1840s.
this development.
Various explanations have been forwarded for
The 'labour aristocracy' thesis sees the
vanguard of the radical movement lured away from political
opposition with special privileges within the factories (see
Chapter Three).
The movement was divided over the issue of
'physical force' after the rejection of its petitions to
Parliament.
support [28].
This certainly resulted in a loss of middle class
But while all of these are contentious issues,
perhaps the most important factor was the new government strategy
98
of relenting to the mildly reformist wing of the Chartist
movement.
Hence the withdrawal of military coercion by the
government, and the steady introduction of the factory
legislation through the 1840s.
Stedman Jones (1983) has
characterised this development as the evolution of a kind of
'moralized capitalism1, the increasingly deliberate move away
from the legislation in the '30s which could be read as functions
of the 'malignant unpredictability of the state'
[29],
While the historical evidence on this subject is contentious
it seems to me that we can make connections between this new
political direction and the developments in periodical
publishing.
This is not to say that we can draw direct links
between a deliberate programme of reform and the dépolitisation
of 'popular' publishing.
There was never any such programme.
However, we can point to echoes of the prevailing social
tensions within popular publishing.
Robert Gray (1985) points
out that the factory legislation governing employment for women
and children was an unevenly worked out resolution of a tension
in middle class thought between the sanctity of the 'laissezfaire' ideal and an emergent code of domesticity [30].
These
legal limitations reinforced a working-class patriarchal
philosophy.
They reinforced the notion that, as Anna Clark
points out,
womenwere 'passive and weak victims who required
protection'
[31].
For working class women, they offered a
paradoxical combination of freedom from the factory on the one
hand, and confinement to the home on the other.
Little work has been done on the subject, but there is some
99
evidence that these tensions can be seen to be refracted through
the new miscellanies despite their apparent exaltation of the
nuclear family as a social unit and the imitation of the tone of
the SDUK Penny Magazine.
For many of the stories in these
miscellanies were concerned with rugged heroines negotiating the
promises of, and threats to independence in domestication [32],
Stories like these can perhaps be assessed in the light of
current feminist thinking on popular entertainments for women.
There has been a decided shift in thought in the last decade from
the analyses of feminists like Angela McRobbie in the 1970s
towards a concentration on the contradictory aspects of such
forms as conditioned by the perpetuated positioning of women
within capitalist social relations.
The shift is neatly
summarised by Elaine Showalter:
'The orthodox plot recedes, and another plot, hitherto
submerged in the anonymity of the background, stands
out in bold relief like a thumbprint' [33],
In essence, the central element is the transcendence of 'happy
endings' to uncover the ulterior messages of the gnawing tensions
of familial imprisonment [34].
There is perhaps a bourgeois
feminist aspect to this which makes application to the
contradictory gains and losses for working class women in the
1840s potentially distortive.
However, I feel that Martha
Vicinus (1981) has made an excellent case for linking the
positions of middle- and working class women with respect to the
nineteenth century 'domestic' melodrama.
Vicinus argues that while the 'domestic' melodrama
paradoxically defends an ideal, familial integrity
100
'against a vengeful society, in the name of a higher
moral order, in actuality this moral order is a
reflection of the current values of the very society
presumably being attacked' [35].
The approximation of ideals of womanhood in middle- and workingclass reformism and in 'women's' fiction from every class ('Ela
the Outcast' is a case in point) shows the family to be an
opening site for political negotiation in the 1840s.
However,
the tensions and contradictions of sexual politics were
perpetuated.
In these family miscellanies, then, it may be possible to
detect a negotiation of the changing political situation in the
early 1840s.
This is to put these titles on a continuum with the
overtly politicised titles of the 1830s and the way in which they
negotiated their reader's increasingly complicated perceptions of
their class positions.
If these developments in periodical
publishing in the 1840s mark a transition to a qualitatively new
kind of 'popular' literary product, there is a case to be made
for reading them as mediated to some extent by a new political
mood.
In this regard a useful comparison could be made with the
evolution of the new sporting institutions, and of the
quintessentially 'working class' institution, the music hall, as
analysed by Bailey (1978) and Cunningham (1981) (see Chapter
Three).
The Origins of the 'Boys' Weeklies'
A similar case might be made for the understanding of cheap
juvenile periodicals from the 1850s onwards.
As with the growth
101
of 'family' miscellanies in the '40s, a clear expansion can be
discerned in the range of new, male juvenile weeklies in this
period.
The precise reasons for this expansion are not fully
established.
Louis James sees these weeklies as derivations of
the romantic crime (highwaymen) or quasi-Gothic genres (Sweeney
Todd, etc.) of Lloyd, Dicks, Purkess and other publishers.
The
latter were rendered 'out-of-date' by the increasingly
sophisticated 'family' miscellanies and the new miscellanies for
working men in the '50s [36].
Serialised fictional titles like Tales of Shipwrecks and
Adventures at Sea (1846-7, pub. W.M. Clarke) or eighteenth century
highwaymen titles like The Life and Adventures of Jack Sheppard
(c.1849) and Dick Turpin's Ride to York ((date unknown), both
pub. George Purkess) led inevitably to stories with juvenile
heroes, with updated but equally impressive criminal pedigrees.
These included Charley Wag, the Boy Burglar, The Wild Boys of
Paris, The Wild Boys of London, and The Boys of London and
New York [37].
Once again a caricatural picture of these titles
is created by retrospective studies.
Charley Wag is described by
Michael Anglo as
'a spicy sauce of sex, scandal, and vulgarity with some
weak humour and a little trite preaching, and Charley
went down well with the boys' [38],
This juvenile and sensational output was interlinked in a sense
with the 'family' magazines for women.
The middle class project
for its own political-cultural hegemony, as we have seen, was
based on an ideology of 'gentility'.
If the ideal of domesticity
102
was one aspect of this, then the other was a new ideology of
1adolescence' .
For the middle classes of the mid-century, the greater
supervision and indulgence of children naturally increased
dependency on the family structure.
Within an emergent
rudimentary stage theory of development, the identification of
adolescence became pivotal to a vision of a higher social status
for the future generations, economically and culturally.
It was
a status denied to themselves through their own 'vulgar' origins
[39].
Thomas Arnold's project as headmaster of Rugby public
school (1827-39) to cultivate 'spiritual autonomy' and
'intellectual maturity' among the boys became the focal point
for what was perceived among the middle classes as preparation
for social leadership [40].
The cocooned existence of the public
schools became the basis for new genres of middle class public
school and boys' adventure fiction, launched, respectively, by
Thomas Hughes's fictionalised Rugby in Tom Brown's Schooldays and
R.M. Ballantyne's Coral Island (both 1857).
What was evident in
this literature, and in the public schools as they developed, was
that Arnold's intellectual project was being transformed into an
anti-intellectual, militarist project catalysed by the threat of
war with France in the 1850s, a project which rewrote England's
achievement as that of Protestant physical prowess, and to which
the utility of organised games became central.
famous didactic passages on cricket and boxing.
Hence Tom Brown's
It was to
develop further, towards the end of the century, into the basis
on which imperial maintenance and expansion was predicated.
While the public school developed as a specialised
103
Institution for moulding these volatile, but manipulable
adolescents destined for social leadership, and an attendant
didactic literature was being cultivated, the penny serialised
fiction trade was unsystematically but effectively undermining
each of its principles.
Most obviously, instead of the symbolic
backdrops of public school or desert island, the scenarios were
urban slums, and the subjects dealt with juvenile crime in a
largely sympathetic way [41].
The term 'penny dreadful' emerged
as a collective term of abuse for this cheap male juvenile
fiction, and the review journals incorporated a long-running
discourse on the rational and socially malignant uses of leisure
reading in the 'rational recreation' commentary.
While the
contours of this debate [42] and the idealised 'classics' of
middle class juvenile fiction are unidimensional, the adaptation
by the publishers of this cheap fiction to the demands of their
betters is a more complex story.
In attempting to unravel this story we are yet again faced
with inspirational figures, in this case Edwin J. Brett and his
principal rivals, the Emmett Brothers.
Brett was a former
Chartist sympathiser and later an employee (possibly manager) of
The Newsagents' Company, which published the Wild Boys serials in
the early '60s.
He left in 1866 to produce a weekly miscellany,
Bovs of England: A Young Gentleman's Journal of Sport, Travel,
Fun and Instruction [43].
This move constituted a rejection of
any remaining political principles in return for the political
and commercial expedient of winning approval from authority by
the patriotic, exhortative tone of its title, and the apeing of
104
public school and imperial scenarios.
Brett's strategy was
imitated by the Emmetts, who followed with The Young Englishman
in 1867.
The strategy was vindicated by the fact that the
offices of The Newsagents' Company, which by now had resorted to
reprints only, were raided and closed in 1871 [44].
But these
new journals did not merely represent the deliberate manipulation
of the reader by the cultivation of more 'escapist' scenarios and
the pandering to authority by a new, respectable editorial anchor
under the guidance of unscrupulous speculators.
Nor is this
entirely the case with 'women's' or 'family' periodicals in the
1840s.
The periodical miscellany form involves complex dynamics
between the various textual elements, between periodical and
reader, and between publisher and external pressures from above.
Again, a great deal of research remains to be done on these
weeklies, and I cannot deal in detail with them here, but even a
cursory overview of the 'dreadfuls' reveals a radical departure
from the tenets of 'muscular Christianity', while ironically
indicating some of the latent undercurrents to that doctrine more
starkly than Tom Browne ever could.
For example, Brett's opening
editorial address promises to
'enthrall [sic] you by wild and wonderful, but healthy
fiction; to amuse and instruct you by interesting
papers on History and Science; to inform you on all
matters belonging to your manly outdoor sports and
games, and your home pastimes; to enter into a hearty,
free, and trusty companionship with you through the
medium of the Correspondence Page; to afford you a
merry laugh by a droll story or jest, to charm you with
a pretty verse. In short, our aim is mainly to delight
you ...
BOYS OF ENGLAND ... it is your own fault if you do
not grow up wise and strong men. Scorn aping
105
'manishness'; revel in your boyhood and enjoy it while
it lasts; but, above all, cultivate true manliness of
mind and body, learn to think, speak and write, learn
to swim, jump and run, despise skulking laziness, and
face hard study and hard hand-labour1 [45].
This is a strange mix of exhortations.
Its most obvious feature
is the skipping back and forth from the promise of unbridled
mirth to the qualification of character-building instruction.
There are remnants of an older SDUK encouragement to self-help by
self-education, but this is wrapped up in a version of 'muscular
Christianity', which had by then evolved into an anti­
intellectual cultivation of the stiff upper lip, a middle-class
ideology which in its Tom Brown setting has nothing to do with
the self-education doctrine in the intellectual sense of the
Radical or Utilitarian traditions.
There is a tension, I think,
between this working-class self-betterment creed and the patently
middle class obsession with the biological question of age and
physical development.
Within this latter aspect, the tension
between the call to manliness in 'muscular Christianity' and the
perpetuation of adolescence (by the very nature of this ideology)
is much more apparent than in Tom Brown's Schooldays or
Coral Island, where every element of the narrative is a cypher
for a didactic lesson.
The cultivation of 'true manliness' is
incompatible with the command to 'revel in your boyhood' and
their origins with the middle-class have little to do with the
(supposedly spiritual) benefits hinted to result from 'hard study
and hard hand-labour'.
These contradictory exhortations are not far removed from
those of the self-betterment periodicals of the 1840s.
They
106
point both to the conflicting strands of thought among the
working classes and to the inconsistencies in a middle-class
ideology attempting to establish itself, from its journals
through the practical level of its institutions, the public
schools.
On the inside, the fictional components of these weeklies
show a different kind of negotiation.
Public school stories
dominate in emulation of Tom Brown himself.
The Emmetts' Tom
Wildrake came first in Sons of Britannia in 1871 [46], then
Brett's Jack Harkaway (Boys of England (1871).
But Harkaway's
adventures (written by Bracebridge Hemyng) in particular are
filled with sadistic acts and counter-acts which go far beyond
Tom Brown's roasting at the fire and the ultimately spiritual,
moralistic justice.
James explains that
'The emotions controlled by [Hughes'] school and
society have instead their desired end: the bully
Hunsden is shot in the arm by Harkaway, and the arm is
amputated; Davis, who tries to get Jack's girl Emily,
has his ear nailed to a doorpost, and when the door has
slammed, "there, on the post, was the unfortunate man's
ear, literally torn from his head".' [47]
This emotional expression, alien to Hughes's gospel of selfrestraint, is a direct hangover from The Wild Boys... stories,
quietly undermining the lessons of the public school [48].
Furthermore, Louis James' survey of Harkaway's imperial
adventures shows a degree of ambivalence in attitudes to race in
these stories.
The natives may be 'savage', but are no more so
than their imperial 'masters'
[49].
This could be read as a
direct questioning of the boundaries of 'savagery' and
'civilisation', a theme which runs right through the Harkaway
107
stories.
While I am wary of generalising from a few examples, I think
they do suggest a much more complicated interpretation of the
middle class ideology of 'muscular Christianity' than a
concentration on the classic middle class texts or the
'respectable' weeklies would reveal.
It is complicated both by
the persistence of melodramatic aspects of The Wild Boys series
(though shorn of the sympathies with juvenile crime as a function
of urban conditions which showed the lingering influence of the
fictions of the 1830s); and also by the revelation of an
undercurrent of anti-intellectual, unreasoned barbarism within
'muscular Christianity' itself.
The ideals of domesticity and 'muscular Christianity' as
aspects of 'gentility' were efforts at self-legitimation and
elevation which were founded on insecurity.
The Empire could
only be maintained through armed forces disciplined in the belief
in the legitimacy of unrelenting brute force to achieve their ends.
Minus the elaboration of an ideology of the 'gentleman', and with
the heightened expression of its predecessors, Boys of England
and similar ventures paint a curiously more realistic picture of
the muscular Christian in action than the accepted classics.
Given these tensions, it is little wonder that these weeklies
were condemned along with those they claimed to attack.
pejoratively labelled 'penny dreadfuls'.
All were
108
The Development of the Humourous Journal from the 1820s
We can extend this analysis of popular periodical publishing in
political terms to the sphere of satirical journals.
Very little
work has been done on the cheap satirical journal from the 1820s
onwards, despite the fact that there has been a good deal of
cataloguing and critical work on graphic satire in the late
eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
The latter, however,
has been conducted largely in terms of the biographical details
of the artists or on the basis of theme, chronicling the period
from the narrative paintings of William Hogarth to the 'golden
age' of caricature, as exemplified by Gillray and Rowlandson
[50].
This concentration is appropriate, given the mode of
distribution of such works - the private commissioning and
subsequent display of prints in special shops, or their illegal
hawking about the country.
It is not, however, appropriate to a
system in which pictorial satirical works are included amid the
humourous and non-humourous elements and the regular weekly
reception of journals like Bell's Life in London in the 1820s,
Figaro in London in the 1830s and Punch in the 1840s.
I am not even sure that we can make connections between
Hogarth's hugely complex narrative sequences of paintings ('The
Harlot's Progress' (1732), 'The Rake's Progress'
(1735), etc.),
mediated throughout by his own implicit moral framework [51] and
the savage but variable attacks on named persons in the 'golden
age'. Moreover, Hogarth himself was anxious to distinguish his
work absolutely from caricature, which he considered a lesser
form of satire [52].
The issues of artistic control and thematic
109
continuity are, however, indisputable, and to this extent Hogarth
and the caricaturists can be linked.
The satirical journal was a different matter, however.
begin with, it encompassed different kinds of publication.
To
The
Age (1825) and the Satirist (1831) were high society scandal
journals, dealing with the mostly sexual scandals of the rich and
famous, and courting a middle or upper middle class readership.
Bell’s Life in London and Sporting Chronicle (1822) was a Sunday
illustrated newspaper aimed at a much lower readership level.
Established in a period of relative social stability in the
1820s, it avoided political controversy by championing the rights
of man to an abundance of sporting occasions and venues.
Figaro
in London (1831), as noted above, upheld the remaining strand of
middle class radicalism after the 1832 Reform Act, and Cleave's
London Satirist and Gazette of Variety (1836) was a working class
radical version of journals like Figaro in London, pervaded by
more political invective in its outrageous caricatures.
What
these journals had in common with each other and with other forms
of periodical was their regular format, their repeated mode of
address to the reader, which made them as much a verbal as a
visual medium, and like these other journals, they marked a
progressive transition from the engagement with serious political
issues to a would-be apolitical orientation to their subjects.
David Kunzle (1983) describes the history of graphic satire in
the cheap satirical journal from 1815 to 1841 as follows:
'it was transformed from the sharply personal and
political to the broadly and decorously social; from
the independent, irregular, and often violently
scurrilous political broadsheet to magazine and serial
110
illustration of regular periodicity, often subservient
to a text and beholden to an editorial policy and mass
taste not of the caricaturist's choosing. In short, it
exchanged independence for security, sharpness for
breadth, and guffaw for the smile' [53],
This process is certainly evident in the supercession of titles
like the Age and Satirist by titles like The Town, which went for
more anonymous targets; by the emergence of Punch as the dominant
middle class satirical title in the 1840s, with its somewhat
milder reformism than Figaro; the disappearance of Cleave's
weekly in the '40s; and the change to a more standard newspaper
format akin to the new Illustrated London News (1842) by Bell's .
If there is one recurrent factor in the history of graphic
satire in the eighteenth century, it is the comparison of 'high'
and 'low' life.
Hogarth's sympathy for the labouring classes was
frequently evident in his direct pictorial comparisons of the
violent but lively and honest lower orders and the affected,
posing higher echelons, corrupted both in the source of their
wealth and in their physical manifestations.
Many of the
caricaturists lampooned figures like the 'dandy' of the Regency
period, fashion-obsessed imitations of Beau Brummell, or
chronicled the increasing invasion of once-exclusive arenas like
the gardens at Vauxhall by aspiring social climbers.
The
satirical journals were no exception to the trend.
One of the most influential satirical works of the
nineteenth century was Life in London (1821), a humourous
chronicle of London 'high' and 'low' life by writer Pierce Egan
and illustrators George and Robert Cruikshank.
In 1820,
Cruikshank had illustrated William Hone's radical pamphlet,
'The
Figure 4 .]
'Tom and J e r r y
Cadgers i n th e
"Masquerading i t "
"Back Flurrs"
in
arcong t h e
t h e H o l y Land'
(f roi n P i e r c e Egan and G e o r g e C r u i c k s h a n k
0 92]'},
L i f e i n London - r e p r o d u c e d i n L o u i s Jame s
E n g lis h Popular L i t e r a t u r e , p . 147)
(1976),
112
Political House that Jack Built1. This was a powerful
allegorical piece in the aftermath of the 1Peterloo Massacre1
[54] of 1819 and the new press censorship, reflecting the fact
that middle and working classes were still closely identified as
'the people'.
Cruikshank's progression to Life in London, and
later, to book illustration indicates the overall direction of
graphic satire in subservience to verbal humour, and there were
significant aspects to this subservience.
Firstly, Life in London shows a movement in the satirical
journal away from the language and symbols of radicalism, in
spite of the attempted resurrection of radicalism by Figaro in
London in the 1830s.
Secondly, the verbal anchor is specifically
tied to the setting in London, for it is an effort to fathom the
apparent anomaly that the urban agglomeration of people meant
that respectability and poverty were just minutes apart.
It
claimed that 'EXTREMES, in every point of view are daily to be
met with in the Metropolis'
[55], but in the absence of any
political framework it concentrated on the behavioural aspects of
the 'extremes'.
London became a world of mutual trickery by the
highest and lowest classes.
Cruikshank's political sympathy for
'the people' translated into an attempt to show that ''low-life',
darkness, fog, lamp-light, tenements and by-ways, provided as
much interest as fine architecture and ordered space'
[56], that
the 'cadging' devices of the lowest showed more ingenuity and
panache than the affected, self-inflatory false appearances of
the upper classes [57].
The socially neutral guides to this
world were the Cruikshanks and Egan themselves in the shape of
three cartoon figures, Tom, Jerry and Logic,
'masquerading it' in
113
the rags and dialect of the cadgers (Figure 4.1).
From the
indictment of personal vice in caricatural representation, we can
see in Life in London a progression to the equation of urban
living with a set of typologies identifiable by their appearances
and deceptions, and not by their positions on a hierarchy of
power relations.
The influence of Life in London cannot be underestimated.
It spawned a string of Sunday illustrated newspapers, including
Pierce Egan's Life in London and Sporting Guide (1824) and
Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle (1822) which bought
Egan's title in 1827.
Egan's was more of a gossip journal than a
humourous piece, and pictorially was most notable for George
Cruikshank's leaders for the different features - 'Police',
'Turf', 'Races' etc.
Bell's marked the more dominant trend,
picking up the basic tendency in the original Life in London
towards the depiction of social types who could be laughed at by
every social sector.
In the late 1820s it commissioned
caricatural imitations of Hogarth: 'The Gambler's Progress'
(1828) and Robert Seymour's 'The Drunkard's Progress' and 'The
Pugilist's Progress'
(both 1829).
It copied George Cruikshank's
'Illustrations of Time' as the 'Gallery of Comicalities'.
Such
journals delivered to the reader a pre-digested representation of
town life in parallel with what Dickens was developing in his
'Sketches by Boz', and later in his novels.
Apart from the
absence of Dickens' implicit moral framework, however, these
titles are quite distinct from what he was doing.
The
fundamental difference is the presence of the editorial figure,
114
as evolved from Tom, Jerry and Logic, and his function is the
reassurance of the reader that they are on the same side in
negotiating the town as experienced by town-dwellers.
This
function is brought to a new level by Renton Nicholson's The Town
in the early 1840s.
The Town (1837) was an unstamped derivation of the Age and
Satirist.
Selling at 2d., it reached a broader readership than
either of these titles (which sold at 7d. before and 6d. after
1836).
The Town went unstamped, not as a defiant political
gesture, but as a means of keeping its retail price down.
To
avoid legal problems, it avoided anything that could be construed
as 'news'.
By contrast with its upmarket predecessors, which
identified a form of systematic corruption among the elite,
justified by the fact that 'everybody' did it, including the
editor himself, The Town's targets were types and places.
Dealing, as Donald Gray (1982) has pointed out, with a new
generation of first-time city-dwellers from among the ranks of
lowly-runged clerks and the like, The Town adopted the
Life in London function of guide to the town as an unfamiliar and
potentially dangerous place.
Gray describes this version of the
town as
'exactly like a district in London where only the
dangerous and the shrewd, like Nicholson and his fellow
entrepreneurs of pleasure, really live. The others
come to disport themselves and to take some not
radically damaging risks' [58],
The dangers of the town are screened and rendered relatively
innocent.
The combination of fascination and fear that a reading
of Life in London, or at a different level the Satirist might
115
have generated is transformed.
As Gray remarks on the Satirist,
its scandal 'is not an amusing or denigrating addition to the
news.
itself'
It is rather an invitation to a dark reading of the news
[59].
Institutionalised cheating in The Town is
represented by 'medical quacks, sellers of patent medicines (who
advertised heavily in the journal), promoters of stock and
insurance companies and loan societies, and the proprietors of
dishonest employment agencies'
[60],
This kind of cheating is
fragmented and unsystematic, likely to affect the reader in some
way, but by no means on a par with 'the city of vice and danger
that many were beginning to perceive as the great wen, a dark
labyrinth of degradation'
[61].
It was a world that could be
admired as much as condemned for its trickery.
This is by no means an extensive overview of humourous
journals at this time and much work remains to be done to
establish the exact differences between these journals.
We can
state generally, however, that the move from the personal and
political to the social and typical reflected the fact that the
humourous weekly was never a medium for working class radicalism.
Together with the dilution of Figaro's middle-class reformism by
Punch it is indicative of the increasing political stability in
the '40s.
The 'Metropolis' becomes a shared social problem and
potential delight.
It is a world of mutual cheating, populated
by types like these in The Town, or like the 'gent' as described
by Albert Smith [62],
These are not quite the same as the 'high'
and 'low' life of Life in London, for the attacks on the affected
manner of the 'dandies' and the celebration of the vitality of
116
the cadgers are derived to some extent from the polarity of
social relations as portrayed in the 'The Political House
It can be seen as continuous with Life in London and with the
Satirist and Age in its combination of horror and admiration,
though it is by now much less serious than ever before.
We can make important links between satirical journals and
the other sectors of periodical publishing in the 1840s to the
extent that they reflect the beginnings of a new period of social
stability in Britain, though in different ways.
The presentation
of a social stage populated by different social types unrelated
by class or power is clearly distinct from the celebration of
domestic bliss, but it is related in its cultivation of a pseudo­
intimate bond with the reader which is entirely abstracted from
any political backdrop.
In this movement, we can sense the
origins of a new kind of depoliticised 'popular' publishing.
The problem with this vision of urban life as elaborated by
The Town [63] is that London was actually the 'great wen' that
social investigators in the '40s were claiming.
Much of the
appeal of a journal like The Town was its attempt to transcend
the paradox of the city's alienation of the individual despite
its crowding.
But the more serious problem of the city, and
specifically of London, for contemporary observers, was the
proximity of the classes, of Egan's 'extremes'.
No longer seen
in colourful, behavioural terms, these were now the extremes of
the prosperous and the starving, Disraeli's "two nations", for
London was not only the financial and cultural capital of
Britain, it was also the "capital of poverty" [64].
Its crowding
made its problem of destitution more apparent than anywhere else,
117
and the 'problem' was translated by observers directly into a
danger that the lowest class could swamp those above.
Such fears
were realised in the cholera epidemic of the late 1840s.
Cholera
festered in the filth of the slums, but such was the proximity of
London's population that it was a universal threat [65].
There
was a marked shift in intellectual social commentaries through
the 1840s from conern at the conditions of the northern
industrial towns to the apparently self-perpetuating poverty of
London.
The problems of the north were being solved by the
factory legislation, but in London the problem seemed to be more
'cultural' than 'economic', its poor were apparently content to
remain in that state.
This idea affected both left and right alike.
For Marx and
Engels in The Communist Manifesto the very lowest underclass, the
lumpenproletariat, was actually a serious threat to their own
revolutionary hopes, since it was without any class identity and
could be bought by the bourgeoisie.
In The Class Struggle in
France (1850) they describe it as a 'mass sharply differentiated
from the industrial proletariat, a recruiting ground for thieves
and criminals of all kinds, living on the crumbs of society,
people without a definite trade, vagabonds, gens sans feu et sans
aveu' [66],
For Chartist fiction writer, G.W.M. Reynolds, who
liberally spiced his work with indictments of the exploitation of
working people by those in power, there is likewise a combination
of sympathy and revulsion at the lowest of his slum-dwelling
subjects [67].
The difference between the distinction of
'ragged' and 'dangerous' classes on the one hand and the
118
'respectable' poor on the other, as elaborated by middle class
observers, was not far removed from ideas on the left.
These
underclasses were equally a threat to both.
While the humourous journals show a general move towards the
presentation of a shared sense of humour as a means of
negotiating the pretentious, the morally hypocritical, or the
political manoeuvres of the Whigs and Tories, a legitimation of
an apparent new era of social stability, the 'cadgers' of Life in
London had grown in stature in serious social commentaries, and
if Manchester was the principal cause for concern in the 1840s,
London was to become the centre of attention for commentators in
the '50s. Much of the credit for this can be attributed to Henry
Mayhew.
Mayhew was a humourous journalist with Figaro in London and
Punch in the 1830s and '40s.
Following his well-received
articles on the cholera-affected districts and some of the trades
of London in the Morning Chronicle in 1849, he conceived a plan
to 'consider the whole of the metropolitan poor under three
separate phases, according as they will work, they can't work,
and they won't work'
[68].
This was originally to be conducted
through the Chronicle, but following disagreements, Mayhew
resigned and continued his work as a series of weekly pamphlets,
selling at 2d.
By 1852, there were sixty-three and in 1861-62
these were published as four volumes, entitled London Labour and
the London Poor.
The most interesting aspect of Mayhew's work was the way
that its focus narrowed from early concerns with poverty as a
result of casualised industries to "The London Street-Folk;
119
comprising Street Sellers, Street Buyers, Street Finders, Street
Performers, Street Artisans, Street Labourers" (the subtitle of
Volumes 1-3) and "Those That Will Not Work, comprising
Prostitutes, Thieves, Swindlers and Beggars" (the subtitle to
Volume 4).
This reflected the contemporary concerns with what
was seen as a counter-culture.
Mayhew deemed his subjects a
separate "race" or "tribe" with their own characteristic
physiognomy, they were the 'wandering' tribe, as opposed to the
'civilised' tribe of normal people.
He even deemed the
'costermongers' to be almost a separate race among the 'streetfolk', so extreme were their characteristics [69],
From here he
proceeds to describe the various trades in detail, offers
statistics on numbers, earnings and expenditures, and enlivens
each piece with interviews, reproduced in a rough approximation
of dialect punctuated by his own observations.
The latter
frequently refer to the conditions of squalor and employment
insecurity which encourage the 'beast' in his subjects, but this
conflicts with the stress on innate features in the opening
analogy, so that the more respectable and sympathetic plight of
the at least productive workers in the early Chronicle articles
(largely clothing workers in sweatshop conditions) is obscured.
London Labour represents a convergence of separate but
related developments.
Mayhew's racial and territorial language
had been used by the Royal Commission and Select Committee
reports in the 1840s [70] .
But his verbatim use of
interviews and his fascination with the liveliness of working
class speech are more akin to the attempts to reconstruct a
120
vibrant popular culture by the radicals of the 1830s.
This
peculiar combination of revulsion and fascination pitched Mayhew
somewhere between two modes, to neither of which he actually
belonged.
Although London Labour represents a new departure,
Mayhew seems to have been influenced most by his career to date
in humourous periodical journalism.
Mayhew1s achievement was to express very clearly the fears
running through the social commentaries of the 1840s and
undercurrent to humourous weeklies since the 1820s - of a very
deliberate form of cheating the social system from its lowest
level.
Ve can sense these fears also in the sensationalism of the
Sunday papers.
This sensationalism was quite distinct from what
was happening in The Town.
The readership for such papers was
anyway more working class than lower middle class [71], they
dealt directly with urban crime, and in a largely sympathetic
way.
But the current in these papers, and in the boys' weeklies,
was towards a superior, less sympathetic orientation to such
criminal activities, and this tendency progressed to the end of
the century, when notions about the 'criminal mind' became more
overt.
We can sense this in Life in London and as an undercurrent
to The Town's version of the city as a dangerous place.
Writing
in the 1850s and writing with a degree of sympathy akin to that
of the Sunday papers, Mayhew also expresses the reverse side
to the abhorrence of such cheating - a certain admiration, for
the figures in London Labour held out the attractive prospect of
escape from the notions of exalted domesticity which affected
121
both the middle and the 'respectable' working classes alike.
The
'culture' of the street was both a threat to everybody and,
potentially, an avenue of escape.
At the time of the Great
Exhibition in 1851, a celebration of social progress, science,
invention and the promise of social amelioration there persisted,
right at the heart of the Empire a primitive, barbaric and
violent 'race' apart which completely repudiated all of the
Exhibition's claims for 'civilisation'.
Mayhew's exposure of
this reworked a current running through the humourous weeklies
from the 1820s to the '40s, and one which would continue
throughout the history of the humourous periodical in the
nineteenth century.
While these arguments are founded on limited empirical
evidence I have tried to show that the 'popular' periodical from
the 1830s to the 1860s constitutes one of the ways in which the
hegemonic aspirations of the Victorian bourgeoisie were
negotiated.
This 'negotiation' encompassed a range of different
but related processes.
We can perceive an active engagement, in
the 1830s, with the nature of class identity, the experience of
exploitation, and the propogation of political aims in periodical
publishing.
It was inextricably linked to the growth of a
distinctly working class radical movement.
political conditions were changing.
By the 1840s,
Political reform mollified
the strength of radicalism's assault on authority.
Correspondingly, the ways in which journals dealt with these
issues were bound to change.
Such changes were, however, by no
means uniform - in the cases of juvenile and family magazines
122
they were characterised by internal contradictions.
In the humourous journals, the principal change was towards
increasing concerns with personal security and survival in the
face of threats from below, with decorum and the cultivation of
wordly wisdom in the new environment of the metropolis, which
held the enticements of economic gain and self-elevation.
This
change was largely a function of the new approximation of the
social classes in an urbanising England, with the attendant
problems of unsanitary conditions, disease, crowding, the threat
of physical violence; and the alienation of the individual,
his/her isolation in an apparently sophisticated world and the
problems of negotiating this world in behaviour, language and
dress.
These journals both reflected and contributed to the
sense of an emerging 'urban' culture.
At this stage it was a
'culture' whose promise and danger co-existed in the closest
proximity.
Now these apparently apolitical concerns were in fact
highly politically charged.
They were far removed from the
melodramas of the family or juvenile magazines.
They were
generally specific to the cities and in particular to London.
And in the perceptible move from political melodrama in the 1830s
to a continuous discourse on personal security and advancement,
there is a negotiation of the fact that, in varying degrees, the
political demands of their readerships had been met.
Yet in the
latent threats running through these journals, in related social
investigation (Mayhew) and the almost anachronistic political
melodrama of Reynolds, we can see that this nascent democracy, if
only at the level of social intercourse, was based on the
exclusion, through fear, of an urban underclass.
123
In these developments we can trace the origins of the comics
in the 1890s.
If we were to itemise the causal factors, we could
list them a s , firstly, the urbanisation of England and the
expansion of London; secondly, the birth a new era of political
reform in the 1840s; thirdly, the cultivation of a 'common1,
'urban' culture founded on the exclusion of the lowest
underclass.
It is on these three dimensions and the changes that
were to take place in these respects that we can examine what I
have deemed the second and third phases in the evolution of the
Victorian humourous journal.
must turn our attention now.
It is to that second phase that we
124
CHAPTER FOUR - NOTES
1.
Raymond Williams (1984(1962)),
The Lons Revolution, pp.70-
88.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
1,
8.
9.
10.
Louis James (1963), Fiction for the Working Man 1830-1850;
(1976), English Popular Literature 1819-1851; 'The Trouble
With Betsy: periodicals and the common reader in mid­
nineteenth century England’, in Joanne Shattock & Michael
Wolff (eds., 1982), The Victorian Periodical Press: Samplings
and Soundings.
Cited in E. P. Thompson (1980), The Making of the English
Working Class, p.805.
See also James (1976), op. cit., Chapter One, 'Magic into
Print1, p p .17-27.
From Henry Hetherington's newspaper, the Poor Man's Guardian
(1831). See below.
Apart from The Poor Man's Guardian, similar titles included
the Political Letter, The Reformer, The Radical,
The Ballot (all 1831).
James (1963), op. cit, p .13.
In Thompson (1980), op. cit., p.804; see also Patricia
Hollis (1970), The Pauper Press, p.114.
See Robin Estill, 'The Factory Lad: Melodrama as Propaganda',
Theatre Quarterly, Vol. 1, No.4, Oct.-Dec. 1971; and Anna
Clark, 'The Politics of Seduction in English Popular
Culture, 1748-1848', in Jean Radford (1984, ed.)
The Progress of Romance: The Politics of Popular Fiction.
Estill Links the attacks in John Walkers's play,
The Factory Lad, on the Reform Bill, the new economics of
the industrialists (classic laissez-faire liberalism) etc.,
directly with parallel passages from the Poor Man1s
Guardian. The language is almost interchangeable. Clark
analyses common plot structures in the plays in terms of the
elimination of the working man's independence under
benevolent paternalism in a ruthless new world of agrarian
capitalism. In the persistent theme of the seduction of the
farmer's daughter by aristocratic libertines, her virginity
becomes the last symbol of respectability and independence.
The factory owner and the absentee landlord are as one in
undermining the 'traditional' patriarchal family structure'
(p.55). In addition, both Thompson (1980), op. cit., pp.
808-9, and Clive Barker ('The Chartists, Theatre, Reform and
Research', Theatre Quarterly, Vol. 1, No. 4, Oct.-Dec. 1971,
esp. pp. 5-6) emphasise a parallel between theatrical
performance in the penny-gaffs and saloons in the 1830s and
the unstamped press in that their illegality conditioned an
openly defiant radicalism. The ban, which applied to all
theatres apart from Drury Lane and Covent Garden, was only
lifted in 1843 by the Theatres Regulation Act (although
earlier theatres for the rising middle classes had been
unofficially allowed by magistrates to continue).
See Walter E. Houghton, 'Periodical literature and the
articulate classes', in Shattock and Wolff (eds., 1982), op.
cit.
125
11.
The inspiration of its reformist Whig founder, Lord
Brougham, the SDUK was set up in 1826 as a means of
promoting the supposedly politically neutral concept of
'GENERAL UTILITY’. John Wade's the Gorgon (1818-19)
described the concept as
'the sole and ultimate object of society; and we
shall never consider either sacred or valuable any
natural or prescriptive claims that may be
oppposed to it.'
- The Gorgon, June 20, 1818. Cited in Thompson (1980),
op. cit., p .847.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
David Kunzle quoting The Penny Magazine in 'Between
Broadsheet Caricature and "Punch": Cheap Newspaper Cuts for
the Lower Classes in the 1830s', Art Journal, Vol. 43, No.
4, p.346, 1983.
The Penny Magazine had numerous rivals, including the
longer-enduring Chambers Edinburgh Journal, published from
1831 by the Chambers brothers; and direct imitations like
The True Halfpenny Magazine of a Society for the Diffusion
of Useful Knowledge (1832) and The Weekly Visitor,
conducted by a Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge
(1832) .
Chapbooks were cheap romantic novelettes in circulation since
the 17th century and distributed by hawkers and streetsellers. See Victor Neuburg (1968), The Penny Histories.
James (1982) op. cit., p.351.
See John Goldby and Bill Purdue (1981), 'The emergence of
an urban popular culture', Unit 4, The Historical Develop­
ment of Popular Culture in Britain, Part 1, Block 2, p.29;
Louis James (1963) op. cit., pp.21-22 and (1976) op. cit.,
p.36.
Williams (1984), op. cit., p.73.
See James (1963), op. cit., Chapter Three: E.S. Turner
(1948), Boys Will Be Boys, Chapters I-III, Michael Anglo
(1977), Penny Dreadfuls and Other Victorian Horrors, pp.7494, and Victor Neuburg (1977), Popular Literature: A History
and Guide, pp.170-182.
See Neuburg (1977), op. cit., pp.171-172; Louis James (1963)
op. cit. pp.25-26.
The quote is from one of Lloyd's fiction writers, Thomas
Frost, in Forty Years Recolections (1860) - cited in E . S.
Turner (1948), op. cit., p.22, and also by Neuburg
(1977), op. cit., p.172, Anglo (1977), op. cit., p.76, and
Virginia Berridge, 'Popular Sunday Papers and mid-Victorian
Society', in G. Boyce, J. Curran and P. Wingate (1978 eds.),
Newspaper History from the 17th Century to the Present,
p.253.
John Medcraft (1945), A Bibliography of the Penny Bloods of
Edward Lloyd - cited in Neuburg (1977), op. cit., p.171.
Harrison Ainsworth was most notable for popularising the
highwayman genre with his serialised novel Rookwood (1834).
This transformed Dick Turpin into the 18th century Robin
126
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
Hood, and parts of it were later republished,
unacknowledged, as Turpin's Ride to York (Glover, 1841). Ann
Radcliffes's novel, The Mysteries of Udolpho in the late
eighteenth century is usually credited as the first great
gothic novel, employing all the classic devices of castles,
dungeons, imprisoned heroines and relentless villains.
James (1963), op. cit., p.33.
Cited in ibid., p.37.
O'Connor's Northern Star stated that 'we think novelreading, at its best only an indifferent substitute for a
worse occupation of time' - 28 January 1843, cited in Louis
James (1976), op. cit., p.38; on the other hand, the Penny
Magazine itself would not carry fiction.
Preface, Lloyd's Penny Weekly Miscellany, I, p.l - cited in
James (1963), op. cit., p.37. Similar ventures included
George Biggs' The Family Herald (1842); Edwin Dipple's
Family Journal (1846); The Home Circle (1848);
The Family Friend (1849); and Household Words (1850) - see
James (1963), op. cit., p.39.
Berridge (1978), op. cit., p.257.
Ibid., p.256.
Anthony Wood (1982 (I960)), Nineteenth Century Britain 18151914, p.131.
Gareth Stedman Jones, 'Rethinking Chartism', in (1983)
Languages of Class, p.163.
Robert Gray, 'Bourgeois hegemony in Victorian Britain', in
T. Bennett, G. Martin, C. Mercer, J. Woollacott (1981 eds.)
Culture. Ideology and Social Process, p .242.
Clark (1984), op. cit., p.62.
James ((1982), op. cit., p.356 and (1976), op. cit., p.42,
cites Thomas Peckett Prest's adaptation of Hannah Maria
Jones' 6d 'number' novel, 'The Gipsey Girl (1836), renamed
'Ela the Outcast'; and 'Ada the Betrayed', the first serial
in Lloyd1s ... Miscellany and written by the editor himself,
James Rymer. James (1963), op. cit., p.87.
Elaine Showalter , 'Review Essay: Literary Critism', Signs,
No. 1, 1975, p.435.
See Helen Waite Papashvily (1956), All the Happy Endings;
Nina Baym (1978), Women's Fiction.
Martha Vicinus, '"Helpless and Unfriended": NineteenthCentury Domestic Melodrama', New Literary History, Xlll, no.
1, p.141.
This can be said of 'Ada ...' and 'Ela ...' They defend
the heroine's rights to acts of her own volition, but the
ideal context is marriage, a constraining social construct
idealised by the nineteenth century bourgeoisie. To this
extent, a story like 'Ada ...' stands both against the
legitimation of the social world in the editor's address,
and simultaneously complements it. Its melodramatic
language is certainly akin to the politically mediated
melodramas structured around class opposites. But with a
more active heroine, ironically it highlights even more the
weakness of radical politics - the residual spectre of
sanctified patriarchal relations.
Sunday at Home (1852); The British Workman (1853), etc.
127
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
Anglo (1977), op. cit., p.84;Turner (1948), op. cit., p.71.
Anglo (1977), op. cit., p.85
See John R. Gillis (1981), Youth and History, pp.98-103.
Ibid., p.110.
Turner (1948), op. cit., pp.71-77.
For a detailed analysis of the 'penny dreadful' debate, see
Patrick A. Dunae (1975), British Juvenile Literature in an
Age of Empire, 1880-1914, Ph. D. Dissertation, Manchester
University, passim. On the evolving paranoia regarding
juvenile delinquency in this period, see Margaret May (1973),
'Innocence and Experience: The Evolution of the Concept of
Juvenile Delinquency in the Mid-Nineteenth Century',
Victorian Studies, 17; and on the historical continuity of
inaccurately grounded fears of juvenile crime, see Geoffrey
Pearson (1983), Hooligan: A History of Respectible Fears.
Louis James (1973), 'Tom Brown's Imperialist Sons',
Victorian Studies, vol. 17, p.90,
Ibid.
'Editors Address', Boys of England, 1866,
Vol. 1, No. 1, p .16.
James (1973), op. cit., p.93.
Ibid., p.95, citing Boys of England, Vol. X, November 4,
1871.
A comparable example, taken at random from a Boys of England
(Vol. IV, No. 93, 1868) reinforces the point. Chronicling
the adventures of 'POOR RAY, THE DRUMMER BOY' and subtitled
'A STORY FOUNDED ON FACTS', this episode has Ray flogged in
the woods by Corporal Slasher for no other reason than the
indulgence of a highly sexualised sadism.
Ray endures his
punishment with 'not a cry' and, in the spirit of Tom Brown,
keeps it secret. Later, wrongly accused of killing the
sergeant major's cat, Ray agrees not to 'split' on the other
drummers, only to be ridiculed later for his code of honour:
'what a fool you were not to split'. The episode climaxes
before Ray's impending sentence of lashes (from Slasher) is
to be carried out. While there is a hint of secret
admiration for Ray's bravery from the Colonel, which may
ultimately save him from courtmartial the story (written
'BY A CONTRIBUTOR TO THE "ARMY AND NAVY GAZETTE'") is a
record of sadism and nihilism, and as with all such serial
stories, we can be sure that Ray's sufferings will be
stretched over as many weeks as possible. The indulgence of
ferociously sadistic deeds in these stories far outweighs
the moral resolution, inevitably postponed until the
collective readers' interest showed signs of flagging.
In 'Jack Harkaway After Schooldays', for example, Jack finds
a coral island, but does not follow in the Robinson Crusoe
tradition of Ballantyne's heroes. Rather, there is a blow by
blow description of 'savages' eating a victim alive, but
following this,
128
'Hunsden buries Jack up to the neck in hot sand and
leaves him to die, while Jack makes the islanders
pierce and tattoo Hunsden from head to foot with
sharp fish bones.'
- Boys of England, Vol. X, Nov. 4th, 1871. Cited in
James (1973), op. cit., p.98.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
M. Dorothy George (1949-1954), Catalogue of Political
and Personal Satires preserved in the Department of Prints
and Drawings in the British Museum and (1967) Hogarth to
Cruikshank: Social Change in Graphic Satire. George's
emphasis is firmly on the artists and themes rather than on
the journals in which satirical work began to appear in the
1820s.
Hogarth worked during the first era of imperial conquest in
Africa. Blacks at this time were generally portrayed as
decorative ornaments in paintings commissioned for the new
generation which were benefitting directly from the Empire.
David Dabydeen convincingly argues that Hogarth was unique
at this time in transforming his black figures into
outsiders, akin to his portrayal of the working classes in
critically surveying the progressive perversities and
hypocrisies of the upper classes which resulted directly
from their imperial wealth and from their exploitation of
the working classes. Ostensibly, for the most part comedies
of mannered respectability combined with the moral collapse
and death of the principal protagonist(s) ('The Rake's
Progress'(1732), 'The Harlot's Progress' (1735), Marriage a
la Mode (1745)), Hogarth's works are filled with important
moral-political points, conveyed through his minor figures.
See David Dabydeen (1987), Hogarth's Blacks, passim.
William Hogarth (1753), The Analysis of Beauty. Cited in
David Kunzle (1973), The Early Comic Strip, p.358.
Kunzle (1983), op. cit., p.339.
The 'Peterloo Massacre' was the description given to the
events at Peterloo in 1819 when a mass meeting of 50,000
people was attacked by a troop of Hussars. Eleven were
killed and 400 injured.
Cited in James (1976), op. cit., p.145.
Louis James 'Cruikshank and Early Victorian Caricature',
History Workshop, 6, 1978, p .113,
'Cadging' encompassed a variety of forms of begging. This,
according to the OED, is the first known use of the term in
print.
Donald J. Gray, 'Early Victorian Scandalous Journalism:
Renton Nicholson's The Town (1837-42)', in Shattock et al.
(ed., 1982), op. cit., p.336.
Ibid., p.327.
Ibid., p .334.
Ibid., p .345.
Albert Smith (1847), The Natural History of the Gent.
In addition to The Town there were numerous imitations,
including Sam Sly, or, The Town (1848-9), Paul Pry (184850), Fast Life (undated), Cheap John (undated), Peeping Tom
129
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
(undated), Fast Man (1850), and a revised version of the
The Town (1849-50).
On contemporary observations on the proximity of the "two
nations" in London, see Gertrude Himmelfarb's chapter on the
'culture of poverty1 in (1984), The Idea of Poverty, pp.
307-370.
Dickens was the first to explore the problem of the
universal threat of viral infection through the smallpox
epidemic in Bleak House (1851).
Cited in Himmelfarb (1984), op. cit., p.391.
Reynolds was both editor and principal author on his
The London Journal (1845) and Reynold's Miscellany of
Romance, General Interest, Science and Art.
Cited in Victor Neuburg (1987), 'Introduction' to Henry
Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, p .xvi ii.
Himmelfarb (1984), op. cit., p.325.
The 1842 Report on the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring
Population of Great Britain, for example, compares its
subjects to 'foreigners', 'savages' and 'animals' - see
ibid., p .358.
See Raymond Williams, 'The press and popular culture: an
historical perspective', in Boyce et al. (1978), op. cit.
130
CHAPTER FIVE
TOWARDS A 'MASS’ ENTERTAINMENT: ALLY SLOPER'S HALF-HOLIDAY
(1884-1923)
In order to illustrate the transitionary phase from the birth of
a new kind of humourous journal to the comics, this chapter,
together with Chapter Six, will examine one exemplary title from
this period, Ally Sloper's Half-Holiday (1884-1923, henceforth
ASHH).
In this examination I draw heavily on Peter Bailey's
(1983) analysis of ASHH in which, as I have pointed out above
(Chapter Three), he investigates the theoretical problems of
'leisure' and 'social history' through textual analysis.
A new mode of dialogue: the figure of Ally Sloper
ASHH emerged as a natural extension of an earlier publication,
C.H. Ross' Judy.
Commenced in 1867, and along with its nearest
rival, Fun (1861), Judy was part of a new wave of cheap, twopenny
humourous weeklies in the 1860s.
As David Kunzle (1985) argues,
these developments extended the elements of the humourous
weeklies of the '40s to a broader, decidedly 'petty bourgeois'
readership [1].
What distinguished Judy from earlier efforts was
its introduction from the early stages, of a regular character,
Ally Sloper who, as written by Ross himself and drawn by his wife
Marie Duval, appeared in both single cartoons and pictorial
narratives.
By the 1870s Sloper became the most popular cartoon
character since Tom and Jerry in the 1820s and the first to
131
appear in any one periodical with such regularity.
He was,
however, quite distinct from the Life in London authors
'masquerading it' among the cadgers, and likewise stood apart
from the upper middle class political orientation of Punch or the
concentration on sexual or personalised scandal in The Town.
Sloper marked a transition to something qualitatively new.
Ostensibly he was a straightforward enough low-life figure,
a proletarian loafer whose money-making (or saving) schemes were
exemplified by his name: 'alley sloping' was the common
practise of 'sloping' down the alley to avoid the rent collector.
Unlike the real enough cadgers, however, or the disguised Egan
and Cruikshank (Tom and Jerry), Sloper was a fictionalised
character. As such he was more a colourfully innocent and
lovable rogue rather than a semi-criminal type [2].
By the
1870s, he developed the additional identity of Judy's journalist
and editor.
In these roles, he advanced beyond the standard
formula of editorial guide to social types on the urban
landscape.
He became the fictional editorial guide to himself as
trickster (Figure 5.1).
Such was Sloper's popularity that in the early 1870s,
collections of his adventures were assembled in special 6d. and
Is. collections [3].
While Ally Sloper clearly continued the
current in the humourous weeklies of the '40s and in Mayhew, a
fascination with the licence and liberation of semi-criminality,
his realisation in Judy provided an avenue of innocent escape.
Kunzle explains that his
'popularity was hyped as wild notoriety, which was all
132
part of the fun, and Judy attributed to the mob
represented as attacking the editorial offices at '73'
(Fleet St.) two distinct motivations: to get Sloper,
the universal cheat, that is, to recover their money
and/ or wring his neck; and to get Ally Sloper, to
enjoy the journalistic phenomenon which seemed to
justify and render innocent their own dishonest
fancies' [4].
In this sense, then, Judy ushered in a new era of publishing in
which the overt presence of editor, writer or artist is not
directly visible in the product.
The sort of dialogue-like
interaction with the reader of earlier efforts becomes much more
formulaic through the figure of Sloper, and the role of the
investigated and investigator are collapsed into one in the
medium of the paper itself.
Any class tensions are
systematically defused by the reduction of criminality to the
mutually recognised in-joke of 'cheating*.
Ally Sloper's Half-Holiday
Both Kunzle and Bailey distinguish between the early
manifestation of Sloper in Judy and his later promotion to ASHH
in May 1884.
Judy had been bought by the Dalziel brothers in 1872, and
one of their sons, Gilbert, was sent to serve under Ross.
It was
he who began ASHH as his first independent venture, an effort to
break into the even larger penny weekly market [5].
This move
conditioned some corresponding changes in the character.
Marie Duval's drawings for Judy were lively but stick-like
and crude.
However, they were suited to Sloper's two-dimensional
character at that time.
When W.G. Baxter took on the task of
drawing Sloper for the large, single cartoons on the front page
133
of ASHH he gave him a visual complexity which matched his new
guise.
For, no longer the proletarian cheat, Sloper became the
'Friend of Man' (occasionally abbreviated to F.O.M. after his
name) extending warm greetings and prepared to cheat
indiscriminately all his readers, irrespective of class.
He
became both a 'man of the people' and a 'man about town'.
In
this new guise he leaves the ranks of the identifiable cheap
crooks to adopt aspects of various, well-established types.
He
is the 'Gent', a figure from the '40s, a lower-runged dandy drawn
'from the very bottom of the respectable class, the scrubby
clerks, apprentices and medical students'
comically misguided sense of high fashion.
[6], cursed by a
Yet he is also the
champagne-swilling 'Swell' of the music-halls, whose (by
contrast) accurate fashion-sense and adherence to etiquette were
actually the objects of derision in the music hall song.
He is
''Arry' , the vulgar 'Cockney Cad' , the 'toff' , an aristocratic
twit, and the 'masher', a sexually promiscuous rake.
As Bailey
tells us,
'[i]n his new image Sloper ... represented a significant
conflation of low and high life conventions within a
single figure, where previously they had served to
distinguish separate and contrasting characters' [7].
Baxter's superb visual creation (impeccably imitated by his
successor, W.F. Thomas, after his early death in 1888) preserves
Duval's props - stovepipe hat, ill-fitting tails and tatty
umbrella, equally insignia of a socially sliding bourgeois or an
ostentatious but out-of-pocket petty bourgeois.
His clothes are
never ragged, but just crinkled enough to cast doubts on the
134
degree of respectability they might afford him.
His long,
bulbous nose suggests excessive drinking habits, and his gangly
shape is contorted into postures which reveal an 'unabashed
sartorial confidence', but equally perch him precisely on a
border with self-humiliation [8] (see Figure 7.3 and discussion
below).
In this shape, Ally Sloper not only collapses the roles of
social investigater and investigated into a single figure, he
also incorporates a number of the figures from the social stage
of the earlier humourous weeklies in a way which robs them of
their specific social origins and makes them legible in any
number of different ways.
But in this function he, himself, is
historically specific to the 1880s.
Sloper and the Leisure Industry
Judy had consistently championed the 1870 Education Act as a
democratising gift to its reader.
As Kunzle explains, this ran
against its generally pro-Tory politics in a fairly obvious
ulterior motive to optimise its readership [9].
ASHH went beyond educational opportunities to promise the
pleasure-principled democracy of unlimited leisure, temporally
and spatially, commencing with the new institution of the
Saturday half-holiday itself from the 1870s onwards (hence the
title).
Coupled with the new bank and company holidays, the
half-holiday seemed to set the seal on the absolute division of
'leisure' from the mechanised, or at least routinised world of
JUDY,
on
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’The
"Unprofessional Vagabond" *
(from Judy, 2 July, 1875, p.33 2
- reproduced in David HunzJe,
»The First A33y Sloper:
The Earliest Popular Cartoon Character as a Satire
on the Victorian Work Ethic', Oxford Art Journal,
Vo] .
d, no.], ]985>
1 3 5
Figure 5.2
’The First Favourite Everywhere' (Floper on
Derby Day)
- reproduced in Bailey (1983), op. cit., p.25
No reference given.
136
137
'work1, whether for manual or office labour [10],
It provided
the temporal limits within which the new spatial venues of
organised sports - football, cricket etc. - could operate.
In
addition, the continued expansion of the rail network and the
innovation, from the 1860s, of cheap excursion rates, made the
once exclusive seaside resorts and race meetings more widely
accessible and more numerous [11].
Ally Sloper's reflection of
those changes meant that he consequently was to change his
habits, varying his adventures now from the office till to these
new scenarios, and in the new medium of a full front-page cartoon
with a paragraph commentary below.
But to achieve this
extension, Sloper's persona was considerably transformed into a
man for all seasons.
As his main vehicle, the front-page cartoon sends him
through various, usually topical, adventures and backdrops - the
Boat Race, the Derby, or resorts like Margate - where he
frequently rubs shoulders with the famous, changing his normal
attire to match the occasion, but never quite managing to rub
their noses in it (Figure 5.2).
His promise of democratised
access to the former preserves of the elite reinforces the notion
cultivated by 'rational recreationists' that the compartmental­
ised sphere of 'leisure' could provide venues in which class
divisions were eroded by shared patterns of behaviour at play.
And yet he consistently spoofs this notion of codified behaviour.
This, argues Bailey, can be read as having a dual function.
It
massages the reader's aspirations to elevation, and it reassures
those who have made it of the buffoonery of the aspirant.
In this new role Ally Sloper is also acting as a
138
guide to the commoditisation of both necessities and luxuries.
He celebrates the packaged, commoditised nature of leisure
consumption - the isolated seaside 'excursion' etc., the change
of clothes and props (and therefore role) for each new occasion,
even if he never quite manages to get it right himself.
And he
becomes a packaged commodity, extended by special Sloper
merchandise (pipes, cigarettes etc,), which was given away as
competition prizes.
He was even extended by 'impersonations' on
the stage, for it was widely believed, as with Sherlock Holmes,
that he really existed [12].
The commoditisation is further
supported by his daughter Tootsie's fashion column inside.
Therefore we can draw two conclusions.
Sloper's hedonistic
tendency may seem to subvert the tenets of rational
recreationism, but the fundamental element in the latter was that
recreation should be a controlled adjunct to industry without
appearing as such.
By separating 'leisure' from 'work' and
celebrating its democratising possibilities, ASHH actually
reinforces the notion of recreation as a frustration vent
accessible to every class.
And the fascination with clothes and
other props in ASHH reinforces the fetish of fashion as something
universally accessible and free of any mediation by class.
In the construction of the concepts of equalised 'mass' or
'popular' readership and 'mass' markets, then, we can sense, to
some extent, an unproblematic reflection of one aspect of the
middle class programme for hegemony through a seemingly selfcontained figure who brings to an end the role of maintaining a
dialogue in negotiating the reader's class position.
By this
139
stage he appears to embody a formula which offers enough to each
reader to cultivate the feeling of participation within an
equalised populace, if only symbolic, through the celebration of
institutionalised 'leisure'.
And for the higher status middle
class reader [13], he symbolically defused the threat from below.
Yet, Sloper's populism is not quite so simple.
Unlike his
journalist predecessors, he is basically a guide to certain
aspects of urban and non-urban leisure pursuits, and despite his
man-about-townishness, ultimately he returns to his wife and
family in suburban Battersea at the end of every adventure.
His
adventures are actually recounted under each cartoon by his
daughter, Tootsie, and the familial anchoring is reinforced by
Mrs. Sloper's regular appearances and by Tootsie's fashion
column.
Although in ASHH he becomes much more the man-about-town
philanderer than in Judy, this familial anchoring suggests that
we can more precisely identify his appeal.
How exactly we can do
so is suggested by the fact that despite the evidence of quite a
diverse readership, the occupations of competition entrants
(requested for all competitions, this was a rudimentary and cheap
form of market research,
proving the broad social appeal of the
magazine in the range of winners' occupations (from none at all
to professionals)) gave the impression that the magazine caters
predominantly for those in the twilight social zones of 'lower
middle' and 'skilled working' classes [14].
A suburban home
Historians have shown that it was to these class fractions in
particular that suburban development in Britain in the late
140
nineteenth century catered most [15].
This pattern, it is
believed, was conditioned by the needs of these classes to forge
separate class identities.
The position of London as the
commercial centre of the Empire generated a new breed of 'lower
middle class' clerks, elevated to the fringes of the middle class
without sufficient earning capacity to keep them there
comfortably.
The members of the 'skilled working class' or
'labour aristocracy', meanwhile, were concerned to establish a
cultural distance from their inferiors.
'Journeyman Engineer'
Thomas Wright explained in 1873 that
'Between the artisan and the unskilled labourer a gulf
is fixed ... The artisan creed with regard to the
labourer is, that they are an inferior class, and that
they should be made to know and kept in their place'
[16].
Hence a shared interest in cultivating the family home as an
exclusive preserve apart from the workplace, and the exodus to
the new suburban housing estates [17] .
For both fractions, also, we can sense a need to develop a
code of 'respectable' behaviour.
The 'lower middle class' was a vague category which included
occupations like shop assistants, teachers and clerks without
defined boundaries. Unlike its German counterpart, this nascent
'class' was never characterised by political organisation.
Studies, therefore have concentrated on its general, 'cultural'
features - the sense of heightened individualism, the emphasis on
self-help and the value and defence of private property, the
almost absurd emphasis on propriety, mannered respectability, the
141
pretensions, the jingoistic politics, etc. [18].
These
exaggerated features, in addition to the exaltation of familial
integrity, can be seen to stem from a universally felt insecurity
among its members, for office workers in the lower ranks were
rarely very well paid and vulnerable to dismissal as their peers
multiplied [19].
Faced with inevitable insecurities, as
Christopher Caudwell has pointed out, there was an obsession
with competition, rather than collective organisation to improve
conditions: 'it is the peculiar suffering of the petit
bourgeoisie that they are called upon to hate each other'.
G.L.
Anderson has chronicled the failure of organisations like the
National Union of Clerks in the face of such 'values', parodies
of bourgeois traditions [20].
Yet, despite the individualist
emphasis, however, the exaltation of these values can
nevertheless be seen to be characterised by a certain homogeneity
among its 'lower middle class' exponents.
While this matter has
yet to be satisfactorily elaborated by historians, there is a
wealth of satirical works on the clerks in this period, evidently
intentioned for a higher middle class readership.
The
outstanding work in this regard is Diary of a Nobody (1892),
which is still reprinted and was televised by ITV in the 1970s
[21].
For the 'skilled working class' there were the 'Sunday
best' clothes, the virginal front room, essential elements in a
new code of 'respectability' in a period that Richard Hoggart was
later to describe as 'traditional'
[22],
The expansion of the sphere of 'leisure' would, then, have
had important implications for these class fractions in
particular because it permitted the more ostentatious flaunting
142
of newly achieved status in public than the cultivation of the
domestic preserve [23].
This is not to homogenise these groups,
for their status aspirations were as much to do with mutual
exclusion as with elevation from their 'inferiors'
[24].
What I
am arguing is that Sloper can be seen to embody aspects of these
different public codifications of behaviour simultaneously or in
different degrees and ways at different times.
Sloper1s
frequent disruptions of the festivities at seaside resorts and
elsewhere, for example, reflects one of the most outstanding
anomalies in the working class code of 'respectability': that is
the persistence of an element of violence in the celebration of
festive occasions and venues, which suggests the endurance of a
sort of 'pre-industrial' influence.
As Bailey has argued
elsewhere [25], there is no reason to suppose that 'class'
stereotypes can be read as unitary entities, but behaviour and
role-playing can be seen as context-specific.
This is
encapsulated in Sloper.
As for the would-be social climbing clerk, Sloper's delicate
treading of a thin dividing line between intentional spoofing and
unintentional blunders exposes the nightmare of all those who
aspire to 'respectability', the risk of unwitting selfhumiliation.
There is certainly a hint, in Sloper, of the clerk
Pooter as victim of his own pomposity in the Grossmiths'
'Diary
of a Nobody'.
This analysis is beginning to approach a sort of
functionalism, i.e. the reader is satisfied regardless of his/her
class origins.
But despite the internally contradictory messages
143
in Ally Sloper, as the focal point in ASHH, I think that Bailey's
identification of class and historically specific underpinnings
reveals a complex of tensions normally submerged in the 'Friend of
Man' himself.
Bailey comments that Ally Sloper is ultimately a
sort of 'greenhorn's guide' to life on the town.
And in that
role his conflation of high and low life firstly defuses, through
the notion of cheating, the threat of the cadgers, the streetfolk and other variants of 'semi-criminality' exposed by the
humourous weeklies and by Mayhew; and it progressively loses the
threat altogether.
The 'Friend of Man' does not so much cheat
his readers as himself,
In this way, we can sense a progressive
distancing from the investigation of the underworld in the
promised democracy of 'leisure', a process which, as we shall
see, is extended in the self-proclaimed sequels to ASHH, the
Harmsworth comics.
There is a certain reflexivity in Sloper
which can be seen to act as a harbinger of a qualitatively new
era in 'popular' publishing.
However, we can sense an inherent tension in this process,
and in order to elaborate this fully, we need to examine the
trajectory of the analysis of poverty, casualised labour and
semi-criminality in the years after Mayhew's London Labour ...,
for we can make important connections between the understandings
or misunderstandings of these issues in contemporary theories,
the geographical distancing; from them by the new suburbanites,
and an ideological distancing from them for these classes for
whom ASHH appears to have had most appeal.
Moreover, these
understandings must be seen as an underside to the promise of
social amelioration by 'leisure', and together, they must be seen
144
in the context of the emerging political ideologies.
For their
promises of political and cultural democracy were predicated on a
related ideology of the exclusion of the lowest class fractions.
In Chapter Six, I will explore this complex of
interrelationships and attempt to situate ASHH within it.
145
CHAPTER FIVE - FOOTNOTES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
David Kunzle, 'The First Ally Sloper: The Earliest Popular
Cartoon Character as a Satire on the Victorian Work Ethic',
The Oxford Art Journal, Vol. 8, No. 1, 1985, p.10.
Typically outrageous 'tricks' included consigning the wife
and kids to the workhouse and collecting for burial expenses
from unsuspecting charities, a minor swipe at the pockets of
his middle class betters, but played strictly for laughs.
Peter Bailey, 'Ally Sloper's Half-Holiday: Comic Art in the
1880s', History Workshop 16, 1983, p.11.
Kunzle (1985), op. cit.,pp. 41-42.
Ibid., p.42.
Bailey (1983), op. cit., p.8.
Ellen Moers' description in (1960), The Dandy - cited in
Bailey (1983), op. cit., p.13.
Ibid.
Ibid., p.20.
Kunzle (1985), op. cit., p.41.
Peter Bailey (1978), Leisure and Class in Victorian England
p.81.
Ibid., pp.81-87; James Walvin
(1978) Leisure and Society
1830 - 1850, pp.22-24.
Bailey (1983), op. cit., p.5.
Ibid., p.27. There is even some evidence that Sloper
achieved something of a cult status in 'upper Bohemia' - see
ibid., p .9.
Ibid., p .9.
On the growth of suburbia in Victorian London, see H. J.
Dyos and D.A. Reeder, 'Slums and Suburbs', in H.J. Dyos and
M. Wolff (1973) The Victorian City, vol. 2 ; F.M.L. Thompson
(ed. 1982) The Rise of Suburbia; and H.J. Dyos (1986)
Victorian Suburb: A Study of the Growth of Camberwell.
Gareth Stedman Jones (1971), Outcast London, p.226.
For the 'skilled working' or 'artisan' class, efforts to
translate cultural into physical distance were undertaken by
the Trades Council and by house purchase schemes initiated
by working men's clubs. See Jones (1971), op. cit. p.226.;
Geoffrey Crossick, 'The Labour Aristocracy and Its Values: A
Study of Mid-Victorian Kentish London', Victorian Studies,
Vol. 19, No. 3, p.313; Brian T. Robson (1969) Urban
Analysis; James 0. Wheeler, 'Residential Location by
Occupational Status', Urban Studies, V, 1968, pp. 24-32;
Otis Dudley Duncan and Beverley Duncan, 'Residential
Distribution and Occupational Stratification', American
Journal of Sociology, LX, 1955, pp. 493-503.
See Geoffrey Crossick (1977, ed.), The Lower Middle Class
in Britain; Arno J. Mayer, 'The Lower Middle Class as
Historical Problem', Journal of Modern History, vol. 54,
Sept. 1975; also G.D.H. Cole (1955), Studies in Class
Structure, pp.95-96. The German 'kleineburger' was likewise
a diverse and precariously positioned class, but its
insecurities were the fuel for political solidarity and the
seeds of Fascism in the 1920s. See Robert Galletely, (1974)
146
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
The Politics of Economic Despair: Shopkeepers and
German Politics 1890-1914; Jurgen Kocka (1973) 'The First
World War and the 'Mittelstand": German Artisans and Whitecollar Workers', Journal of Contemporary History, vol. 8,
pp.101-23.
Geoffrey Crossick, 'The Emergence of the Lower Middle Class
in Britain', in (1977 ed.), op. cit., p.30; also Richard N.
Price, 'Society, Status and Jingoism: The Social Roots of
Lower Middle Class Patriotism, 1870-1900' , in ibid. Price
notes the dilemma for clerks especially, as representative
of the 'lower middle class' as a whole in trying 'to balance
the obligatory accoutrements of status with the realities of
economic marginality ... [In the 1890's] ... over fifty per
cent of clerks earned less than thirty-one shillings a week,
and their position was worsening', p.97. This figure comes
from David Lockwood (1958) The Black Coated Worker, pp.4344.
Christopher Caudwell (1938), Studies in a Dying Culture,
p.97; G.L. Anderson, 'A Study of Clerical Labour in
Liverpool and Manchester 1850-1914' (University of Lancaster
Ph.D. thesis 1974), pp. 304-313. Cited in Crossick (1977),
op. cit., p .47.
A series of humourous diary articles, littered with
unintentional jokes at the fictional author Pooter's own
expense, these have since been collected in single volume
version: George and Weedon Grossmith (1984) Diary of
a Nobody.
For a discussion of the standard cultural manifestation of
the 'labour aristocracy', see Gareth Stedman Jones, 'WorkingClass Culture and Working-Class Politics in London, 18701900; Notes on the re-making of a Working Class', Journal
of Social History, pp.460-500.
See Crossick (1977), op. cit., p.52.
Gareth Stedman Jones describes the contempt expressed in
music hall songs and their working class audiences for those
who sought self-improvement by entry to the white-collar
workforce - (1974), op. cit., p.493. There was likewise
some discontent over the entry of clerks to working men's
clubs - see Crossick (1977), op. cit., p.52. The feeling,
however, appears to have been mutual. Beyond these
distinctions, there is even evidence that despite the common
suburbanisation of these classes, whole suburbs could be
occupied almost exclusively by one class or the other.
Crossick (ibid., p.51) cites the case of Leyton ('skilled
working class') and the adjacent suburb of Leytonstone
('lower middle class').
Peter Bailey's article, '"Will the Real Bill Banks Please
Stand Up?" A Role Analysis of Victorian Working Class
Respectability' (Journal of Social History, vol. 12, Spring
1979), is a fascinating case study in the variability of
behaviour among the 'respectable' working class at play in a
single day. Reviewing an account by 'Journeyman Engineer'
Thomas Wright in the 1870s of skilled worker Bill Banks' day
out with his girlfriend and mates, Bailey shows how Bill
passes from 'respectable' behaviour (donning his best
147
clothes and hiring a cab with his savings) to the
disreputable (getting drunk and starting a fight) without
any sense of guilt or contradiction.
148
CHAPTER SIX
ALLY SLOPER AND THE 'NEW' DEMOCRACY
The promise of an expanding, democratising world of 'leisure' in
ASHH reflected a qualitatively new development in popular
politics.
The introduction of the bank holidays and Saturday
half-holidays in the 1870s was, as I have argued, part of a
move away from 'classical' liberalism which included also
Disraeli's 1874 Factory Act and 1875 Employers and Workmen Act.
From the mid-1880s we can perceive the emergence of a range of
coherent political ideologies marking a departure from a laissezfaire understanding of social relations to a more 'organic'
vision of capitalist society.
Among the Conservatives, Joseph Chamberlain was the
principal figure in developing an ideology of 'social
imperialism'.
The Empire was to be seen as the basis of a new
social prosperity through protected imperial trade, and the
maintenance of the Empire in turn required a new ideology of
'citizenship', the integration of each individual as an equal
contributor to the organic social whole [1].
Citizenship was
'recast ... in a populist and activist idiom: the new
citizen was to be a participant absorbed into the
larger organic unities of race, empire and nation' [2].
The Liberal Party, likewise, was moving in a differently
'collectivist', but related direction.
The 'new liberalism' of
149
T.H. Green and L.T. Hobhouse reversed the traditional liberal
eschewing of state intervention with the proposition that the
optimisation of the classical liberal concepts of 'freedom' and
self-realisation could only be achieved through the facility of
state institutions.
This collectivism had an ethical basis to
which the Empire was less important.
The democratic principle
involved 'not merely the government of a majority ... [but] ...
rather the government which best expresses the community as a
whole ...' [3].
On the left, the Fabians developed a socialist inflection to
this 'collectivism', remoulding socialism in a distinctly
authoritarian, bureaucratic mould which, like the Conservatives,
saw the Empire as the basis for a general amelioration of social
conditions.
The would-be apolitical world of 'leisure' promised
in ASHH must, therefore, be seen in the general context of
changing political ideologies across the spectrum, the promise of
mass democracy, of which the 1884 electoral Reform Act was a
harbinger.
The basis for these new ideologies, however, was not simply
a set of progressive ideals, for they emerged amid what has been
called a 'crisis' of liberalism [4], and the symptom of that
crisis was the 'Great Depression', an economic recession which
lasted from the mid-1870s to the mid-1890s [5],
The principal
casualties of the Depression, exacerbated by the reluctance of
successive governments to impose tariffs on US and German
imports, were the already casualised industries of London, and
the casual labour problem reached a crisis during the riots by
150
starving labourers in February 1886.
These new ideologies were a
reaction to this problem, and central to their programmes of
reform was the rescue of the casual workforce from their social
conditions.
In this respect they constituted a new departure.
Mayhew's London Labour ... had recognised the problem of
casualisation in the '50s but, as Stedman Jones (1971) points
out, there was still a tendency to view poverty as a consequence
of the 'demoralisation' of the working class.
The Charity
Organisation Society (COS) was set up in 1869 to depersonalise
charity and to render it a straighforward means of social
control.
The London Labour ... passages it cited as
justification for its existence
'were not those which examined the causes and structure
of poverty, but rather those dealing with the elaborate
frauds and deceits employed by beggars and vagrants' [6].
Philanthropy was said to be the cause of decline, the working
classes themselves were responsible for festering in this state.
The COS indicated the extent to which old laissez-faire ideas
persisted with regard to the understanding of poverty. In
parallel with its standpoint, there was a proliferation of works
which similarly avoided understanding in economic terms in favour
of colourful descriptions of urban low-lifes as a race apart.
These works drew on Mayhew's notion of the wandering tribe, but
lacked both his sympathetic leaning and his distinction between
the 'street-folk' and casual labour [7].
The emergence of these new political ideologies, therefore,
constituted a changing attitude to poverty.
The 'casual poor'
were to be elevated to the role of citizens participating in an
151
organic society.
The natural corollary to this was that the
loafers and semi-criminals, with whom the 'casual poor' were
confused, must be eliminated altogether.
This was a significant move away from the combination of
horror and respect for these types as exhibited by Mayhew and the
horror and fascination of his successors.
Their threat, it
seemed could now be isolated and surgically removed from the
social organism.
Such organic and spatial imagery is entirely
appropriate, for it was in such terms that contemporary political
commentators viewed the situation.
The principal influence in
this was Charles Booth.
Mapping the Classes: From Mayhew to Booth
Charles Booth's mammoth investigation of poverty in London,
initiated in 1886 and completed in seventeen volumes in 1902 [8],
was the first on its scale since London Labour... in the '50s.
It was perhaps most remarkable for the fact that Booth was
originally a supporter of the COS approach, and undertook the
study in order to vindicate its basic tenets.
He was also a
committed positivist [9], however, and his search for the 'basic
facts' led him to the inescapable conclusion that poverty in
London was principally a function of casualised industry.
On the
basis of this finding he was to elaborate a more normative
picture of class relations.
Booth's study was structured in three series, running from
"Poverty" through "Industry" to "Religious Influences".
final volume consisted of "Notes on Social Influences and
The
152
Conclusions".
Each series was worked around two axes: class and
time.
The social spectrum was divided into eight distinct classes,
from A ('the lowest class of occasional labourers, loafers and
semi-criminals') through H (the 'upper middle class') [10].
Using 'social condition' as the basis for assessment, his
analysis was largely in quantitative terms, gleaning significance
from even the most minor of statistical observations, as the
following on the frequency of tea purchases demonstrates:
"... there were in five weeks, 23 journeys to the shop
in Class B, 10 in D, and 6 in E" [11].
Beyond his identification of the classes over the seventeen
year period, he frequently updated his figures.
To illustrate
these dynamics, Booth used coloured maps, with each colour
corresponding to a different class, so that the movements of the
classes could be seen to represent relative distancing or
approximation.
The dimension of space had both a metaphorical
purpose in this sense and a practical one in that the trend
towards the domination of any one district by a particular class
bound physical with cultural class distinction.
His "Poverty Map
of 1889" showed a sharp east-west division and "inner" and
"outer" rings of residence, with classes A to D being very
clearly confined to inner London while the higher classes
migrated to the suburbs.
For Booth, geographical distance was to take on a new
significance, for he correlated "crowding" directly with poverty,
and the isolation of especially poor areas with inevitable
153
degeneration.
degenerate,
The problem was seen to be that the most
'lowest' class was reducing those above to its own
state by physical approximation.
The solution, according to
Booth, was the improvement of public transport [12] and the
physical movement of the casual workforce from these conditions.
In his establishment of the street as the unit of analysis in the
"Poverty" series and his equation of class with spatial
environment, Booth added a new axis to his study: geographical
approximation or distancing.
Black, as might be expected, was
used to represent 'class A' and it was contained by the
concentric rings of progressively lighter colours, the wealthier
classes integrated spatially and metaphorically by improving
transport networks.
The project, then, was the elimination of
the black areas by removing those who could be saved, and wiping
out the habitual loafers.
Despite Booth's sympathy for his 'class B ' , however, his
scheme for amelioration was authoritarian in the extreme.
He
suggested removing the 'casual poor' to a type of 'labour
colony',
'industrial groups' which would build their own homes
with Government supplied materials, and gradually acquire selfmotivating habits.
The results of the scheme would be that
'Class A, no longer confounded with "the unemployed",
could be gradually harried out of existence. The
present class B would be cared for, and its children
given fair chances ... a part, sharing the improved
chances of classes C and D, would be pushed upward into
self-supporting habits, and another part, failing to
keep itself even when helped by the State, would pass
into the ranks of paupers, so that the total numbers to
whom the proposed State organization would ultimately
apply would be very much less than the present numbers
of class B. Class C would then have more work, class D
more pay, and both be able to build from the bottom,
154
instead of floating, as now, on the top of their world'
[13].
In this, Booth tempers his humanitarianism with the residual
element of an individualistic tendency, something he clearly
shares with Mayhew, but the important difference is that Booth
looks at the problem of the lowest class from the standpoint of
an organic social vision to which it is alien.
The project at
hand is the incorporation of casual labour into the already
corporeally integrated productive and managerial classes, and the
simultaneous elimination of a peripheral limb, a threat to
optimum social efficiency.
It is a movement up the social scale
and outwards from the city centre.
The lowest 'class' barely
warrants a label, as opposed to Mayhew's almost noble savages.
Just as the social investigators of the 1840s identified these
social scavengers with the disease-laden squalor of their
surroundings, Booth pictures them as virtually an irretrievable
part of their social condition, a perpetual and unchanging threat
to the hapless 'class B' above - they were an unsympathetically
identified version of Mayhew's 'those who won't work'.
And finally, the great irony identified by Mayhew, that
these fractions were a distorted commentary on the essence of
bourgeois individualism in their pursuit of self-gain is likewise
lost.
They become simply black areas on the map to be destroyed.
We can perceive in Booth, therefore, a progressive reworking
of the ideology of 'poverty' in which the 'lowest class' is
victim to its own fecklessness, no longer a nihilistic,
oppositional threat, but a minor one which can be disposed of.
Each strand of the collectivist political ideologies
155
produced a variant of Booth's proposal for reform.
Among the
social imperialists, Lord Brabazon noted the 'pale faces, stunted
figures, debilitated forms, narrow chests, and all the outward
signs of a low vital power'
London's East End.
nineties:
[14] among the inhabitants of
His proposals were similar to Booth's in the
'free dinners for school children, the provision of
parks and playgrounds to allow air to circulate within the city,
gymnastic training for the poor, and a programme of state-aided
colonization to clear London of its redundant population'
[15].
The major theorist of the 'new Liberals', L.T. Hobhouse,
similarly advocated the establishment of labour colonies, in
which the individual would be forced to 'prove himself efficient
enough in mind and body to stand the stress of individual
competition'
[16].
Failure would fairly result in 'the penalty
of being treated as a pauper or even, in an extreme case, as a
criminal'
[17].
Fabianism, even more than the other two, used a Darwinian
language of evolution in its proposal to eliminate the 'unfit' by
labour colonies.
The development of each of these political ideologies, then,
involved the renegotiation of class relations, centering on the
issue of who could be included at the lower level.
For social
imperialism and Fabianism, the myth of the 'residuum' was
essential: as a threat to the individual's specific social status
since it represented the depths to which s/he could fall, it was
also a spur to collective commitment to the economic security in
the Empire.
156
Moreover, and this, I feel is quite significant, there is a
tendency in writings at this time to marginalise these figures
with a pseudo-scientific notion of urban degeneration.
This
stands in direct parallel to the emerging language of racial
scales as part of the 'eugenic' theory of white Anglo-Saxon
superiority.
It is surely no coincidence that the geographical-
cultural poles of the British empire - the metropolitan centre
and the colonial periphery - were excluded from the promise of
democracy and the rights to citizenship and democratic
participation.
The 'noble savages' at the periphery of Empire
and the 'residuum' at the centre become inferior species.
And we
can plot a progression in this movement, peaking during the Boer
War, when fears for the future of the imperial race were at their
most feverish [18].
Slum and Suburb: Residuum and Respectability
In ASHH, we can sense a negotiation of class relations which
revolves around this tension between broadening horizons and the
moral imperative of removing 'class A'.
For if, as I have
maintained, the principal appeal of ASHH can be seen to be for
those readers in the 'skilled working' and 'lower middle' class
brackets, then the negotiation of their class positions was as
much to do with their orientation to those fractions below as to
those above.
The 'Great Depression' had paradoxical effects on the
British economy.
While it certainly had disastrous effects on
certain industries, it also caused wages for those in employment
to rise in real terms as far as 1900, and it caused a general
157
fall in prices, especially of foodstuffs, of over 25% [19].
While rents were in general rising in the same period [20],
broadly speaking the standard of living for these classes in
particular could be said to be improving, while the casualised
labourers were suffering.
We can make an even more stark correlation between the rise
and fall of these respective class fractions.
The building of
railway stations and lines in the cities in one sense forged new
connections between work, suburban living and the extending
avenues for leisure pursuits for those who had escaped to the
suburbs.
However, it must also be seen (in tandem with the
street clearance programmes for sanitary regulation and the
catering to property needs for the financial City expanding into
the heart of East London) as the progressive confinement and
collapsing of the casual labourers, loafers and semi-criminals
into one closely packed mass [21].
And this physical
agglomeration can be seen to condition an 'ideological'
conflation of those fractions for the new suburbanites commuting
back and forth by train.
The outstanding evidence for this
argument is established by Stedman Jones, who remarks that, after
the riots by starving casual labourers in 1886,
'it was scarcely surprising that in the 1grande peur'
which followed ... houses were barricaded against the
poor not only by capitalist London but also by its
skilled working class' [22],
That is to say that the geographical and ideological distancing
of slum and suburb was not merely an imperative for political
commentators and investigators like Booth.
It was part of the
S L O P E R ’S
C H R IS T M A S
APPEAL.
"P oo r Papa's appeal in his ' C n kistma* Holidays/ on behalf o j Ike Destitute London Poor, it bringing in the money, and ve hope to do btg thing» by
Christmastime. I f tee could only induce every pure hater of the * H Air-Holiday ' to give a Penny, ice should get nearly Fifteen Hundred Pounds' I t it not
merely the collecting that tcantt looking after, but the dittnbulw n of the monies it a thing Papa pays particular attention to. The other day M r. J icGooseley
and M r. Motet, taking a hint from St. Vincenl Mercier, ioere detected by Papa in an attempt to— well, to deal with public money on a novel p la n /’— Tootsix.
1
H IM BEISOI, PfiUCE OF STODLKHS.
- I am tb ir t» ye* n o ld . aarf ® y i m i n o t i* H a r ry B « o
I »0 0 ." * J e m i b lo o k IQ« c e a t le t n a o . io c o o r i d a ttir* . » w
I k in d * a o u * h u> in t o n a ih » B o * S t r t * w r t t n w . - b u t I
h a r* (n o * by o o n e r o u t
* o e k a* r o * a o . C o * u
Y o o f i . Y o u a f , C o u o t M o ota*u r. an d tb * X *rq u i* d * M o m * n * ° h * d . in d e e d . b m , I* k u l i » « , t h e tno»( p tau alb l* nr
» r o ile m e n —a / . (or in rta o c* . " k e n *m a»««il*uly * h * r ih »
I i v i f o - O i n n i o « i r b* paid • » m l t o tk * L ord M a y o r o f
l /o o d o o . b w r io x » I m r r w h ic h o o r p o r u d t o b« w r itt e n b y
I b e M arn r o ( C h atra u d u a . a a d . b y m alrb laaa ***urax>c<• w io d le d t h r »It&ODrn o f ik e A x f i o f r e n c h Coro p a l l o n a i »
F o o d o u t o f a ib o u m o d pound* U lu ta * x * ly a r r w ta d . h o »
« v a r t o d t4Q i«oc«J t o m l < i m o o th * im p n a o n ia e o t . h r
i n e d l o i- o a o u t lu w id e br w < lift | Hr« l o h u c lo tb c » . » h i - H
rva u lte d id hi* b e io r *o b a r . o o bi* reJcaa* (ru m p r u o o .
Ih * t b e c o u ld •ca rr rly w alk
V e i n * t o a d * e m * * o » eo i l o t h r D * i l f T r l f f r a p k (or *om rn t j t t o « n t « * o d Iran*!*»« article* m io t « n o u * ! * o f u a * f h e a p p lie d . a n d o b ta ia e d tb e tiiu a u o n .
Tbe a d t e n u e r •
K urr. a n d hi* n o tio n » • * t o < ta n * bo*u » iniurm rw '1
c o m iM a r a n i o n I«**** o n i&e t o r i
O n e » o liu r y n u m b e r
o ( * ib a m t a p e r , c a lle d S / w f , m p u b lu h e d . a n d a a a n ic i«
• n t t e n i s it b y B « a * o o t o t h e e ffec t t h a t a U r. M o o if o t n e r j .
no* b a ia r a b la t o | K *uA c>eni od d * la En*l*o«1 (o r Sor**«
th a t x i i c e r ta in t v • « . * u b t d t o lo r rt « i t k p a o p l* io
Figure 6.3
*S3oper»s Christmas Appeal*
(froro ASHH, Vol. VI, No. 294,, Dec. 14, 1889Ì
1 5 8
T h i s Copy of " A L L Y S L O P E R " carries w ith it t h e a d v a n t a g e s of
C O N DU C TE D
V o l.
V
I . - N
0 2 8 4 J
BY
S A T U R D A Y ,
A.
SLOPER
a Railway Accident Life Policy for £100.
GILBERT
O C T O B E R
TACKLES
3 ,
DALZIEL.
1 8 8 0 .
THE
[O N E
PEN N Y .
S T R IK E R S .
" You w ill be pleased to bear that Papa't illneu hat entirety pasted away, and beyond a chronic condition o f dry neti, from which he it tvfferxng, all teemt
well. H it f i r i t act on reaching London wot to make an appointment with M r. Burnt at the ‘ Sloper Arms* and after partaking o f one or two throat lubricationt
at John't ejpente. he proceeded to Hyde Park In addrets the Slrikert. The main argument Poor Papa brought to bear wat, that haring got the extra penny
they asked Jor, there wat nothing left them to do but to tpend it ¿a buying the ' H a l f - H o l i d a y . ' The meeting broke up hurriedly, they tay.n — T o o i m .
THE BA8T1LE.
O . t t merry M a r m o r n in g . la 1719. V lon iln ar d r la T u d e . e
f a r . lig h t - b r e n r a jroun« F r e n c h g e n tle m a n . o f I hr*« a n d
t « e o t r . fo u n d b im a e lf a u d d e a ly to t h e cu a to d y o f a c o u p le
o f p o lic e m e n . >»o a e c u a a tio o » u m ad e M u n i t h im . e n d
o o I n a l lo o k p la c e . b u t h*- x j at o o c « lo c k e d at» 10 th*c lo o m y p n a o o o f t h e B v t i l r . H e h a d . in fa ct, b r aom r
b o m b fre a k , in c u r r e d t h e d tap leaau rv o f M adam « lr P n m
» d a v r , ih * p M e n i ( ¿ » o u n t e o f th e C ou rt o f L o u u X V
T h ai
« o o u f b . t o d for t h i r t y - f i t « w ea r y .»ear« fcr
r e m a in e d a p n t o o e r
F o r fou r m o o t h i h« w « k e p t io Ih » S e a ttle . b u t th e n
r e in o te d t o V ia c c o a e * . • here b e waa A llow ed th e p r m J e g »
o f « i l k i n ; tor a c o u p l e o f h ou r* id t h e f a r d e o . ( o w h ic h a
t u r n k e y a c c o m p a n ie d h im d o w n • f lig h t o f a to n e a u p e . t >
la T u d e K oin< 6 m
O o * d a y h e ran d o w o the*« a ie p e »•
q u ic k ly aa h a c o u ld , c ln a e d t h e d oor o n th a g a o le r. p u t on
an air o f e e a o r a o c r . a n d . in a b u atU og w a y . in q u ire d o f th e
r a n o u a guarda b a Daaa«d for a p eraon w h o h ad a c c id e n ta lly
juat f o n e o a t o f t h e p n a o a id a d v a n c e o f him . a n d la le*»
t k a a fiv e m in u ta a f o u o d b im a e lf a Ir w m a o ta t h a P an*
U r t e U b u t. id a w e a k m o m e o c h e lif t e o e d t o t h e a d r t c a o f
a f n « o d . « b o u r r o d Kim t o t h r o w h im a e lf o o t h e c lc m « D ti
o f t h e K i& f
H a d id t o . e n d b y th e K in g 'i c la m a o c y h e
waa u k e o back t o t h e B aatU e. a o d th e re c o o flo c d t o th e
m oat d iam al d n n g e o n o f t h e p rtaoa.
R r r e m a in e d fo r e ig h t e e n m o n th a la th ia h or r id aitu a tk o o .
Figure 6.2
’A. Sloper Tackles the Strikers’
(from ASHH, Vol. VI, No. 284, Oct.5, 1889)
1 59
160
lived experiences of those who had been transplanted to the
suburbs.
The negotiation of their own position within society
involved their orientation to those above and below.
On the one
hand they were promised a symbolic integration, through
'leisure', with their superiors.
On the other, there was a
distinct threat from below, but a degree of confusion over what
exactly it constituted, given the conflation of the 'casual poor'
and the habitual loafers.
This overview of the changes in class and political
relations towards the end of the century is essential to
understanding ASHH in all its complexity.
In order to illustrate
how this understanding can be developed, here are two examples of
Sloper's front-page cartoons.
Sloper's Christmas Appeal
It would be inaccurate to assume that Ally Sloper's exaltation of
the new world of 'leisure' somehow deliberately omits both the
low-lifes and the casual labourers in Mayhew.
As argued in
Chapter Five, Sloper's blundering through various festive
occasions subsumes some of the oppositional threats of these
fractions in his own persona.
And beyond this, he can be seen to
deal directly with the problem on some occasions, even if in an
innocent, fun-poking way.
His patronage of a Christmas appeal for charity donations
(for the 'deserving' poor, no doubt) in 1889 (SLOPER'S CHRISTMAS
APPEAL'
[23] - Figure 6.1) is an interesting case in this
respect, particularly as it reintroduces some of his occasional
161
sidekicks from the old Judy days, McGoosely and Moses, Irish and
Jewish variations on the early Sloper as proletarian cheat.
It
is as though Sloper the 'Friend of Man', the bringer of
democracy, is dealing with his own past in the form of an
innocuous threat to that democracy, those tricksters
unconvincingly 'disguised' as blind and dumb men respectively, in
search of a handout.
In case we are in any doubt, each carries
an explanatory sign, and Moses gazes slyly at the reader.
Even
more than the subliminal appropriation of low-life to himself,
this reflects the change in attitudes to slum life in the
humourous weekly.
The intrepid explorer, fascinated by the
subversive efforts of his subjects, becomes the corporeal
embodiment of an organically integrated society (Sloper in an
amused, paternal pose), deciding what elements qualify for
inclusion within itself.
In the resurrection of figures like
McGoosely and Moses we can perceive the undercurrent ideology of
the equation of poverty with an innate fecklessness, but the
tension between what constitutes the 'deserving' and
'undeserving' poor is smudged by the focussing of this innate
fecklessness on particular characters.
To this extent we can
see, once more, the pictorial treatment of Sloper and the other
characters, as a disengagement from dealing directly with the
complex issues of poverty.
Instead, the Sloper office is filled
with forms of self-publicity, therefore further defusing the
still contentious issue of charity by channelling it through
'F.O.M.' himself.
Indeed the reader's ability to make even the
donation of a penny is equivalent to an elevated status.
The representation of McGoosely and Moses in this cartoon is
162
significant in another respect.
The classic late Victorian representation of the Irish is
typified by Tenniel's cartoons in Punch: irrational, violent
Micks and Pats with overhanging upper lips, widely spaced eyes
and small crania [24],
Such cartoons are seen unproblematically
as the products of a new kind of Darwin-inspired 'scientific1
racism from the 1860s onwards, in which the Irish are equated
with the 'negroid' races of the Empire as a means of 'proving'
the superiority of the uniform 'Anglo-Saxon' race.
At a time
when the Irish threat to imperial stability at the centre of the
Empire was at its strongest, the promotion of anti-Irish
sentiment consequently ran to fever pitch [25].
Anti-Jewish
feeling, in London especially, was also on the increase at this
time, as a consequence of the influx of Jewish immigrants,
particularly in the clothing trades [26].
These Irish and Jewish figures in ASHH are treated more with
a patronising tolerance than with any politicised and insidious
racism, however.
Irish drunkenness and Jewish stinginess are
directed at themselves.
Therefore, they are fairly harmless.
This kind of representation marks ASHH once again as a
transitional phase in the move to a new era of populist
publishing which sets itself up in a political vacuum.
The
tendency towards an almost benevolent, if simultaneously
denigrating presentation of such racial types is a continuous
strand in ASHH and its successors.
It defuses potential
political tensions by admitting these types as marginal
participants in a 'popular' universe.
For all his slobbering
163
drunkenness, McGoosely nevertheless sits down regularly to a
Christmas dinner with Sloper and the occasional representatives of
aristocracy, the 'Dook Snook1, Lord Bob and Honourable Billy [27].
I would stress again, however, that even if ASHH marks a
transition to a new kind of 'popular' publishing, he can still be
seen to deal with real figures on a real landscape.
If there is
one episode which exemplifies this 'transitional' aspect to ASHH
and shows how it can be read as negotiating the inter-class
tensions of the '80s it is his handling of the 'Great Dock
Strike' of 1889.
A. Sloper tackles the strikers
The Great
Dock Strike was one of the key turning
points in
understandings of the casualisation of London industry.
The
strike, which included virtually unprecedented numbers and closed
the entire port of London, was favourably received in most social
quarters. As such it was an extraordinary achievement.
This
can be attributed, firstly, to the fact that it was
led by 'respectable' Lib-Lab trade union
leaders
like JohnBurns.
Secondly, although it was conducted by those workers most hit by
casualisation, the dockers, the fact that the marches took place
without any violence was an additional factor in drawing the
sympathies of the middle classes.
It was even 'helped by
subscriptions from the City, cheered on by stock-brokers, and won
in an atmosphere of carnival'
[28].
It reflected the fact that
trade unionism was increasingly accepted as a means of ensuring
social stability, rather than as a threat to the security of the
state, the belief that the elevation of casual labour would
164
isolate even more the cadgers, loafers, vagrants etc.
And
coming, as it did, in the wake of the publication of Booth's
early findings, it was accompanied by liberal citations of
Booth's statistics in support.
This dual aspect to the strike is captured perfectly by
Sloper in 'A. SLOPER TACKLES THE STRIKERS'
[29] (Figure 6.2).
In
this episode, Sloper partakes of Burns' generosity at the 'Sloper
Arms' before addressing a meeting of the strikers, attended by a
variety of social and racial types, including a soldier and a
policeman quietly taking notes. Ally is precariously placed on a
single plank, from which Charles Stewart Parnell has just fallen
off, shouting "STRIKE STRIKE THE LYRE" while holding Sloper's hat
for him [30],
Not only the 'Friend of Man'
(and indeed humanity
is represented in its entirety), Sloper is now 'the strikers
[sic] friend'.
And characteristically he tries both to cheat
them by encouraging them to spend their gains on copies of ASHH
and to get them to indulge in some innocent cheating themselves:
striking for 'a "Half-Holiday" and
500 for nothing'.
Despite
the evident legacy of Sloper's low-life trickery, this is the
'Friend of Man' now, inviting the deserving among the casual poor
to enter his populist universe, in which they can share the joke
about cheating the system because they can afford to do so.
The
only figures excluded are the loafers of class A and the worst of
class B, and these are represented by the figure dozing under a
tree in the background while his superiors march up the social
scale.
This focusses the argument for the connection
165
between the trajectories of periodical publishing and populist
politics to the extent that their common inclusivity is based on
a very clear ideology of exclusion.
And yet we can still sense Sloper's low-life origins, for
there is certainly a hint that the strike is being translated
from a legitimate withdrawal of labour to a sort of semi-cadging
exercise: "Now you've got your tanner ... [ie. for doing nothing
- striking - MF] ... Strike for a "Half-Holiday" and
500 for
nothing". There is at once an engagement with a serious political
issue and an avoidance of its real implications. Striking, now,
is all part of a game played among equals, but there are real
tensions to this representation which reflect the persistence of
the role of dialogue between editor and reader regarding class
location through the historical evolution of the Victorian
humourous weeklies, even if disguised in a commoditised, packaged
product like Ally Sloper.
In this uneasiness, also, we can sense the fact that the
casual labour problem was by no means solved, for the Dock Strike
was made possible only by a temporary upturn in the fortunes of
the economy, and this was to come to a halt in the hard winter of
1890-1.
The Dock Strike was actually seen by middle class
commentators as a means not only of separating 'respectability'
from 'residuum', but also of eliminating much of Booth's 'class
B' by removing them from the workforce altogether [31].
These
hopes were realised in 1891, when the dock companies took the
opportunity to rationalise the workforce and to classify workers
according to 'fitness', therefore tying them to the company
rather than the union [32].
In the superficial appearance of
166
class conciliation through the 'Friend of Man', then, we can
sense a complex of tensions in operation: the tension between a
solidarity between the union and the casual workforce and doubts
about the worthiness of such workers for elevation; and between a
willingness to avoid prolonged conflict on the part of the middle
classes, high and low and a persistent confusion on their part
between 'class A' and 'class B'.
ASHH points to a new kind of humourous publishing which
progressively loses any overt political orientation, and promises
a new 'democracy' in the commoditised generation and consumption
of leisure.
But we can also root its principal element, Ally
Sloper, in the political and class tensions of the '80s and '90s.
More specifically, we can perceive a move towards the gearing of
the notion of a 'popular' entertainment for limited class
fractions.
In order to elaborate this argument, we must look now at
the entry of Alfred Harmsworth to the sphere of 'popular'
publishing and what I would deem his rationalisation of a process
already evident in ASHH.
167
CHAPTER SIX - NOTES
1.
Chamberlain defected from the Liberals due to his
disagreement with Gladstone's Home Rule Bill for Ireland.
His cultivation of 'social imperialism' developed from the
imperative of maintaining Ireland at the centre of the
Empire.
2.
Stuart Hall and Bill Schwarz, 'State and Society, 1880-1930'
in Stuart Hall (1988) The Hard Road to Renewal, p.110.
3.
L.T. Hobhouse (1972) Democracy and Reaction, p.160. Cited in
Robert Pearson and Geraint Williams (1984), Political
Thought and Public Policy in the Nineteenth Century: An
Introduction, p.156.
4.
Hall et al. (1988), op. cit.
5.
For a discussion of the historical reviews of the roots and
economic effects of the 'Great Depression' see S.B. Saul
(1985) The Myth of the Great Depression 1873-1896 (Saul
actually argues that the depression was apparent much
earlier than 1873 and persisted well beyond 1896 (hence the
'myth'), but these can be read as the worst years for the
British economy.
6.
Gareth Stedman Jones (1971), Outcast London, p.10.
7.
Such works included James Greenwood's (1869) The Seven
Curses of London, (1874) The Wilds of London, (1876)
Low Life Deeps, and an accountof the Strange
Fish to be
Found There, (1883) Odd People and Places;Or the
Great Residuum; G.R. Sim's (1889) How the Poor
Live and Horrible London; also the novels of George Gissing (1884) The Unclassed, (1889) The Nether World and Hesba
Stretton's books for children.
8.
Published as Life and Labour of the People of London (1902).
9.
See Harold W. Pfautz (ed. 1967), Charles Booth on the
City : Physical Pattern and Social Structure, p .19.
10. 'Poverty Series', I, p.33. See ibid., p.51.
11. 'Poverty Series', I, p.140. See ibid., p.161.
12. Ibid., p.98.
13.
'Poverty', I, pp.168-169. See Pfautz (1967, ed.), op. cit.,
pp.31-32 and Jones (1971), op. cit., pp.306-307.
14. Lord Brabazon (1886) Social Arrows, pp.13-14, cited in
ibid., p .308.
15. Jones' summary, in ibid, p.309,
16. L.T. Hobhouse (1922), Social Evolution and Political Theory,
p. 179.
17. L.T. Hobhouse (1977) Liberalism, p. 86. Cited in Pearson and
Williams (1984), op. cit., p. 159.
18. See Jones (1971), op. cit., pp.331-333. On the theory of
'eugenics', see Daniel J. Kevles (1985), In the Name of
Eugenics: Genetics and the Uses of Human Heredity. There
are numerous works on Victorian concepts of race. Images of
Race (ed. Michael D. Biddiss 1979) is a useful anthology of
typical Victorian writings on the subject.
19. W. Hamish Fraser (1981) The Coming of the Mass Market 18501914, p.16; C.P. Kindleberger (1956) The Terms of Trade (on
prices); E.H., Phelps Brown and P.E. Hart (1952), 'Share of
168
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
Wages in the National Income' , Economic Journal, 1952, LXII.
This fall in prices, resulting largely from German
competition, affected those in the clothing trades most
strongly, so that a disproportionate number from this sector
sought charity in the last quarter of the century - Jones
(1971), op. cit,, p.109.
Fraser (1981), op. cit., p.44.
On the casualisation of London's industries, see Jones
(1971) op. cit, chapters 4, 5 and 6. On the slow acceptance
by railway companies of the need for early morning commuter
services, especially in London's West End, see Michael John,
'Suburban development in outer West London, 1850-1900', in
F.M.L. Thompson (1982, ed.) The Rise of Suburbia, especially
pp.132-134.
Ibid., p.346.
ASHH, Vol. VI, No. 294, Dec. 14, 1889.
The influence of Tenniel's cartoons can be seen in some of
the cheaper weeklies. During the "land war" in Ireland in
the early 1880s, James Henderson's twopenny Funny Folks
(1875-1894) ran a series of impeccable imitations of the
Tenniel style of front page, heavily political cartoons
depicting the threat of gorilla-like Irish farmers to a
feminine and vulnerable Hibernia. Parnell wasshown as
their political representative, unable to impose control.
For the standard exposition of this thesis, see Lewis P.
Curtis Jr. (1971), Apes and Angels: The Irishman in
Victorian Caricature, and Liz Curtis (1985), Nothing but the
same old story: the roots of anti-Irish racism, pp. 54-68
for the late Victorian period.
Jones (1971), op. cit., pp.109-110.
Bailey (1983), op. cit., p.15.
Jones (1971), op. cit., p.315.
ASHH. Vol. VI, No. 284, Oct. 5, 1889.
A sympathetic representation of Parnell as an amusing Mick
making an appropriate pun on the word 'strike'. This episode
appeared at the height of Parnell's short-lived popularity
in Britain, following his vindication in the Piggott forgery case
and just before his downfall in the O'Shea divorce case.
See, for example, H. Llewellyn Smith and Vaughan Nash (1889)
'The Story of the Dockers' Strike', pp. 164-5, cited in
Jones (1971), op. cit., p.318.
Ibid.
169
PART III
This section of the thesis examines the birth of the 'comics' as
a third and final phase in the development of the Victorian
periodical press, concentrating on the early 1890s.
Chapter Seven looks at Harmsworth's early career and
principal titles at this time.
It analyses the terms of
Harmsworth's editorial address to see how the miscellaneous
components of the comics were mediated by a new kind of populism
which denied class differences.
It is argued that this populism
is, however, specific to the needs of the newly emergent 'lower
middle class'.
Chapters Eight and Nine are a close empirical reading of the
comics as holistic entities which maintain a form of dialogue
with the reader concerning his/ her class location, despite the
fact that they are characterised by a variation of populism of
the editorial address.
170
CHAPTER SEVEN
HARMSWORTH'S ARRIVAL: 'SCISSORS AND PASTE' AND 'GOOD TASTE'
In attempting to assess the contribution of Alfred Harmsworth's
ventures to popular periodical publishing, we can perceive a
number of developments on ASHH.
Any cursory overview of the degree of advertising in the
Harmsworth comics will reveal that, as Williams (1962) argues,
their survival was based on advertising revenue to a far greater
extent than papers like ASHH, and this was true of all of his
publications.
In this sense, therefore, they show an advance on
ASHH in that they themselves increasingly function as objects of
exchange and in their role as guide to the commoditising of
leisure consumption.
In their central thematic orientations also, we can see that
their populist address was mediated by class-specific ideologies.
The comics, women's and family magazines clearly exalt the joys
of suburban domestic life.
The newspapers and boys' weeklies
fanatically support the imperial project.
In each of these
sectors, Harmsworth's publications seem to reflect very strongly
the variously inflected new political project of the middle
classes through the offer of the seemingly socially neutral
ideals of domesticity and imperialism.
In these, even more than
in ASHH, we can sense the gearing of the product specifically as
171
a form of reassurance, a promise of symbolic democracy through
shared reading matter.
It appears as a world, moreover, from
which the latent, threatening elements in ASHH are systematically
excluded.
A review of the career of Harmsworth himself and his
input to his products, and of the terms in which the comics, or
any of the other titles, addressed their readers, will reveal a
strong orientation to the new bourgeois mores, pitched at a
decidedly 'lower middle class' level.
It is extremely difficult,
in fact, to trace any tensions at all in the inherent ideologies
of these products.
They appear to constitute a far more
coherent, populist mode of address which inscribes the reader in
a would-be classless world paradoxically couched in a petty
bourgeois version of bourgeois 'respectability'.
In this chapter, I want to explore how exactly this
discourse emerged.
In terms of the dialogue between editor and
reader concerning class location, which we can see evolving
throughout the history of Victorian humourous weeklies, the
Harmsworth comics appear to have progressed to a new level of
generality - the construction of an entirely spurious notion of
the 'mass' or 'popular' reader based in class-specific
ideologies.
However, undercurrent to this apparent process, we can,
indeed, plot a continuity in the tensions around which ASHH
revolved and these can be perceived throughout the miscellaneous
elements of the comics.
The central tension is still in the
situation of the reader with respect to those classes above, and
especially to those below.
In Chapters Eight and Nine I will
172
examine how this can be shown, and how in spite of the
superficially simple editorial populism, the comics can be read
as holistic entities negotiating the complex issue of the
reader's class identity within the 'mass'.
In this respect, as
with ASHH, I feel that we can perceive a complication rather than
a simplification of the dialogue between editor and reader.
Firstly, however, we need to gain some grasp of the overall
nature of Harmsworth's contribution to 'popular' periodical
publishing.
Having done this, we must examine the nature of the
editorial address in the comics as both contiguous with and
divergent from ASHH in the way it extends a populist appeal to
the reader.
Part of the attraction of Judy and ASHH to 'art historian'
David Kunzle and 'social historian' Peter Bailey is the
subliminal presence in Ally Sloper of its creators - publisher
Dalziel, and originator Ross.
These figures were part of the
'sub-culture of Bohemian London'
[1] which included the
contributors to Punch. As such they were on a continuum with
Mayhew, Jerrold and the earlier generation of humourous
periodical writers and artists. They were 'merry fellows' who
claimed to stand apart from class allegiances, and particularly
from bourgeois respectable mores.
Where they differed was in the
fact that by this time failure in such ventures as these was a
more serious risk, since capitalisation had become a more
expensive proposition.
'Merry fellows' could become bitter
fellows, so that ASHH also reflects the 'compound of aspiration
and insecurity that marks the careers of the paper's progenitors'
[2].
The mercurial quality assigned to such figures is also akin
173
to that of publishers Lloyd and Purkess and writers Rymer and
Frost in the '40s.
They are somehow romantic figures, self-
conscious hack journalists parodying their profession in Ally
himself as editor/writer.
The outstanding impression from Harmsworth's biographers [3]
is that he was at the forefront of a new breed of journalists and
publishers.
Standing quite apart from the Bohemian set,
Harmsworth's uncritical zeal, limited intellectual scope, sense
of propriety and pretensions to grandeur are the products of his
own lower middle class background, and are seen to colour his
publications.
His outstanding success, moreover, becomes the
quintessential realisation of his typical readers' collective
aspirations.
In this sense he is far removed from figures like
Ross and Dalziel.
Born in 1865 to a modestly incomed family (he was the son of
an unsuccessful barrister [4]), Harmsworth is said to have
entered the journalistic 'profession ... at a peculiarly
favourable moment' in 1882 as a new demand for popular reading
opened up [5].
His first freelance work was with Iliffe & Sons' The Cyclist
magazine, and in 1885 he became editor of their Bicycling News
[6].
This, it is believed, not only allowed him indulge his
favourite hobby, and to encourage another, photography, as part
of the reader's cycling trip, but also to exploit the
possibilities of the bicycle as a 'social portent'
[7] in the
liberation of the lower classes, and especially of women.
It
gave Harmsworth an insight into popular reading as a form of
174
symbolic démocratisation, and it also gave him the opportunity to
experiment with the cultivation of readership segments within the
'mass' readership by hiring female writers [8],
This
'démocratisation' must, however, be seen to be mediated by
certain class factors.
That is, we can very clearly identify the
appeal of the bicycle as primarily among the 'skilled working'and
'lower middle' classes [9].
In 1888, Harmsworth went into partnership with his brother
Harold.
Their first independent venture in the publishing world
was an imitation of George Newnes' magazine Tit-Bits, on which
Alfred had earlier served as a collaborator [10].
called Answers to Correspondents'.
It was to be
Tit-Bits was, as the name
signified, a magazine of tiny snippets of 'information',
'facts',
figures, and miscellaneous articles, many of them culled,
uncredited, from other sources.
Answers was an elevation of the
correspondence column to the central component of the magazine:
the reader requested 'information' and it was duly delivered.
Pound and Harmsworth describe it as 'a kind of Notes & Queries
for the unscholarly average man thirsting for information rather
than for knowledge'
[11].
It could be seen as a self-proclaimed
equalisation of the social spectrum in the search for, and
delivery of information as a universally accessible commodity.
It described itself as
'a sort of Universal Information provider. Anybody
who reads our paper for a year will be able to converse
on many subjects on which he was entirely ignorant. He
will have a good stock of anecdotes and jokes and will
indeed be a pleasant companion' [12].
Harmsworth filled it with trivial pursuits - 'Narrow Escapes from
175
Burial Alive' and 'What the Queen Eats' appeared in the first
issue [13] - but the real seller, and the factor which saved
Answers from its flagging fortunes in competition with Tit-Bits,
was an early competition with the prize of 'a pound a week for
life', in October 1889.
We can sense from the description above
that the 'average' man in mind was more likely in this same
'lower middle' or 'skilled working' bracket anxious for selfimprovement through the embellishment of his conversational
ability with bits of 'information'.
The competition suggests an
obsession with security in an age of economic uncertainty [14].
This success led to his new humourous weeklies, the
halfpenny Comic Cuts and Illustrated Chips in 1890, and
The Wonder in 1892.
Like Tit-Bits and Answers, these were
originally 'scissors-and-paste' efforts, consisting mostly of
fragments culled from other magazines and assembled with no great
attention to logical structure.
The new halfpenny price, it is
reckoned, principally marked a sacrifice in the quality of paper
[15].
He succeeded these with a concerted effort to win the
young male and female markets with the penny Forget-Me-Not (1891)
and Home Chat (1895) for women, and the halfpenny Marvel (1893),
Union Jack (1894), Pluck (1894) and The Boys' Friend (1895) for
boys.
In these efforts, Harmsworth launched the strategy of
trying to dominate his chosen market through similar magazines
with mutual advertising and dubbed it with a typically brash and
pretentious flourish, 'Schemo Magnifico'
[16].
Harmsworth thus laid the foundation for his first venture
into newspapers with his purchase and transformation of the
176
E v e n in g News i n
H is
e q u iv a le n t to
c o m ic s ,
(th o u g h
it
and e a r ly
D a ily M a il
1896.
be A r t h u r P e a rs o n , w hose
c a r e e r w e re
s im ila r
( 1 8 9 8 - 1 9 0 9 ) w as t h e
b e ca m e a b o y s '
n o t go i n t o
in
[1 7 ].
P e a r s o n 's
T i t - B i t s , P e a r s o n 's W e e k ly , a p p e a r e d
B ig B u d g e t
la u n c h e d h i s
fie ld
and h is
p r i n c i p a l c o m p e t i t o r w as t o
h u m b le o r i g i n s
h is
1894,
c o m ic p u b l i s h i n g .
in c lu d e d
T ra p p s ,
T he C o lo u r e d C o m ic
in
1 9 0 5 ).
th e M a il
in
O th e r c o m p e t it o r s
H o lm e s & C o.
(1 8 9 8 -1 9 0 6 ))
1900.
Of
m o st s u c c e s s fu l
a d v e n t u r e w e e k ly
D a ily G a z e tte j u s t b e fo r e
in
( F u n n y Cu t s
N ew nes
1896,
in
th e
b u t d id
c o m ic s
(1 8 9 0 -1 9 2 0 ),
a n d Ja m e s H e n d e r s o n
( C o m ic L i f e
(1 8 9 8 -1 9 2 8 )) .
H a r m s w o r th a p p e a r s
th e
p u b lis h in g
in d iv id u a l
'm a s s '.
id e n t it y
boys'
th e
E m p ir e
th e
e x h o r ta tio n
a s tra te g y
w ith in
w e e k lie s ,
as th e
th e
in c r e a s in g
h is
b io g r a p h e r s
H a r m s w o r th
s h a re
e x te n s io n
in
to
th e
in
in
its
o f T o ry
a p e r s o n a l q u e s t:
o f th e
r e c o il
e ffic ie n c y
fro m
th e
c u lt iv a tin g
of
't h e
of
as
[1 8 ].
r e fle c ts
r e a d e r 's
o f success
p r o m o tio n
fa ir ly
illu s tr a te d
im p e r ia l
o f h is
is
seen by
b y Pound and
is
id e a m e a n t an
s o u l h a d a lw a y s
e a r ly
c ra v e d ,
c ir c u m s ta n c e s '
[1 9 ].
As w i t h
e x a lta tio n
H a r m s w o r t h 's v e n t u r e s
o f th e
E m p ir e
in
b ic y c le
can be seen to
of
d ir e c t ly
'n a t io n a l e f f i c i e n c y '
't h e
fo r
O nce a g a in
im p e r ia lis m ,
f o r w h ic h h i s
chaos
th e
in
p e o p l e ' , c o m b in e d w i t h
m a in t e n a n c e
s o c ia l
le s s o n s
c o n c e p t o f a n e q u a lis e d
D a i l y M a i l , w as t h e
p e r s o n a l te rm s ,
T h e la n g u a g e
e a r ly
p r i n c i p a l b a s is
i n n o v a t i o n w h ic h
in f lu e n c e
(1 9 5 9 ).
a s s im ila te d
th e
common p r o p e r t y
to
fo r
a c o n s tru c te d
a n d a ls o
g r o u n d - b r e a k in g
p e rh a p s
in to
h a v e e la b o r a t e d h is
B y common a g r e e m e n t ,
h is
th is
w o r ld
to
have
m a g a z in e s ,
th e
a p p e a le d m o s t
177
d ir e c tly
P r ic e 's
to
th e
(1 9 7 7 )
p r o p o s itio n
'l o w e r m id d le
s tu d y
th a t
it
of
a t th is
tim e b e a r s
w as am ong t h i s
lo o s e ly
d e fin e d
w as m o s t e f f e c t i v e
As f o r A n s w e rs , th e
s te m s
be co u ch e d in
fro m
'c o m i c s '
a re
o f a N obody:
e v e n w hen he
is
h a v in g
o ffe n s iv e
and
'v u l g a r '
a g e n u in e
d is lik e ,
a fin e
m eant
d e c o ru m ,
tim e '
th e
'v u lg a r it y
H a r m s w o r th
p le a s u r e s
in
is
[2 2 ].
r e c o u n tin g h is
[2 3 ].
sense
in
wom en a n d s e x
o f p r o p r ie ty
c la s s
s e a rc h
f o r h is
'w e n t b o u n d in g o n u p
fu tu re '
[2 4 ].
h is
h im
as
a n d as
o f c la s s
s e lf - im a g e
th e
as
'a
o f one t o
P o u n d 's
t h a t he
e s ta b lis h e s
o f p u n n in g
...
e s c h e w in g o f
o f m id d l e
1 8 9 6 d e s c r i b e d h im
unknow n'
F in a lly ,
t a s t e '.
s e n s e o f th e
a ffe c tin g
T h is
young,
th o u g h ts
a n d b o y is h h o b b ie s ,
is
'g o o d
lo v e
H is
o f B o a rd S c h o o l g o e rs ,
u n h in d e r e d b y
in t e r v ie w e r
of
and
g e n tility
passed
lo w e r l e v e l s .
t h e new g e n e r a t i o n
c lim b e r s
a re
m ay n o t e n j o y h i m s e l f
[2 1 ].
w as p a r t o f a h e i g h t e n e d
A bove a l l ,
o u ts id e
m a g is t r a te
a n e x a g g e ra te d v e r s io n
o n n ow t o
th e y
w h ic h p r e s e n t l y h e e x a g g e r a t e d a n d u s e d a s a
b lu d g e o n a g a i n s t c o m p e t i t o r s '
'v u lg a r it y '
th a t
o f d o m e s t i c i t y w h ic h l i k e w i s e
r e m i n i s c e n t o f P o o t e r 's
p o lic e
'c la s s '
a n d w o m e n 's m a g a z in e s ,
an e x a lt a t io n
't h e
o u t th e
[2 0 ].
H a r m s w o r t h 's p e r s o n a l i n t e r p r e t a t i o n
T he p u n n is h j o k e s
D ia r y
a n d in d e e d R i c h a r d
'jin g o is m '
im p e r ia lis t r h e to r ic
seen to
c l a s s e s ',
fir s t
th e
such he re p re s e n ts
a s p ir a n t s o c ia l
b a r r ie r s .
b o y c o n c e rn e d w it h
whom t h e
o ffic e
e m b o d im e n t o f h i s
s to ry
fu r n itu r e
to w a rd s h is
as a p u b l i s h i n g
b o y is h
b u s y w o r ld
a n d H a r m s w o r t h 's
s ta ir s
An
c o n c lu d e s
r e m a r k a b le
N a p o le o n
[2 5 ]
r e a d e r s ' u lt im a t e
178
fantasies.
In
th e n ,
c o n tra s t to
A lfr e d
lim ite d
th e
in
lim ite d
r e m o u ld in g
a fla t
c u lt u r a l
And he a p p e a rs ,
th r e a te n in g
w o r ld
avenues
If
to
see,
to
in
lo o k
is
c e r ta in ly
e le m e n t ,
d e s ig n a t io n
th e y
in
th e
e a r ly
th e
'9 0 s
th ro u g h
te n s io n s
a n d e x c l u s i o n we s e n s e
is ,
p o litic a l
id e o lo g ie s
o f th e
th e
To t h i s
is
As f o r
th e
d e s ig n e d
e d ito r
to
and
r u n n in g
p r e c is e
' s e m i- c r im in a l'
in c lu d e d b y
b e tw e e n t h e s e
c o m ic s
a s we s h a l l
a l a t e n t d is c o u r s e
n e g o tia tio n
o f s o c ia l re fo rm .
The
u n a s h a m e d ly c r u d e
te r m in o lo g y .
lo w e s t,
th e
th e
o f h is
r e a d e r s h ip
s o c ia l s p e c tru m
in c lu s io n
a re m o s t a p p a re n t.
Its
'm a s s '
c o n c e r n in g
o f th e
a d d re s s .
e le m e n ts
s ta g e s
p ro s e .
is
h e a rt o f
a d d re s s ,
c o n ju r e d up b y th e
e d ito r ia l
te n s io n s
th e
th e re
le g itim a te
In
th e
i m p r e s s i o n we g e t .
e d it o r 's
fa m ilia l
a n d u n d e r s t a n d in g
m o st fo r m u la ic
th e
of a
d o m e s tic ity .
c a n be re a d as a c h o ic e
H o w e v e r,
c o m ic s
c la s s e s b e y o n d t h e
th e
o f an a ll- in c lu s iv e
a p o li t i c a l p ic t u r e
th e s e
p r o b le m
at
to
c la s s .
c o m i c s , as r e p r e s e n t a t i v e
m o st u n in s p ir e d
p u b lis h e r h im s e lf .
th ro u g h
th e
e x is t e n c e
and c e le b r a te d
a t th e
th is
o t h e r e le m e n t s ,
s u p p o rt th e
l o w e r m id d l e
th e ir
d e n y in g
m e d ia t e d b y some u n c o n v i n c i n g
v a r io u s
c o rre s p o n d s
b y s im p ly
th e
p o p u lis t c r e a tio n
s u b u rb a n
h a ve e lim in a te d
b y H a r m s w o r th h i m s e l f i n
w r itte n
w a y w h ic h
and lo w - lif e s
g u a ra n te e d o r i g i n a l
w r itte n
shape o f p o p u la r p e r io d ic a l
l e v e l o f th e
o f im p e r ia lis m
we a r e
a s a s o r t o f s t r a i g h t m an o f
o f s e m i- c r im in a ls
o u t p u t a s a w h o le ,
o n ly
th e
o f ASHH a n d t h e i r p r e d e c e s s o r s ,
a n d u n im a g in a t iv e
m o re o v e r,
th e u rb a n c e n tr e s
tw in
c re a to rs
H a r m s w o r th a p p e a r s
a b ilit y
p u b lis h in g
th e
id e o lo g ie s
o f th e
And i r o n i c a l l y
- th e
c o m ic
e x te n t,
th e
th e
new
in
s tr ip s
c o m ic s
of
th e
- th e s e
a re
on a
179
c o n t in u u m w i t h ASHH a n d i t
q u a lita tiv e ly
c o n d it io n s
in f le c te d
o f th e
in
le a d in g
to
fir s tly
th e
'9 0 s
m o re s p e c i f i c
th a n th e
a d if f e r e n t w ay.
th e
o r ie n ta tio n
The
d if fe r e n t,
p re d e c e s s o rs .
a r r iv a l
te r m s
in
o f th e
to
so
o rd e r
fir s t
w h ic h t h e
to
h is t o r ic a l
th a t
to
c o m ic
e d ito r ia l
th e
th e
a re
th e s e
p lo t
te n s io n s
a re
a n a r r a tiv e
s tr ip s ,
a d d re s s
I
w ill
e x p lo r e
e s ta b lis h e d
th e
re a d e r.
' COMIC CUTS F a m i l y '
C o m ic C u t s , w h e n i t
e v e n ly d i s t r i b u t e d
pages
1,
4,
a r tic le s ,
pages
2,
fir s t
e ig h t - p a g e
5 and 8,
6 and 7.
T he t i t l e
w as e q u a l l e d b y
c o n te n ts ,
w h o l e s a le
v a r io u s
fro m
o ld
e d itio n s
in itia l
C o n f e s s io n s
fro m
e a r lie r
e d itio n s
A m id t h i s
is
th e
o n ly
is
im m e d ia te ly n o t a b le
g r e e tin g
g u a ra n te e d o r i g i n a l
'e x c e lle n t
d if fe r e n t
to
th e
its
fr ie n d s ,
t r u m p e t a n ew d e m o c r a t ic
fu rth e r
fo r
M a n ',
Its
in v e n t io n
s w ip e d
S c ra p s
fir s t
and
s e r ia l,
w as a c t u a l l y
ta k e n
[2 7 ],
e ffo rt,
c o n tr ib u tio n
th e
e d ito r ia l
[2 8 ].
Its
a p p r o x i m a t i o n o f ASHH' s
S c ra p s
e ra ,
ASHH t e c h n i q u e s ,
in d e e d m o ve d a s t e p
te rm
o f Ja m e s H e n d e r s o n 's
and p a s te '
fo r
s p re a d th ro u g h
o f titu la r
[2 6 ],
on
fa c tu a l
w hose c a r to o n s w e re
o f A n s w e rs
's c is s o r s
a d d re s s
la c k
o f a T ic k e t- o f- L e a v e
w as an
o f s m a ll c a r to o n s
w as a p r i n t e r ' s
A m e r ic a n h u m o u ro u s m a g a z in e s
'T h e
1890,
c o n tr ib u tio n s ,
and e d i t o r i a l
and t h is
th e
m is c e lla n y
and f i c t i o n a l
a d v e r tis e m e n ts
3,
a p p e a r e d o n M ay 1 7 t h
h u m o u ro u s w o o d c u t s ,
to
In
o f th e
c o m ic s
'8 0 s ,
And y e t th e y
but
a n d S lo p e r
in
a w a y w h ic h
a n d w h ic h
to w a r d s
th e
[2 9 ].
s u g g e s ts
'm a s s '
la n g u a g e
p o m p o s ity ,
It
is
a d d re s s
p ro c e e d s
q u ite
t h a t we h a v e
p ro d u c t fo r
th e
180
'm a s s '
a u d ie n c e ,
u n d e rw a y i n
a r a tio n a lis a tio n
o f th e
p ro c e s s
a lr e a d y
S lo p e r .
H a r m s w o r th
ir o n ic a lly
d e c la r e s
th a t
'T h e r e e x i s t s n o f e e l i n g o f d i s t a n t s t i f f n e s s b e tw e e n
t h o s e w ho m ake COMIC CUTS a n d t h o s e w ho r e a d i t .
I t is
n o t a n i n v i s i b l e a u d ie n c e , as i s t h e c a s e w i t h t h e
r e a d e r s o f s o m any p a p e r s ' .
R e fe r r in g
to
th e
'COM IC CUTS f a m i l y ' ,
h e p r o m is e s
th a t
' t h e c l o s e r o u r r e a d e r s w i l l a l l o w u s t o come t o th e m ,
t h e m o re t h e y w i l l p r i v e l e g e u s t o e n t e r i n t o t h e i r
d a i l y j o y s a n d s o r r o w s , t h e n e a r e r we s h a l l come t o t h e
f u l f i l m e n t o f o u r u p p e rm o s t d e s ir e s ' [ 3 0 ] ,
T h is
in
is
th e
r e m in is c e n t o f th e
1840s
-
is s u e
p a p e r a r e s p e c ta b le
in t im a c y
o f th o s e
in c lu s iv ity
61 c l a i m e d
m o re d i r e c t ,
th a t
fa m ily p a p e r'
o f th e
fa m ily
'w e a s p i r e
[3 1 ]
-
o f S lo p e r i s
w o r k in g
lo s t.
th ro u g h
a m ove w h ic h
h e re
th e
to
a ls o ,
b u t th e
a n a lo g y
o f th e
im m e d ia t e ly p i t s
re a d e r
m a n -a b o u t-to w n o r m a n - o f- th e - p e o p le .
C o m ic C u ts
th e
fa n d o m ,
b a s is ,
b u t a t th e
m o re p r o n o u n c e d t h a n
its
e d ito r
is
in
fic tio n a l
in v ite d
same t i m e ,
d is t a n c e
a n y o f th e
to
jo in
th e r e
th e
Is
in
d o u b le m uch
fo r
th e
a c o n te x t
n o t a v a r ia n t
b u t i n n o c e n t l y h u m o u re d s t a n c e .
a d d r e s s w h ic h m ake s t h e
ASHH w i t h
T he f a c e l e s s
th e
pseudo­
jo k e y ,
fa m ily
o f S lo p e r th e
a d d re s s e d o n an in t im a t e
th e
The p o p u l is t a p p e a l i s
d o m e s tic ity .
s in c e r e ,
m ake t h i s
The p o p u l is t
o f fu n - fille d
lite r a te ,
m is c e lla n ie s
c o u p le d w i t h
o f t h e h u m o u ro u s w e e k l i e s .
o f J u d y a n d ASHH i s
edged q u a lit y
r e a d e r s h ip ,
e d ito r ia ls
He a s s u m e s
a
T he r e a d e r
is
e lite
of
a g e n e r a lity
b e tw e e n e d i t o r
and re a d e r
o l d e r h u m o u ro u s w e e k l i e s , o r
e d ito r .
There is a sort of populist defence of the 'rights of man'
to
181
h e re
- to
c la s s
e q u a l access
o r ig in s .
T h is
o f e v e r y man t o
r e a d e r s h ip
in c lu s io n
is
h is
to
is
u n b r id le d
s im ila r
1. . .
n ow f a c e l e s s ,
L o o k in g b a c k o n t h e
as opp ose d to
a n n o u n c e m e n ts
a p p e a le d t o
th e y r a l l i e d
o f success,
c la s s e s
h ave b egun to
th in k
w ro n g a b o u t a p a p e r b e c a u s e
is
e x h o r ta tiv e
in
th e
The c o ld
in
th e
g e n e r a lity
g ap b y t h e
e d ito r ia l
a fte r
it
o n ly
is
fig u r e .
He i s
p o p u la r o f h a lfp e n n y
th e
is
c la y
r e s t f u l w e e d '.
c o n tr a s te d w ith
h is
w e e k 's
t h e m id d l e
in
or
in c lu d in g
R oss a n d D a l z i e l ,
th a t
s u p p o rt m e, and
...
fo llo w in g
th e
th e re
o f a b a tt le
is
th e
upper
n o th in g
[3 2 ].
T h is
w ith
u n s ta m p e d p r e s s '
fo r
is
m ade t o
th is
as a p a t e r n a l,
he
't a k e s
pocket fo r
r o c k - lik e ,
p a tie n t
of
or
p ip e - s m o k i n g
In
and
m ost
s h o rt
tw o o f
fig u r e
a n o b v io u s
l o w e r B o h e m ia n j o u r n a l i s t i c
th a t
't h e
o u t h is
a p in c h
c o m p e tito r s .
he w r it e s
b r id g e
anonym ous
w o r k a t t h e h e lm
h is
s p e c u la tiv e
to
to
c la s s e s ,
An a tte m p t
fa th e r ly ,
re fe re n c e
to
la n g u a g e m ake s H a r m s w o r t h 's
o f a p e rs o n a
ro u n d
T h is
v is ib le
a h a lfp e n n y '
la u g h t e r - in d u c e r s ' ,
a n d f u m b le s
m ass
1830s.
c o n s tru c te d
A f t e r h is
r ig h t
o v e rc o m e b y e v e r -
[a n d ]
a ll,
is s u e s ,
o f th is
fa b r ic a tio n
h a r d w o r k i n g m an .
b la c k
...
th a t,
s ta te m e n t som ew hat u n c o n v in c in g .
th e
c o u n try
th e w o r k in g
e a r ly
th e
th e
r e lu c ta n t
fin a lly
an u n in t e n t io n a l p a ro d y o f th e
d e v ic e s
th e
H a r m s w o r th re m e m b e rs
r o u n d COMIC CUTS l o y a l l y
o f o u r lo y a l fr ie n d s
S lo p e r 's
n e w s a g e n ts
a r e lu c ta n c e
e x a m p le
n e w s a g e n ts
w ith
t h e w o r k i n g m en o f
c o n t in u a l a c c o u n t,
d em a n d f o r
of
s o c i a l s p e c tru m .
b a tt le
s t o c k h a l f p e n n y m a g a z in e s ,
'I
S lo p e r 's
ir r e s p e c tiv e
H a lf- H o lid a y 1, e x c e p t t h a t
o f e ach p o in t on th e
p r o g r e s s iv e
to
p le a s u r e ,
s e c t,
182
' C u r i o u s l y e n o u g h , some E d i t o r s . . . a p p e a r t o t h i n k
t h a t p a p e rs w i l l s u c c e e d w hen o n ly a v e r y m o d e ra te
a m o un t o f d ilig e n c e i s a p p lie d to t h e i r p r o d u c t io n . . .
H a r d w o r k a n d p e r s e v e r a n c e a r e as m uch n e e d e d i n
j o u r n a l i s m a s i n c o m m e rc e , a n d o n l y w h e n t h i s f a c t i s
g e n e r a l l y r e c o g n i s e d s h a l l we w i t n e s s a c e s s a t i o n o f
t h e d is a p p o i n t m e n t s a n d f i n a n c i a l l o s s e s am ong t h e
f lo a t e r s o f l i t e r a r y e n te r p r is e s ' [3 3 ].
T h is
th e
is
e a r ly
ir o n y
fr o m
an ir o n ic
s ta g e s
s ta te m e n t g iv e n h i s
a t any r a te .
o f H a r m s w o r th b e r a t i n g
la c k
B u t th e r e
h is
o f o r ig in a l
is
m o re h e r e
th a n
' s c is s o r s - a n d - p a s te '
some o f whom h e h i m s e l f w as s t e a l i n g ,
in p u t,
in
th e
c o m p e tito r s
o r w ho a t l e a s t h i r e d
o r ig in a l c o n tr ib u to r s .
As w it h
A lly
c o n t in u u m w i t h
e d ito r ia l
th e
M a y h e w 's
b e n e a th
'M r .
th e h i s t o r y
fig u r e s ,
e d ito r
S lo p e r ,
as th e
o f n in e t e e n t h
and u s h e rs
c o n v e rg e n c e
u n d e r w o r ld
c iv ilis e d ,
o f ty p e s
is
in
to
e x is t s .
He i s
o f th e
n ow t h e
a s s o rte d
b it te r n e s s
T h e c o m b in a t i o n
p e r fe c t ly
E n title d
The c l a s s i c
in
of
d e v e lo p e d b y
o f th e
and b y h is
'M r .
a v o id a n c e
C o m ic C u t s '
savage
He m o ve s a w a y f r o m
to
th e
m o re s
an id e a lis e d
'g o o d
ta s te '
as o p p o se d t o
th a t
B o h e m ia n
a n d r e s p e c ta b le
in
o f th e
d e n ie s
in
th e
fa m ilia l
and m e rry
th e b e l l y
la u g h s
p re d e c e s s o rs .
o f p a te r n a l and p o p u lis t a d d re s s
e n c a p s u la t e d
r o le
tr a n s fo r m e d b y S lo p e r 's
c o n te n ts ,
o f h is
on a
c e n t u r y h u m o u ro u s
u n d e r w o r ld ,
code r o o te d
g u id e
s ta n d s
an e x p lo r a tio n
tra n s c e n d e n t t r i c k e r y
a s s u m p t io n o f a r e s p e c t a b l e
edged w ith
th e
f o r b r ig h t e r b a c k d ro p s .
a m b iv a le n c e
c h u c k le s
to
in to
p a r tly
b o th
a new e r a .
one f i g u r e ,
t h e u n d e r w o r ld a c t u a l l y
s itu a tio n .
in
k n o w in g g u id e
s o c ia l in v e s t ig a t io n
th e
C o m ic C u t s '
a lo n g
a r tic le
p u b lis h e d
in
'HOW THE GREATEST COMIC PAPER IN THE WORLD IS
is
F e b ru a ry
1892.
PRODUCED:
183
A CHAT W ITH OUR 2 , 5 0 0 , 0 0 0 READERS'
e ffo rts
in
th a t,
' m a c h in e - r o o m '
p ro c e s s
e tc .,
it
p la y e d u p
r e tr o s p e c tiv e
w h o le s o m e ,
fu n n y ,
ta b le
p la c e '.
T h is
in te r e s tin g
is
p r o m is e s
p s e u d o - in tim a te
o f th e
title
- a
a b s tra c te d
re tu rn s
to
h is
bed in
a n d lo w
s o c ie ty .
in
'c h a t '
le v e l o f
th is
'w h o le s o m e '
B a tte rs e a ,
e x is t
ta b le
a nd b y an e n c o u ra g e d se n se
In
th is
is s u e
in s te a d
c a re
19,
of
is
is
sense.
a ls o
lim ite d
h e c h id e s
" B r itis h " ,
th o s e
to
th e
( a lo n g w i t h
a
any
a fte r
fa c t
o f th e
th e
re a d e rs ),
fa m ilia l
p it c h e d
in te g r ity
o f h ig h
'h ig h '
at
and a
S lo p e r
a to u r
th a t
e q u a lis e d
and
th e b r e a k f a s t
o f p r o p r ie ty .
re a d e rs
e d ito r s
e x p la in
in to
th e
t h a t m ay b e s e e n
2 ,5 0 0 ,0 0 0
c a r e fu l to
to
ta k e n
p o -fa c e d p a ro d y
b u t o n ly
T hey a re
v e ry
s u p p lie d
and in o ffe n s iv e .
a v o id s
fro m
a v o id
fro m
w ho u s e
any r a c ia l
th e
th e
o ffe n c e ,
'h o m e c o u n t r i e s ' .
w o rd
" E n g lis h "
th a t
' th e S c o tc h a re one o f th e m o s t i n t e l l e c t u a l ra c e s i n
e x i s t e n c e . . . a n d f r o m t h e m a n n e r i n w h ic h t h e y h a v e
w e lc o m e d COMIC CUTS a n d I l l u s t r a t e d C h ip s t h e r e i s n o
d o u b t t h a t th e s i l l y o ld s u p e r s t i t i o n t h a t th e
S c o tc h m a n c a n n o t s e e a j o k e i s n o n s e n s e ' [ 3 5 ] ,
He g o e s o n t o
e x p la in
th a t
th e
is
and y e t n o t be o u t o f
id e a lis e d
'lo w '
C o m ic C u ts
w ith
a n d th e
a d d re s s
a g a in
have
- a paper
u n s ta m p e d p r e s s
C o m ic C u ts
'I
such
a c tu a l
e d ito r ia l
p a p e r t h a t m ay b e
o f o ffe n c e
th e
in te g r ity
v ie w e d
success:
an u n in t e n t io n a l,
n a s c e n t c o n c e p t o f th e
th o u g h
is
of
' e t c h in g - r o o m ',
do w i t h
o f th e
o f b o th p e e r and p e a s a n t,
a g a in
ty p ic a l
o f th e
to
n e w s a g e n ts p r o b le m
w ith o u t fe a r
upo n th e
now a t t h e
p o p u lis m
p e rc h o f o u ts ta n d in g
c ir c le
d e m o c r a t ic
o ld
little
is
T he a n c h o r o f f a m i l i a l
a ll- in c lu s iv e
as t h e
it
illu s tr a tio n s
has v e ry
o f p r o d u c tio n .
'in o f f e n s iv e ',
fa m ily
a p a r t fro m
[3 4 ],
Joke
E d it o r h im s e lf
is
S c o ttis h .
184
In
is s u e
61,
p o in t th a t
is
th e
th e
e d ito r p r in t s
'I r is h
a re
n ow p r o m o t i n g b o t h
fo u n d e d on e q u a l i t y ,
W hat h o ld s
p e o p le
D e s p ite
a ll
e n te r ta in m e n t,
o u t.
It
is
ta lk
h o w e v e r,
a tta c k ,
a n d o t h e r fo r m s
th e
b u t in
of
o c c a s io n a lly
P r e te n s io n s
fa r,
to
to
even f o r
th a t th e re
ro o te d
in
is
th e
r o le
th e n
In
b u t a ll
o b je c t o f t r i v i a l
fa s c in a tio n .
o r T it- B i t s :
a re h an de d to
o th e r,
in
th e
p u b lic
He
c u lt u r e
see
a n d ta k e
a jo k e .
is
a re
n o t,
on th e
[3 7 ].
i.e .
p o e ts
it
by
'p e n n y
I f
d r e a d fu ls '
th is
u p p e r c u t - o f f p o in t
'F ig h t in g
r e p re s e n ts
is
E d i t o r ' , w ho a p p e a r s
d ow n t h e
seem s,
b e tw e e n th e s e
th e
n e v e r s p e lt
s ta ir s
ca n be
p o in ts ,
in d ic a tio n s
a re
[3 8 ].
ta k e n
to o
it
assum ed
is
and decency
th a t
it
is
of a
o r ig in .
1892 a r t i c l e
A n s w e rs
to
[3 6 ],
a p p r e c ia te d .
n e u t r a l code o f p r o p r ie t y
th e
in
r e a d in g
th e
o f th e
C o m ic C u t s .
fa m ily ,
is
o r b a s is
a n d e ls e w h e r e ,
c u lt u r a l e le v a t io n ,
v a g u e ly p e t t y b o u r g e o is
F in a lly ,
p a ra m e te rs
lo n g - h a ir e d
a s o c ia lly
p e o p le '
th e
o f w h o le s o m e a n d i n o f f e n s i v e
'p e r n ic i o u s '
th ro w
a b ilit y
d e fin e d b y w h a t i t
lo w e r c u t - o f f p o i n t ,
e s t a b lis h e d b y th e
th e
illu s tr a te
n a tio n a l
w h ic h d i f f e r e n c e
is
its
h e re
to
o f a ll
a common a n d a t r u l y
n e g a tiv e ly
H a r m s w o r t h 's
th e m o s t w i t t y
to g e th e r
th e
tw o a n e c d o te s
'I f
in
a ll
re n d e rs
C o m ic C u ts
T he f o l l o w i n g
th e
c o p ie s
c o u ld h a ve
an
a p p e a re d
o f COMIC CUTS a s t h e y
o n e w e e k w e re p l a c e d
t h e y w o u ld m ake a t o w e r a s h i g h
its e lf
as th e
one u p o n th e
g re a t E if f e l
Tow er
P a r is '.
In
th e s e
d e v e lo p m e n ts we c a n s e e
m a n - o f- th e - p e o p le
th a n S lo p e r .
e d ito r ia l
F ro m i s s u e
fig u r e
55 t h e
in
c o lu m n
th e
p e r s o n ific a tio n
a m uch m o re l i m i t e d
is
a c tu a lly
of a
sense
illu s tr a te d
by
185
a p o r tr a it
w ith
o f a s to u t g e n t in
one f in g e r
q u ill
on one e a r ,
a n d a j u d g e 's
H a r m s w o r t h 's
(fro m
a g o a te e b e a r d ,
o f C o r n e liu s
1 8 9 0 ),
c a r r y in g
b u t w ith
S e p te m b e r).
s ix te e n p a g e s.
a fu ll
fro n t-p a g e
c h a ra c te r,
M r.
c a rto o n
C h ip s ,
'C h ip s ', l i k e
o ffic e - b o y ,
D o d d s 's
Thom as'
C h ip s ,
lik e
s ix
is s u e s
in
w as t h e
im ita tio n
(fro m
6 th
in tr o d u c tio n
of a
la te r
w a s d ra w n b y a W. D o d d s ,
a nd th e
c o lu m n ,
h a d th e
MR.
to
o f h is
occupy
T he
c a rto o n
C H IP S ' S CHAT,
a d d it io n s
th e
b e fo re
S lo p e r .
w ife
on page
and an
'B o t t le s '.
d r a w in g s
a re
S lo p e r ,
is
fe e b le
fe a tu re s
-
and shoes,
th e
hands
T h e re
h a ir s
fro m
is
c o m p a r is o n w i t h
The f ig u r e s
a re
and fe e t .
s tiff
fig u r e ,
e x te n d e d lim b s
H is
w ith
a ttir e
th e b a c k o f h is
th e
is
o f a lo u d ly
b la c k w a is tc o a t ,
o f b a ld n e s s ,
head.
and
c o n t o r t e d m u s c le s ,
a fa s h io n a b le h ig h
a s u s p ic io n
B a x t e r 's
and lif e le s s .
b u t la c k s
- checked tro u s e rs ,
p o lk a d o t t i e ,
and to p p e r.
in
an u n g a in ly
d r e s s e d m id d l e - a g e d g e n t
s tre a m
A n s w e rs
o f A lly
S lo p e r ,
e n la r g e d h e a d ,
ta ils
to
w hose a d v e n tu r e s w e re
in
S lo p e r c a r t o o n s .
c a r ic a tu r a l
th e
la s te d
C o m ic C u ts m o u ld
w as s u p p o r t e d b y a n e x p l a n a t o r y
7.
m o re a k i n
C h ip s
t h a n C o m ic C u t s , a n d a t h a l f
It
th e
fig u r e
v o lu m e s
7 .1 ).
C o m ic C u t s , I l l u s t r a t e d
T h e m a in d i f f e r e n c e
fic tio n a l e d ito r ia l
a fe a th e re d
and s u rro u n d e d b y t h i c k
w as o r i g i n a l l y
in
fo re h e a d ,
C h ip s
fe w e r c a r to o n s
H a r m s w o r th r e v a m p e d i t
on h is
ham m er ( F i g u r e
c o m p a n io n p a p e r t o
2 6 th J u ly
c o n te n t,
s p e c ta c le s
o r a u c t io n e e r 's
The A d v e n tu re s
s iz e
r a is e d ,
a h u m o u r o u s ly a d m o n i t o r y p o s t u r e
c o lla r ,
and th in ,
m o n o c le
w ir y
The c h e c k a nd p o lk a d o ts
2
Figure 7.3
’Portrait of the Editor of
"Comic Cuts” *
W b tu u t
or
m
k d ito k
o r ",00100 o u t s . "
(from CC 57, p.8, 3893)
... WHAT THE EDITOR SAYS.
I k the fifty .th ird cum ber of th U Tmmi I
i r f t n t d l o ' w i fact th a t a lth o n rfj w® had
obtained * wideaproad p o p a la ritr and a
ir4m«^doo.i d rc u la tio a , y e t 1 was d e tiro n j of
obtaining a » till w ider p o p u la rity and * « till
m a te r circulation, to th a t COMIO O u t s p lig h t
w th© frm&ieat, ebaap«dl?, and beat ooaiio p&per
ctar p rin te d ; and I novr w ith to aak m y
w£ om * rog^rd la the Hrgtegate aa
perwnal friends, to asaut me in a c liie fln c th a t
objGot
t
M R.
Figure 7 . Q
t0° K
G H I P S ’S L I T T L E
At PAJ*
’Mr. Chios’s Little Game’
(frorn IC
87, p. 3
1893 )
3 86
GAME.
T k * m u aocount o f th is piotvb*
J
f
a
CONDUCTED
Vol. V . - N o . 207.1
l f
BY
f
G IL B E R T
y
l u
MADE
A
t
D A L Z IE L .
[O.VE PENSY.
S A T U R D A Y . A P R I L 14, 1888.
ALLY
k
FREEMASON.
u P °°r Papa has at last joined the ancient and secret fratem U y. The Prince o f Wales, Grand M aster, K a rl Carnarvon, Acting G. M ., and L o rd Latkom,
^ . b x * t*en a t Papa over and over again, and he has at length guxn wag. Cm H arris , who is also a Mason, tells me the object o f M asonry is to
krm g persons togother fee »octal enjoyment, and Jar their mutual assistance. Papa is more than fond i f the form er, and he is cAronicaify in want t>f the la tte r,
$o I suppose its a ll rig h t. Papa has been made E xtra Grand Master to the A . S. Lodge, and his installation was, / understand, a big event."— T o o t u b .
'M U L LE D S A C K .”
T B S " M k " I h a i S h a k e * m u * i M t h o f , and o f a fc lc h
F aJtiaff d ru n k a s “ lo t o W * b i* 4 m l . la au p p o a a d . D r. J o b m a oa uLU o#j l o k a t a b aea w lu u » 1 a o w o u t » W r y . w k lta t
o O t n ip M k a t K m a
U ch t « 1 m , " b r o o d r i^ S W * *
fr o m lh * C a m r la a ," w k te k B v ir t a O a d lo c lav m !
Tba
boO ar U U fr r m t a d r a o la ( a t o allw ra lb « r n aid j v f t k • | k w
^ O a a d a y U A w f l , I C S , iW y k » a p d " M i M H a s t .”
o lk a n r ia a J o h a C o U ia f t o o , a o o to r io o a
w ho
had acqulrad thta n k h o a r o a • froca hla o a a a J iy d it a k ia c m e t
aaulU d, t a o r a lo f . o o o a , » a d a l f h i."
T h la d a r t» « r*ac»l oe* o a ly m C M f k l 1» tfca a r t o< p*eh
la « O u p o e J u i o'. OU*ar C rocaw all, box r o M o f C h a r ta I t .
U t a »o « t i l * a t C o lo f o a , a t p ta ia o f I k a raJaa o f 4 ( ¿ a )
Hia fiklhtr m a b a b an iaab ar In C b e a p a ld « , w h o aq aaad crad
kte ta o o a y a t l a n m , a n d w aa « T a a to a J iy bariad b y lh a
pariah, W aving bahJad h im S f t o a a d a o x h U o u d k m aoaa
u a p r o n d a d for. T h a y o o o f a a * * H a lla rt fta c S " « a a a a p r a e Ooad lo a c h lm n a T - « » a * p . a o d a f l a r w d a .t a r t /d o a hla o w n
a o o o a a u an d tn ad a > lo t o f o o o a y . T h U , h © « « t« r . b a a q a a o dar* 1 M h u ta lh a r had dotM , a o d t b a a lo o k t o pocka»a f e k ia f .
A b o b j h i« m a n y a l m l u r a * h a r o b b a d L a d y F a ir fa x , aa
th a a d a a c r l b a d J T h ta la d y aard t o g o t o a ^aetora o o a
waak d a y , a l L o d g a u C h n /c k . » h a r e o o « Mr. Jaooaoiyraack ad. ‘ M tU a d S a c k ' o b a c r r ia « I h t a t a d I k a l ak a
Figure 7.3
rA3]y Made a Freemason'
(from ASHH, Vo]. V,
N o . 207,
I
] 97
1888)
“EMPLOYMENT BRINGS ENJOYMENT.” ' SO READ “ CHIPS.”
MR. CH IPS’S ADVEN TU RES.—No. 7.
igure 7.4
’Mr. Chips?s Adventures. (from IC 3 5 ,
P-3,
339])|
No.7'
189
s u g g e s t a n e le m e n t o f
p e rs o n a c u lt iv a t e d
in
p a r a l l e l o r c o n v e rg e
o f Thom as'
h is
in
o f w eeks.
W h e re a s
r e c o g n is a b le
th ro u g h
th e
jo k e
s e ts ,
id e a s
lo c a tio n ,
w ay t h i s
( F ig u r e
in
th is
us
th a t
s ta y
S lo p e r 's
c o m p le te ly
or at
th ro u g h
fir s t
p a r t o f th e
a re
in
a b s o lu te
th e
th e
a s tr a ig h tn e s s
is
s c e n a r io
o v e r a num ber
a d v e n tu re s
w ith
has
in
h a ir
is
re a d e rs
of
p a p e r 's
re s to re r.
w h ic h a n y i r o n y
a
C h ip s m a k in g
p r o life r a tio n
c o n s tru c te d
in
w h ic h w o r k
im a g in a r y
a d v e n tu re
is
th r o w in g
le a s t c a v o rts
a s p o o f on th e
dodge
liv e lin e s s
a b s e n t.
a s e v id e n c e d b y m o s t o f t h e
case
la c k in g
and c ro s s -
fig u r e
c a r r ie d
r e la t io n s h ip
H is
7 .2 ),
s h a d in g
in a d v is e d ly
is
c a rto o n s
C o n s e q u e n t ly
to p ic a l,
fic tio n a l
w o u ld - b e h u m o u ro u s
d ir e c t n e s s ,
in fo r m s
-
a re
C h ip s p lo d s
s u s p e c t p a t e n t m e d ic in e s
t h e m s e lv e s
is
c o rre s p o n d e n c e .
p a t e n t m e d ic in e
lin e s
capped b y
a re
S lo p e r
an e n t ir e ly
o f poor
s tr a ig h t
e v e ry d ir e c t io n ,
fe e b le
o f D odds'
a t b a d a n g le s .
and b u s tle
E q u a lly
A ll
a fu n c t io n
and u n e r r in g ly
w e ig h t
c h e a p s a le s m a n a n d t h i s
f o r h im .
p e r s p e c t iv a l d e p th ,
h a tc h in g ,
in
th e
ads
B u t th e
sm acks o f a
lo s t.
C h ip s
th a t
'w e h a v e u n c h a in e d a n a r t i s t t o s k e t c h u s i n a l l o u r
jo y .
T he p i c t u r e d u l y a p p e a r s o n t h e f r o n t p a g e .
It
i s th e p ic t u r e o f o u r p ro c e s s .
B u t, 0 m is e r a b le
s h u f f l e r t h a t we a r e , we d i d n o t s e e t h a t t h e r a s c a l
h a d e x p o s e d o u r s e c r e t s u n t i l t h e t h i n g w as i n p r o o f .
W e l l , w e l l , we m ay a s f i t l y t e l l y o u t h e w h o le
b u s i n e s s , f o r we k n o w t h a t y o u w i l l t r e a s u r e o u r
s e c re t' [3 9 ].
B o ttle s
th e
o ffic e - b o y
s p e lt C ockney:
'I
p ro c e e d s
k e n m ake a
g a r d in g w a l l o r a p e g - to p .
d ic t a te
th e
to
'a ir
h a tc h
th e
re s to re r
You l e t
t e s t e r m o n i u l s , a n d b la r m
p lo t
p h o n e tic a lly
as u l l b r in g
me g e t t h e
m e,
in
w e 'll
d ru g s e s ,
'a ir
on a
and yo u
go h a l v e s ' .
T h is
190
is
fo llo w e d b y f a l s e
fu n c t io n
o f th is
te s tim o n ia ls
p ie c e
is
to
m ode o f i n s t i t u t i o n a l i s e d
F ig u r e
th e
in
7 .3
h is
fo r
ta rg e ts ,
[4 0 ],
F re e m a s o n s .
p ic t u r e ,
fo r
th e
in d e e d
'b e e n a t P a p a 1 t o
A lly
is
B illy ,
as a l l
th e
b lin d fo ld e d
w h a t lo o k s
to
c ro s s b o n e s ,
th e
th e
jo k e
is
jo in
o n S lo p e r ,
in
show s
(n o n e
o th e r
to
r o lle d
and th e re
s le e v e
is
c o m m e n ta ry .
th e
c lu tte r
in s ig n ia
and th e
th e
n o b le
an a c c e s s ib le
o f a S lo p e r ,
s h o ts .
ju v e n ile
th e
D ook
d o in g s
le v e l.
so th e y
as
is
fu ll
is
can
th e y p le a s e .
in to
o f s k u lls - a n d -
same g a r b
a v is u a l
as th e
gag i n
p ie c e ,
is
th e
M asons,
above
p r a n k is h
s w ip e
same t i m e ,
g r in s
a t th e
w h ic h b r i n g s
a fe w
o b v io u s
in n o c e n t ly
B u t a t th e
m a n ic ,
and
in to
T h e y c a n a t o n ce m ock th e
b u t a r e n o t t h e m s e lv e s
have
S lo p e r u m b r e lla
a h u m o u ro u s
o f th e
to
a g a in s t th e
over a b a rre l
and t h is
s tr a ig h t
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th e
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b u t in h e r e n tly
th a n
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is
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p a r tic ip a n ts
th e
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s le e v e
a
th e v e r y
ir o n ic a lly
e c o n o m ic a lly c o n s t r u c t e d
o f a b s u rd
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r e a d e r s w o u ld w i s h
o th e r
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th e M aso ns,
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L o r d B ob a n d M c G o o s e ly t h e m s e lv e s )
on A lly 's
th e
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c o m ic a l c e r e m o n ia l d o g s w e a r t h e
S lo p e r S , w h i l e
In
is
e tc .
a s s is t e d b y
c o m m e n ta ry r u n s
be a v a t o f f lo u r .
d iv id e r s
g lo v e s .
a nd th e
and u n w ittin g ly
h um an s w ho l o o k o n i n
th a t
B o ttle s .
e m in e n t p e r s o n a g e s
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C h ip s ,
e x a m p le ,
T o o t s ie 's
S nook,
g e t a t h im ,
o f M r.
a n d u n s c r u p u lo u s
m o re s p e c i f i c
dead d o c to rs
a c t as a d e m y s tify in g
d e c e p tio n .
p r o p e r a nd in n o c e n t f ig u r e
m a n ip u la t iv e
fro m
of
s e c re t
th e m
a m b it io n s
d e m y s tify in g
p o t­
191
C h ip s
s im p ly
fro m
la c k s
la c k s
th e
th e
a m b ig u it y o f S lo p e r .
a fa ir ly
la u g h s
d ia le c ta l
fo llo w in g
u n s a tis fie d
[4 2 ]
to
s u b u rb a n h a l l
lo o k in g
g iv e
[4 3 ]
a
u s u a lly
'M R .
c h a ra c te r
The t r i c k e r y
com es
C o ckn e y c o s te r-m o n g e r i n
s u p p o s e d ly g e n e r a t e d b y t h e
cheap
s p e llin g .
C h ip s
d a u g h te r,
is
D o llie
's c ie n t if ic
( F ig u r e
7 .4 ).
c a rto o n s
C H IP S ' S CHAT'
d o m e s t ic
m is h a p s .
a re
and h is
d u ly
S u b s e q u e n t e p is o d e s
e x p e r im e n ta l f r o n t - p a g e
c o n tin u e s
te c h n iq u e ,
o b v io u s
e p is o d e ,
c u s to m e rs .
a c o n s tip a te d
b o x in g
r ic h
a n d th e
o f th e
In
econom y i n
o ffic e - b o y ,
t h e m a k in g ,
d e v ic e
th e
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C h ip s u n c o n v i n c i n g l y
see th e
[4 1 ],
b o x in g '
A fte r
e x p la in s
a n d C h ip s
th is
ta k in g
of
up
at a
e p is o d e ,
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2 w ith
e tc .),
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on page
a c c o s te d b y
th e
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a w e e k ly c a t a l o g u e
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of
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'We h a v e o f t e n s a t a n d w o n d e r e d i f we c o u l d p o s s i b l y b e
th e b a ld - h e a d e d , t o o t h l e s s , a n d e f f e m in a t e b e in g t h a t
o u r a r t i s t d e l i n e a t e d , a n d we u n h e s i t a t i n g l y d e c id e
t h a t WE ARE NOT . . . a n d s o , d e a r r e a d e r s , we h a v e
d e c id e d t o d r o p t h e s e c a r t o o n s ' [ 4 4 ] ,
H a r m s w o r t h 's
W onder
( la te r
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a n d H a r m s w o r th r e t u r n e d
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1892,
o r ig in a l
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th ir d
to
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o f b o a s tin g
o t h e r tw o p a p e r s .
c o n tra s t
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S lo p e r a n d h is
as
192
r e la te d
th e
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p r e v io u s
c o m p le t e
-
th e
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r e a l and s e lf - id e n t if y in g
o f h u m o u ro u s w e e k l i e s
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t o p ic a l m a tte rs ,
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to
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e d ito r s
p o litic a l,
o f th e
or
te n s io n
d o m e s tic ity w it h
d is t a n c in g
o f s lu m
and s u b u rb .
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w h ic h
r e tir e m e n t to
th e v a r io u s
a lth o u g h
th e s e
d ra w n f r o m
th e ir
o t h e r e le m e n ts w e r e
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o p e ra te .
te rm s w i t h i n
th e
T h e re fo re ,
of
to
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e d i t o r i a l a d d re s s .
c e r ta in
d o m e s t ic e x a l t a t i o n
and t h e ir
m e d ia tio n b y th e
th e y m u st be
a p p e a l.
In
seen in
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th e
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as n e g o t ia t in g
te n s io n s .
a t any ra te ,
m e d ia f o r
th o s e
same
193
CHAPTER SEVEN - NOTES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
P e t e r B a i l e y , ' A l l y S lo p e r ' s H a l f - H o l i d a y : C o m ic A r t i n t h e
1 8 8 0 s 1 , H i s t o r y W o rk s h o p 1 6 , 1 9 8 3 , p . 8 .
I b i d . , p p .8 -9 .
See R e g i n a ld P o u n d a n d G e o f f r e y H a r m s w o r th ( 1 9 5 9 )
No r t h c l i f f e ; P a u l F e r r i s ( 1 9 7 1 ) T h e H o u s e o f N o r t h c l i f f e :
T h e H a r m s w o r th s o f F l e e t S t r e e t ; a l s o t h e e n t r y i n t h e
D i c t i o n a r y o f N a t i o n a l B i o g r a p h y (DN B) 1 9 1 2 - 1 9 2 1 ( 1 9 2 2 ) .
On H a r m s w o r t h 's f a m i l y r o o t s , s e e P o u n d e t a l . ( 1 9 5 9 ) , o p .
c i t . , c h a p te rs 1 and 2.
DNB ( 1 9 1 2 - 1 9 2 1 ) , p . 3 9 8 .
Pound e t a l. (1 9 5 9 ), o p . c i t . , p . 55.
I b i d . , p .6 1 .
Ib id .
The a c c e s s i b i l i t y o f th e b i c y c l e , in v e n t e d i n i t s m o s t
p r i m i t i v e fo r m i n t h e 1 8 2 0 s , w as o r i g i n a l l y c o n f i n e d t o t h e
u p p e r m id d l e c l a s s e s b y v i r t u e o f i t s e x p e n s e .
T h is
r e s u l t e d f r o m t h e p r o l i f e r a t i o n o f d e s ig n s
w h ic h
n e c e s s it a te d s m a ll- s c a le p r o d u c tio n .
I t w as o n l y w i t h t h e
in v e n t io n a nd s t a n d a r d is a t io n o f th e c h a in - w h e e l d r i v e ,
p n e u m a t ic tu b e s a n d t h e d ia m o n d fr a m e t h a t t h e b i c y c l e w e n t
i n t o a f o r m o f 'm a s s ' p r o d u c t i o n , a n d w a s b e g i n n i n g t o
b e co m e m o re c o m m o n ly a c c e s s i b l e i n t h e 1 8 8 0 s .
B u t e v e n th e n
i t s a c c e s s i b i l i t y w as r e l a t i v e l y l i m i t e d b y p r i c e .
T he
b i c y c l e w a s t h e r e f o r e a v a l u a b l e s t a t u s s y m b o l, e q u i v a l e n t ,
i n a s e n s e t o t h e p ia n o i n t h e h o m e .
F o r s u b u r b a n ite s i t
h a d th e a p p e a l o f o f f e r i n g a f u r t h e r e sca p e fro m th e
w o r k p l a c e b y m a k in g t h e c o u n t r y s i d e m o re a c c e s s i b l e .
H a r m s w o r t h 's in d u l g e n c e o f t h e f e m a le r e a d e r s h i p i s
l i k e w i s e q u i t e c o m p le x , f o r t h e b i c y c l e w as t o b e c o m e a
l i b e r a t i n g s y m b o l f o r th e e a r ly f e m i n is t / s u f f r a g e t t e
m o v e m e n t, m o s t l y s i n c e i t n e c e s s i t a t e d t h e w e a r i n g o f m o re
c o m f o r t a b l e c l o t h i n g , e s p e c i a l l y b lo o m e r s .
H is c a p i t a l i s i n g
o n t h e e m a n c ip a t o r y a s p e c t o f t h e b i c y c l e f o r w om en p o i n t s
t o a n i n t e r e s t i n g c o n t r a d i c t i o n i n t h e w o m e n 's m a g a z in e s h e
w as t o p i o n e e r .
T h a t w as h i s p r o m is e o f p r a c t i c a l
l i b e r a t i o n f o r wom en i r o n i c a l l y t h r o u g h t h e c u l t i v a t i o n o f
t h e 'h o m e ' a s a w o m a n 's e x c l u s i v e p r e s e r v e .
The b ic y c l e ,
f o r H a r m s w o r t h , w as a n e x t e n s i o n o f t h e 'f r e e d o m ' a f f o r d e d
b y d o m e s tic a tio n .
I n t h i s , a l s o , we c a n s e e t h a t h e w as
c o u r t i n g t h o s e c l a s s f r a c t i o n s f o r whom t h e c u l t i v a t i o n o f
d o m e s t i c i t y w as e q u i v a l e n t t o s o c i a l s t a n d i n g .
On t h e i s s u e o f t h e v a r i o u s l y c l a s s - i n f l e c t e d
e m a n c ip a to r y a p p e a l o f th e b i c y c l e i n th e l a t e n in e t e e n t h
c e n t u r y s e e D a v id R u b i n s t e i n , ' C y c l i n g i n t h e 1 8 9 0 ' s ' ,
V ic t o r ia n S t u d ie s , V o l. 2 1 , N o. 1 ,
1977.
F ro m 1 8 8 2 - 1 8 8 3 . See P o u n d e t a l .( 1 9 5 9 ) , o p . c i t . ,
p . 53.
I b i d . , p p . 7 2 -7 3 .
A n s w e rs t o C o r r e s p o n d e n t s , F e b . 1 6 , 1 8 8 9 . C i t e d i n i b i d . ,
p . 82.
I b i d . T h e f i r s t i s s u e w as a c t u a l l y n u m b e re d 3 .
T h e p r o p o s i t i o n t h a t i t w a s , i n d e e d , am ong t h e s e s e c t o r s t h a t
A n s w e rs a n d T i t - B i t s a c h ie v e d t h e i r g r e a t e s t c i r c u l a t i o n
194
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
i s s u p p o r t e d b y t h e o b s e r v a t i o n s o f C .F .G . M a s te r m a n ( 1 9 1 1 )
T h e C o n d i t i o n o f E n g la n d , p p . 8 2 - 8 4 ; H e le n C o r k e ( 1 9 7 5 ) , I n
O u r I n f a n c y . A n A u to b i o g r a p h y , P a r t 1 : 1 8 8 2 - 1 9 1 2 , p . 5 9 ;
R ic h a r d C h u rc h (1 9 5 6 ) O v e r th e B r id g e : A n E s s a y i n
A u to b io g r a p h y , p . 9 0 ; R o b e r t R o b e rts (1 9 7 3 ) The C la s s ic
S lu m . S a l f o r d L i f e i n t h e F i r s t Q u a r t e r o f t h e C e n t u r y ,
p . 163.
P a u l F e r r i s ( 1 9 7 1 ) , o p . c i t . , p . 4 5 , e x p l a i n s t h a t 'H a r o l d
p r id e d h im s e l f o n p a y in g s k e le t o n p r i c e s f o r ra w m a t e r i a l s .
T h e q u a l i t y o f p a p e r w as a p p a l l i n g . ' A memo f r o m H a r o l d t o
A l f r e d w a rn s t h a t ' O u r b a d p a p e r and ch e a p p r i n t i n g w i l l n o t
s t a n d m uch i n t h e w a y o f s m a l l t y p e .
To r a i l w a y t r a v e l l e r s
a ls o th e s m a ll ty p e w i l l o f c o u rs e be u n r e a d a b le . ' The
l a t t e r o b s e r v a tio n r e in f o r c e s th e im p r e s s io n t h a t th e
f r a g m e n t e d , s m a l l p a r a g r a p h e d f o r m o f s u c h p a p e r s w as
d e s ig n e d f o r q u i c k c o n s u m p t io n b y t h e c o m m u tin g
lo w e r m id d l e c l a s s .
I b i d . , p .4 4 .
P e a rs o n w on a c l e r k s h i p t o N e w n e s' com pany as a p r i z e i n a
T i t - B i t s c o m p e t i t i o n ( DNB 1 9 1 2 - 1 9 2 1 , p , 4 2 8 ) .
J o h n M. M a c K e n z ie ( 1 9 8 4 ) , P r o p a g a n d a a n d E m p ir e : t h e
M a n ip u la t io n o f B r i t i s h P u b lic O p in io n 1 8 8 0 -1 9 6 0 , p . 2 0 4 .
M a c k e n z ie n e a t l y e n c a p s u la t e s t h e s u c c e s s o f h i s
b o y s ' w e e k l i e s i n a v o i d i n g c r i t i c a l c o n d e m n a tio n a n d i n
s u p p l a n t i n g t h e 'p e n n y d r e a d f u l s ' ( a s d is c u s s e d i n C h a p t e r
F o u r ) o f e a r l i e r y e a r s : 'w h e r e a s t h e d r e a d f u l s h a d l a r g e l y
i n t e r n a l i s e d c r im e a n d c o n f l i c t i n te r m s o f d o m e s t ic
s o c i e t y , t h e new j o u r n a l s e x t e r n a l i s e d th e m ' w i t h t h e i r
im p e r ia lis t f ic t io n .
T he se w e re a c o u n t e r p a r t t o th e p r o ­
i m p e r i a l i s t l e a d e r c o lu m n s o f t h e D a i l y M a i l .
P o u n d a n d H a r m s w o r th ( 1 9 5 9 ) , o p . c i t . , p . 2 3 1 .
R i c h a r d N. P r i c e ( 1 9 7 7 ) , ' S o c i e t y , S t a t u s a n d J i n g o i s m : T he
S o c i a l R o o ts o f L o w e r M id d l e C la s s P a t r i o t i s m , 1 8 7 0 - 1 9 0 0 ',
i n G e o f f r e y C r o s s i c k ( 1 9 7 7 , e d . ) , T he L o w e r M id d l e C la s s i n
B r ita in .
F e r r is (1 9 7 1 ), o p . c i t . , p . 4 4.
I b i d . , p . 50.
T h e E n g l i s h I l l u s t r a t e d M a g a z in e , c i t e d i n P o u n d e t a l .
(1 9 5 9 ), op. c i t . , p . 189.
I b i d . , p . 80.
F e r r is (1 9 7 1 ), o p. c i t . , p p .6 5 -6 6 .
See D e n is G i f f o r d ( 1 9 8 4 ) , T h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l B o o k o f C o m ic s ,
p . 18 a n d K e v i n C a r p e n t e r ( 1 9 8 3 ) , P e n n y D r e a d f u l s a n d C o m ic s ,
p . 73.
F e r r is (1 9 7 1 ) o p . c i t . , p . 4 4 .
O r i g i n a l l y w r i t t e n b y H a r m s w o r th h i m s e l f .
A l e t t e r fro m
H a r o ld t o A l f r e d on J u n e 4 t h . 1891 s u g g e s ts o f f e r i n g th e
e d i t o r s h i p 'a g a in ' to a y o u n g e r b r o t h e r , C e c il - see
P o u n d a n d H a r m s w o r th ( 1 9 5 9 ) , o p . c i t . , p . 1 2 5 ; a n d G .H .
C a n tle i s u s u a ll y r e f e r e n c e d as th e p r i n c i p a l e d i t o r i n th e
' 9 0 ' s - s e e G i f f o r d ( 1 9 8 4 ) , o p . c i t . , p .2 0 a n d B r i a n D o y le
( 1 9 6 4 ) , W h o 's Who o f B o y s ' W r i t e r s a n d I l l u s t r a t o r s , p . 18 th o u g h I s u s p e c t t h a t C a n t l e d i d n o t t a k e o v e r u n t i l t h e m id
'9 0 's .
C o m ic C u t s , M ay 17 1 8 9 0 , N o . l p . 2 ( h e n c e f o r t h a b b r e v i a t e d
195
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
t o CC, w i t h n u m b e r, p a g e , a n d y e a r ) .
CC 1 8 , p . 2 ,
1890.
CC 6 1 , p . 2 ,
1891.
CC 2 7 , p . 2 ,
1890.
CC 3 0 , p . 2 ,
1890.
CC 9 1 , p . 2 , 1 8 9 2 .
How e x a c t l y t h i s f i g u r e i s a r r i v e d
a t is u n c e r ta in .
I t seem s l i k e l y t h a t H a r m s w o r th m u l t i p l i e d
h i s a c t u a l s a le s f i g u r e s b y a n e s t i m a t e o f t h e a v e r a g e
n u m b e r o f r e a d e r s p e r h o u s e h o ld . K e v in C a r p e n t e r ( 1 9 8 3 ) o p .
c i t . , p . 7 6 , e s tim a te s th e r e a d e r s h ip a t t h i s tim e t o b e c .
4 0 0 , 0 0 0 , r i s i n g t o a p e a k o f a b o u t 1 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 , b e f o r e W o r ld
W ar I .
CC 1 9 , p . 2 , 1 8 9 0 .
CC 6 1 , p . 2 , 1 8 9 1 . I n t h e s e c o n d o n e , P a t r i c k , a n
a p p li c a n t f o r th e P o lic e F o r c e , i s g iv e n a l i t e r a c y t e s t - t o
w r i t e t h e s u p e r i n t e n d a n t 1s n a m e . P a t a v o i d s t h e t r a p t h u s :
'M e c o m m it f o r g e r y a n d I a g o i n ' o n t h e p o l l i s ! I c a n ' t do
i t , y e r h o n o u r '.
S e e , f o r e x a m p le , CC 2 4 , p . 2 , 1 8 9 0 .
F o r e x a m p le , CC 9 3 , p . 2 , 1 8 9 2 .
I l l u s t r a t e d C h ip s , M a rc h 7 , N o .2 7 , p . 7 , 1891 ( h e n c e f o r t h
a b b r e v i a t e d t o IC w i t h n u m b e r, p a g e a n d y e a r ) .
AS H H , A p r i l 1 4 , 1 8 8 8 , V o l . V , N o . 2 0 7 , p . l .
IC 3 3 , p p . 1 - 2 , 1 8 9 1 .
IC 3 4 , p p . 1 - 2 , 1 8 9 1 .
IC 3 5 , p p . 1 - 2 , 1 8 9 1 .
IC 3 7 , p . 2 , 1 8 9 1 .
196
CHAPTER EIG H T
REREADING THE COMICS,
CONDESCENSION,
T h is
c h a p te r,
c lo s e
1890 t o
c .1 8 9 5 ,
th u s
e d i t o r i a l p o p u lis m
c h a p te rs
th e
is
to
c o m ic s ,
o f th e
need to
m ake a fe w
Op e n in g
th e
F ir s tly ,
to
in
o f th e
th a t
s o u rc e s ,
w ith in
in
e a r ly
re a d e r.
a c h ie v in g
th e
o f th e
Jam es'
In
fr o m
o f th e ir
o f th e s e
w ith
re a d e r
th e
n a tu re
th e
of
p ro c e s s
th r o u g h o u t th e
th is
re g a rd ,
we
'c u t s '
(1 9 8 2 )
a rg u m e n t o n c e
o f c o m p o n e n ts w i t h i n
s ta g e s
s tru c tu re
h o lis m
a
p r o p o s itio n s .
t h e y w e re
th e
o f th e s e
w o u ld c o n t r i b u t e
w h ic h
fo r
a m o u n ts
to
to
fo r
a n d th e
a num ber o f
e le m e n t s
th e ir
th e
r e a d in g
m o re
a g a in ,
c o m ic s ,
d ra w n f r o m
r e g u la r ity
a r e , t h e r e f o r e , g ro u n d s
a c e r ta in
a n a ly s is
The p u rp o s e
as a c o h e r e n t a n d m e a n i n g f u l w h o le
T h e re
in
o f th e m is c e lla n e o u s
lo c a tio n
r e a s s e m b lin g
a n u n c h a n g in g
fro m
h u m o u ro u s p u b l i s h i n g .
v a r ie ty
engage
b e r e a d as c o n tig u o u s
c la s s
u p L o u is
th e ir
s p it e
w ill
H a r m s w o r th c o m ic p a p e r s
o u tw a rd s
we c a n p o s i t t h a t t h e
e x p e r ie n c e
th e
ta k e
in
in itia l
c o m ic s :
th re e
C h a p te r S e ve n .
can s t i l l
o f V ic to r ia n
fa c t
d r a w in g
in
h is t o r y
C h a p t e r N in e ,
o f th e
sh o w t h a t
th e y
o f n e g o tia tio n
s p it e
CARTOONS AND COMPETITIONS
to g e th e r w ith
e m p ir ic a l r e a d in g
PART I :
th e
th a n
r e g u la r
c o m ic s
th e
as
sum o f
p a rts .
This proposition requires substantiation.
For the moment we
197
c a n d ra w some p r o v i s i o n a l
is
in a p p r o p r ia te
e it h e r
im p lic a tio n s .
to
w h ic h
re d u c e s
v a r io u s
th e
p a rts
as a s in g le
and sees
p a tte rn
q u e s tio n h as
th e
c o m ic s ,
o r a q u a lita tiv e
p ro d u c t
g ro u n d s
it
a t t e m p t a q u a s i - 1s c i e n t i f i c 1
m e th o d o lo g ic a l a p p ro a c h t o
’ c o n te n t a n a ly s is '
On t h e s e
to
th e
c lo s e d
a
lik e
a fo rm
's t r u c t u r a lis t '
't e x t ',
a s s ig n s
a lt e r n a t iv e
a l r e a d y b e e n d is c u s s e d
in
a n a ly s is
la b e ls
in t r a - t e x t u a l r e la t io n s
to
o f q u a n tita tiv e
to
th e ir
o f th e
p a rts
in te r p r e ta tio n s .
m o re d e t a i l
in
T h is
C h a p te r
Tw o.
As a n a l t e r n a t i v e ,
w h ic h
key
a c c o u n ts
to
th is
fo r
is
to
th e
le t
h o lis tic
p la c e
In
'p o p u la r '
c o m ic s .
a n a r r a tiv e
h u m o u ro u s p e r i o d i c a l s
c o n c e r n in g
o f c la s s
th e
c u lt u r e .
id e n t it y
c la s s
o f th e
th ro u g h
th e ir
e d ito r ia l
seen to
be q u ite
th e v a r io u s
w ith in
T h e c o m ic s ,
an e x a lt a t io n
fro m
o f th e
in te r p r e ta tio n
fa m ilia l
a s a d y n a m ic
lo c a tio n
o f th e
'c u lt u r e '
re a d e r.
th e
'm a s s '
a pp ea r to
or
in d u lg e
in
o f s u b u rb a n d o m e s tic ity
so t h a t t h e i r p o p u l i s t
s p e c ific a lly
t e x t u a l e le m e n t s
in
a s e lf- p r o fe s s e d
by c o n tra s t,
a d d re s s ,
The
o f th e
ASHH we c a n d e t e c t a c o m p le x o f a m b iv a le n c e s
n e g o tia tio n
can be
a m ode o f
n a tu re
th e m w i t h i n
d e v e lo p m e n t o f V i c t o r i a n
m e d iu m o f d i a l o g u e
us p ro p o s e
c la s s - m e d ia te d .
appeal
M o re o v e r,
c a n be re a d as e x te n s io n s
o u tw a r d s
th is .
E s s e n t ia lly ,
e le m e n ts
o f th e
th e
c o m ic s
r e v o lv e
a ro u n d a v e r y
v ie w
th e ir
in
a rg u m e n t h e re
-
th e
c a rto o n s
lim ite d ,
c h a ra c te rs
is
th a t
d e c id e d ly
in c lu d e d
p ic t o r ia l
a nd o c c a s io n a l s e q u e n c e s
and b a c k d ro p s .
e a r l i e r h u m o u ro u s w e e k l i e s
th e
'p e t t y
b o u r g e o is '
w o r ld
W h e re a s ASHH a n d t h e
a c o m p le x a r r a y
-
o f c la s s -
198
s p e c ific
ty p e s
fr e q u e n tly
in
v a r ia b le ,
e n c o u n te re d ty p e
'm a s h e r 1 , a n d t h e
m o n th s ,
is
th e
ta rg e t fo r
a c c e s s ib le
s e a s id e .
in a b ility
we c a n s e n s e
a n y th in g
is
code.
a ls o
re p re s e n ts
a fu rth e r
is
o f V ic to r ia n
v ir t u a lly
fe w
And f i n a l l y ,
m a r g in a lis e d ,
it
'w o r k i n g
in
a d d re s s )
w h ic h
o f n o n - p o litic is e d
to le r a n c e .
In
lim ite d
w ay,
p o p u lis m
we c a n s e e
o f th e
'l o w e r m id d l e
c la s s '.
and fu n n y
s e le c tiv e
c a rto o n s ,
s to r ie s .
p ic t u r e
th e
T h a t th is
o f s o c ia l
th e
e d ito r ia l
s u b u r b a n is e d
jo k e s
as
and
i n d iv id u a l's
th e
th e
e x t e n t t h a t th e
absence,
e tc .
p e o p le
ty p e s
d e n ig r a tio n
th e n ee ds
th e
to
c o s te rs
r a c ia l
t h a n ASH H , t o
b e tw e e n
th e
its
c la s s '
e v e n m o re s o
c o n tin u ity
is
d e c o ru m
th e re
In d e e d
at
(a s
m ake a p p e a r a n c e s w h ic h
c o m b in a t i o n
th is
it
s c e n a r io s
a re
th e re
a ll.
a m a le w o r l d w h e re w om en a r e
and a w o r ld
e d ito r ia l
'c la s s le s s '
r o m a n tic
d if fe r e n t
and in
s tr e e t- fo lk ,
is
sum m er
d e v e lo p m e n t a w a y f r o m
n o n - e x is te n t,
id e n t if ia b ly
as a
th e
o n c o r p o r e a l g r o o m in g a n d
h u m o u ro u s w e e k l i e s
no c a d g e rs ,
th e
m ost
as a u n i v e r s a ll y
fo r
q u e s tio n e d ,
m a s te r th e
a re v e r y
o f th e
s o le ly
is
th e
p u r s u its .
c o s tu m e s
to
p r a c tic a lly
th e
p re s e n te d
in
p re s e n te d
o f h is
a n e m p h a s is
fa s h io n a b le
If
tr a je c to r y
in
is
title s
e s p e c ia lly
The m ash er i s
on th e b a s is
s c e n a r io s ,
n e u t r a l m eans o f e l e v a t i o n b y c o d i f i e d
b e h a v io u r .
't o w n '
H a r r a s w o r t h 's
a ve n u e o f p le a s u r a b le
a d o rn m e n t w i t h
It
in
in n e r u rb a n
b a c k d ro p ,
T he s e a s id e
b o th ,
s o c ia lly
c la s s ic
r id ic u le
o r ie n ta tio n .
In
o fte n
of
and p a tr o n is in g
c a te rs ,
we c a n e s t a b l i s h
in d e e d ,
is
w h ic h
in c r e a s in g ly
a d v e r tis in g
in te r a c tio n
as a n e x te n s io n
c o lu m n s ,
M o re o v e r,
is ,
ASH H , a n d
show a
c a rto o n s
th e
in
a
c o p y a n d th e
a h ig h ly
e v id e n c e d b y t h e
fa c t
199
t h a t th e m a sh e r and th e
in
in te r - c la s s
In
s e a s id e w e r e p e r v a d e d b y
som e c o m p l e x i t y
te n s io n s .
C h a p t e r N in e we e x a m in e
n o n - fic tio n a l a r tic le s
in
th e
th e
fic tio n a l
c o m ic s
e le m e n t s
as m u tu a lly
and
c o n tin u o u s
ite m s .
T h e ir p r i n c i p a l fe a t u r e can be re a d as th e c o n s is te n t
m a r g i n a l i s a t i o n o f ' c r i m i n a l i t y ' f r o m t h e s o c i e t y o f 'd e c e n t '
p e o p le , a nd th e r e
a re
c o n n e c tio n s
e m e rg e n c e o f d e t e c t i v e
th e
'9 0 s .
T h is
fic tio n
as
te n d e n c y r e v e a ls
M a y h e w 's s e l f - e x p r e s s i v e
to
th e
th e
lo w - life s ,
b u t c h a r a c t e r i s e d b y a c o m b in a t i o n
d a n g e r to
th e
in d ic te d .
A ll
common v i s i o n
te n s io n s
T h is
is
th o s e
o f th e s e
n o t to
say th a t
g o in g o n .
o f n e g o tia tio n
code
d e lin e a te d
th ro u g h
th e
d e s tin a tio n
in
re d u c e d now t o
o f fe c k le s s n e s s
a re
in te g r a te d
th e
g e n re
in
c o m ic s
of
a ra c e
a p a rt,
a n d d o w n r ig h t
is
a p ro c e s s
c la s s
The u p p e r l i m i t
o f p r e s e n ta tio n
to
to
o f c la s s
o f d e lib e r a te
lo c a tio n
is
w ith
as a
re g a rd
T he lo w e r l i m i t
n e g o tia tio n
d is tin c tly
we c a n p o s i t
o f th e
n ew p o l i t i c a l
'l o w e r m id d l e
G r a m s c ia n t e r m ,
th is
id e n t if ic a tio n
c la s s '
'co m m o n s e n s e '.
v e h e m e n t ly a p o l i t i c a l
s ta n c e
i n t e g r a l w h o le
id e o lo g ie s
w o r ld v ie w
T h is
o f th e
is
in
o r,
a rg u e d
c o m ic s
is
T h e s e d e s ig n a t io n s
o f c e r ta in
fr a c t io n s .
M o re o v e r,
to
c o n f u s e d b y a c o m m o n ly
th e w o r ld .
th e
th e ir
c a n be m a r g in a lis e d .
o f c r im in a lit y .
a t le a s t a p a r t s o lu tio n
fre e
in
can be re a d c o lle c t iv e ly
r e a d e r 's
th e n o t io n
c o n tin u o u s
s o c ie ty
l o w e s t e le m e n t s
th e re
o f th e
th e
d o m in a n t f i c t i o n a l
t e x t u a l e le m e n ts
T h e c o m ic s
a b o v e a n d b e lo w .
a c c e s s ib le
o ffe r
w h ic h
w ith
o f a k i n d w h ic h c a n b e u n a m b i v a l e n t l y
o f an o r g a n ic a lly
a n d fr o m
e x c lu s io n
fo rm
s o c ia l o rd e r ,
b e m ade h e r e
as a fo rm
te rm s
to
in
use
of
of a
th e
s p it e
o f th e
th e m s e lv e s , a n d i n
200
s u p p o rt o f th is
s ig n ific a n t
id e a s
a r g u m e n t we c i t e
in s t a n c e
a n d fo c u s s e s
t e x t u a l e le m e n ts
o f a s e r ia l s to ry
a ll
s p e c ific
w ay.
o f th e
th ro u g h
B e y o n d ASHH, t h e
m e d ia t e d n a t u r e
a c e r ta in h o l i s t i c
is
t h a n a v i s u a l m e d iu m i n
w h ic h
in
a d d re s s
th e s e
c r e a tiv it y
is
r e a lly
S im ila r ly ,
jo k e s
c r e a tiv it y
is
ca n be re a d
in
in
n o t to
its e lf .
R a th e r,
r e la t io n s h ip
p it c h e d
w ith in
th e
a ls o ,
in
c o m ic s .
y e a rs ,
T h is
th e
in
th e
c a rto o n s
w h ic h we c a n s e e
is
in
th e
a v e rb a l ra th e r
s p it e
o f th e ir
p o p u lis m
th ro u g h
e d ito r ia l
th e
c o m p o n e n ts ,
o f th e
c a p tio n s
s ta ff
n o n - p ic to r ia l
[1 ].
a r tis tic
copy
-
th e
e le m e n t s
is s u e
d ia lo g u e - lik e
te r m s
o f th e
th e re
scope
som ehow
s in c e
is
a d e g re e
in
ASHH o r
ra th e r
w ith
th e
th a n
its
th e
Now
o f a p e r fe c t ly
re a d e r w ith in
to
th e
b u t t h a t o p e n -e n d e d n e s s
l e v e l o f q u e s t io n in g
s o c ia l r e a l i t y ,
lik e w is e ,
a d d re s s .
o f o p e n -e n d e d n e s s
and re a d e r,
th a n
th e
th e
th e s e ,
in te r a c tio n
e d ito r ia l
'in s c r ib e s '
-
o f a u th o r ia l
a q u a s i- s t r u c t u r a lis t p ic t u r e
o f e d ito r
a t th e
th e
o f th e ir
w h ic h
m uch n a r r o w e r i n
a v e ry
a s e c o n d a ry c o n s id e r a tio n ,
p o s it
't e x t '
e n te r ta in m e n t i n
a s e c o n d a ry c o n s id e r a tio n .
ju d g in g
te r m s
c o h e re n t
c la s s -
we c a n s e e
and a d v e r tis in g
a ls o
th e v a r io u s
th e
th e s e p i c t o r i a l
r e a d e r as m e d ia t e d b y t h e
is
e a r ly
m any c a s e s w e r e a d d e d b y
a n a ly s in g
th is
th e
in d ic a te
t h e y w e re p r i m a r i l y
a n c h o r in g th e
in
s to r ie s ,
'm a s s '
T ha t is ,
T h e re fo re ,
in
p o l i t i c a l m e d ia tio n .
a n o th e r s e n s e ,
th a t
o v e rt p o litic a l
u n d e rc u rre n t s tra n d s
c h a ra c te r to
p i c t o r i a l e le m e n t s .
w h ic h u s e s
H a r m s w o r th c o m ic s
o v e r w h e lm in g e v id e n c e
e d ito r ia l
its
o f a nascent
T h e re
a n u n u s u a l b u t n o n e t h e le s s
p re d e c e s s o rs .
r e a d e r 's
is
It
is
s e lf - p e r c e p tio n
th e v a l i d i t y
o f th a t
201
reality as presented to the reader.
A t th is
p o in t,
q u a lific a tio n .
im p o r ta n t to
t h e m is c e l la n e o u s
to
T h e re
in e v ita b ly
is
th e
n o tio n
m e a n in g s w i t h i n
to
a h ie r a r c h y
T h is
s in c e
in to
th e
sequence o f
m u s t u n d e r m in e ,
c o m ic s ,
a ls o
th e
in te r p r e ta tio n
e a r ly
to
c h o o s in g
in e v ita b ly
is
to
te x t.
c u rre n t in
s u p e r fic ia l
a s e x a m in e d i n
T h ir te e n ) .
th e
th e
th e re
of
some
in h e r e n t
th e
th e ir
o f g e n e r a t in g
s ta g e
n a r r a tiv e
th ro u g h
in
s u b je c t iv e
fro m
th e
re a d e r is
a re
c e r ta in
th e
A nd th e s e
c o m ic
P a rt Four
s tr ip
th e
o rd e r o f
c o m i c s , w h ic h m ay i n
c o h e re n c e .
e v o lu t io n
ro u te
a d m it t h i s
th a t
R a th e r,
fo r
a t th is
no fo r m u la ic
c o m p o n e n ts
n a r r a tiv is in g
th e
is
fo r
w ith
som e e x t e n t a t
q u e s tio n s
n o tio n
as g iv e n .
in
r u le s
fo r
th e ir
s tru c tu re
a k in
s tr ip .
r a n k in g
a rg u e
th e
c o m ic s ,
a s p e c ific
im p o r ta n t to
h o w e v e r,
th e
th e re
t h e m o d e rn c o m ic
c o n s e q u e n tly
th e
o f th e
d e v e lo p m e n t ,
In
it
T h a t in c lu d e s
o f r e a d in g
it e m s
a n y u n c h a n g in g ,
and i t
in
re a d e r
e le m e n t s ,
to
e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f a n y f o o l p r o o f m e t h o d o lo g y
in te r p r e ta tio n .
th e
a p a tte rn
o f fa v o u re d
t h a t we c a n r e a d
th e
o f p o p u la r l i t e r a t u r e
e x e r c is e ,
c o m p o n e n ts
c o rre s p o n d e x a c tly
ig n o r e d a lt o g e t h e r .
m ake a n o t h e r
o f a n y fo rm
a s u b je c t iv e
u n lik e ly
le a s t,
is
The r e a d in g
m a g a z in e f o r m a t i s
re w o rk s
it
and
im p o r t a n c e we a r e
p ro c e s s
o u ts e t.
som ehow
o f r e a d in g ,
T h is
is
and
n o t,
'in s c r i b e d '
te n s io n s
w ith in
a n d d y n a m ic s
p a r t b e c o n c e a le d b y a
te n s io n s
in
c o m ic s ,
th e
(C h a p te r T e n ,
c e r ta in ly
c o m ic s
E le v e n ,
fro m
e x te n d
in to
t h e m i d - '9 0 s ,
T w e lv e
and
202
An Empirical Dilemma
H a v in g s t r e s s e d
d ile m m a i n
th e h o l i s t i c
te r m s
n a tu re
o f e m p i r i c a l m e th o d :
sense o f th e
o v e r a ll
sense o f th e
g e n e ra l c u rre n ts
T h e re
w o r k a b le
is
in te g r ity
in
fo r
to
th is
s tu d y ,
A u g u s t 20
fa ir ly
t y p i c a l o f H a r m s w o r t h 's
has been chosen fo r
F ir s tly ,
r u n n in g
it
c o n ta in s
s e r ia ls
1 0 ,0 0 0 REW ARD'.
th e s e
s to r ie s
e m e rg e n c e o f t h e
c u rre n t in
th e
p iv o ta l r o le
c o m ic s
is s u e
in
d e te c tiv e
o f th e
d r a w in g
th e
c o rp o ra te
p u b lis h in g
w ith
th e
fir s t
th e
th re e
th e
1890s.
is
th re e
w h ic h
fo r
th e m a t ic
or
in
th e
p a p e rs
1892
'9 0 s .
q u a litie s .
'9 0 s ,
lo n g e s t-
'M IS S IN G
and p o in ts
-
as
to
th e
d o m in a n t f i c t i o n a l
S e c o n d ly ,
th e
it
illu s tr a te s
fo c a l p o in t
to g e th e r.
th ir d
d o m in a t i n g
title s .
o f th e
and fo rm a l tre n d s
in
L a s tly ,
p a p e r,
and r e f le c t s
we w i l l
fro m
e a r ly
o f one o f th e
th e
as
c a n b e d ee m e d
a u s e f u l e x a m p le o f t h e
in te g r ity
fo u r y e a rs ,
in
but
a g o o d e x a m p le o f t h e w a y
th e
a d d re s s
in v o lv e d
th e
w h ic h
o u ts e t,
as
a num ber o f s im ila r
m a in ta in a f e e li n g
e s ta b lis h
c o m ic s
a f t e r H a r m s w o r t h 's
b e tw e e n t h e
s tra te g y
title s
o t h e r c o m p o n e n ts
so i t
a
a
e x a m in e ,
o f C o m ic C u ts
illu s tr a tiv e
'g e n r e '
th e
a
m a in ta in
a te n ta tiv e
8 .1 -8 .8 )
p r o v id e s
e d ito r ia l
W o n d e r, w as l a u n c h e d ,
to
in
a p p e a re d s h o r t l y
a d v e r tis in g
it
is
g a in in g
p ro p o s e d to
e p is o d e
a n n o u n c e d fro m
c o m ic s
is
As
is s u e
b a s ic
o p e n in g
T h e re fo re
w e re
it
c o m ic
a n y o f th e
how t o
c o m ic s w h i l e
th is .
- F ig u re s
th re e
th e
fro m
to
a s in g le
no.
is ,
th e re
e a c h c o m p o n e n t.
p r o b le m
( Is s u e
It
119,
th e
c o m ic s
th a t
o f th e
no e a sy s o lu t io n
s o lu tio n
th e b a s is
o f th e
th e
th e
th is
The
m u tu a l
H a r m s w o r t h 's
a n y one s e c to r o f
In
o rd e r b o th
to
c o m ic a s a w h o le
in
th e
c o m ic s
a tte m p t f i r s t l y
to
and
over
p lo t a
203
ro u te
th ro u g h
th e
c o n te x tu a lis e
o ve r th is
th ro u g h
p i c t o r i a l e le m e n t s
th e s e w i t h i n
p e r io d .
th e
is
hoped,
o v e r a ll p ic t u r e
is s u e
w ill
in
th e
c o m ic s
w i l l b e c o n d u c te d m o s tly
fic tio n a l
c ir c u m v e n t th e
o f g e n e ra l tre n d s
and to
m o v e m e n ts
We w i l l p r o c e e d s i m i l a r l y
copy and n o n - p ic to r ia l
it
th is
p r e v a ilin g
c o n te x tu a lis in g
fo o tn o te s .
a d v e r tis in g
s tra te g y ,
T h is
th e
in
w ith
th e
c o m p o n e n ts .
T h is
d ile m m a o f g a i n i n g
a n d th e h o lis m
an
o f an in d iv id u a l
is s u e .
In
p u r e ly
s tru c tu ra l
ty p ic a l
o f a ll
th re e
te rm s ,
a ls o ,
H a r m s w o r th t i t l e s ,
c o m p e t i t o r s , H a r m s w o r th s t r u c t u r e d h i s
w eek to
w eek.
fe a tu re s
in
r e a d e r s h ip
T h i s w as p a r t o f h i s
each t i t l e
th e re fo re ,
fe a tu re s .
Pages 1 ,
p ic t o r ia l
e le m e n t s :
c o m p o n e n ts ,
'9 0 s .
o n ly
a d d r e s s w as a lw a y s
at
r a r e ly
o r s to ry
The l o g i c a l p a th
th is
it
it
a p p lic a b le
p e r io d .
has,
to
And,
id e n t ic a lly
in
2 or
o f r e g u la r is in g
one t o
n a r r a tiv e
6.
p u r e ly
in
3,
th e
e a r ly
The e d i t o r i a l
6 a n d 7 a lw a y s
n o n - p ic to r ia l n a r r a tiv e
Less
a nd th e
th ro u g h
th re e
and
Two o f th e m w o u ld c a r r y
a p ie c e .
as h as b e e n e x p la in e d ,
an e x te n t,
fo rm
Pages 2 ,
ta k e
any o f th e
[2 ].
e ig h t p i c t o r i a l
a d v e r tis e m e n ts .
c o m p e titio n s
to
a m in im u m
ta k e n up w it h
o n o ne o r o t h e r .
chosen to
fro m
e v e r c o n ta in p a r t i c u l a r
o f fro m
c o lu m n o f a d v e r t i s e m e n t s
in c lu d e d jo k e
th e re fo re ,
o n ly
c a r r ie d
on page
n a r r a tiv e
p a p e rs
h is
a g a in s t f l u c t u a t i o n s
5 a n d 8 w e re
c a rto o n s
c a n b e deem ed
f o r u n lik e
s tra te g y
le a s t one s e lf - c o n t a in e d ,
a s e r ia lis e d
o n e w h o le
w ill
o c c a s io n a lly
These p ag es
c a r r ie d
4,
is s u e
a s a m eans o f m a i n t a i n i n g
l e v e l a n d s a fe g u a r d in g
C e r ta in p a g e s ,
th is
f r e q u e n t it e m s
o c c a s io n a l c a r to o n .
th e
c o m ic
is ,
H a r m s w o r th t i t l e s
in
been n a r r a tiv is e d .
o rd e r to
In
th is
in
m ake s e n s e
re g a rd
it
of
m i o d i in u
3
b iu ,u u u f i j ^ v Y A f i R
F i g u r e 8.3
Corrà c C u t s
N o .]]?,
p . D , ] 8 5?2
204
now o w ry m i m
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“ Who Poisoned Mr. P ly ? '1 Th« New Story In the Marvellous } d . Paper, “ THE WONDBBIf ^ ^ ^
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F i g u r e B.8
Comi 9 C u t s
N o . ] 39 , p . S ,
]892
205
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t f l w i a , O a tka w ifti l o « * kafora tk a p a / taxlatod ■ > ■ ! » . tka l | n o n a k u o f tka ro«ai« v a r a
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« A » tfrUTuw i > i a l t o r a m aJotaf a a tk o b « o
M a f t a « r « r f M i a U a ra ; aod kara a o d U o r a
> M a b a a o a o id • * i w n a a t k a d a i o n a f tka
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J b a ln k a if o M
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l a y « a / o k ü H j. j o e v O « / I t « f a m j a k * t o do
graak v o r k b Ilia a a l v i e y o u M lf a a a a a ."
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la o w IkM v f e k a t y v e 1 t k o a ld a e i a r e
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. T b e «toda « a r id « o o U ka a k la a k . O k,
«. « y d n a a j , « k * da y o a pata a o lik e i k k t
f r a ir ia g iw ^d k t a j b r a ? ”
aW y akaak baa a a b e r a to a d .
* • a n a r p a « u r a d a f It," abe o o o a ir a d
» o k a * I t to* k e o c a e a part e f a y life ."
kt t o t t o a d a la k b o ca U fy r f gU daraa.
a v tk o « ^ a r k ly a v a y .
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[ akeald 4 a r ao* a o o ? * m a d O aerga D a k
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kia e r a v u a a i b l ky tk* /aoo o f tk a ; o u m V t a i
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a tag lad loagvog aad daaj^ ir. th a t Caorgo D o b
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traa t r a a t k a t (ka aid b a r e a a l dJd a«« r ir v kia o ily
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d r lfk c r a U ly tarnad a v a y a t k it apptoark. P a r v a t
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a W k a lf B a t tk a * J 0 t r a a k la . B aral* k e
d i d a l a k e MI TM k b a o o t a « k « a r i R a id . 1
c o o t p oaaib lj d o v i l k e a á k l a . 1I a aod b k a b a a taro. U l W a a o a a a o o f o f r a a k l * e i t h e r ? " )
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Comic Cuts
No.]]9, p.3, 3892
206
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- T a n a a m o m ora—a r » , B k to4 U
M '
I
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‘ a •
for ilit of
tut bolt lo otrxt.
fLLDSTKiTU UTAtOCCt H TATCBES u i
jm UitljiaOaa.
A . S. G R A H A M
C O .,
2 7 7 S t r a n d , L o n d o n , W .C . *
- t . ahum Mtw unr o o u m » ..x •.
\
SJp (DE SOVEREIGN EXTRA I* paid w h week to the artlat aandlng tha'funntert Jaka°an(f pict'ur«, In addition to Ih» ordinary paymwit.
F ig u re 8.6
Coirdc C u t s
N o.IlJ9) p . 6,
]892
209
I
Whatl you don’t like prison stories? You
LITTLE
V K R T
L AUGHS.
<X>C*TlBO lba i t r p a u
La,M b k a a
read “ MISSING— £10,000 REWARD I " at onc*^
B A D L T
W O R D E D ,
r o B iT J v u L T r o i o n
tofro»barf; 1b■ I*»*»*»,*1 themIlajarjto
U
M b • p air.
Lhi ffkjD- *nd tu> m » U « U whtX
^1 ■ v iix f i of Ik* k o u a
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m
EDW ARDS’ HARLENE
LWURlAJiT HAIR. WHISKED; ft IQUSTACH108
v a n w r j r i a a d v t u s Um
i » c tt ib M
h
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P n t n i i T l O f h **w to a»art OId n l
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h r
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4 » b t. p n t t / '< y ib k b u w ho ifatakx lk * i U n
p*m vi&um it f imb.
^ B a i> n iL L i f m j
M b » h j M ic il M .
U»U t lo w e e n l s l p c d tio a
• T n «
•i M O v . t b
to eaali i d a f k
U
Mt
U k ic f
any diaaar, L ady
n b i Um v l a d 1
H o t t M ; 1 l^ ib i k a ; I'va bad tom * o f t r u z j d b lu ”
G a - t ; • W all, t k a t i n ot a m ch.*
A 'T m u D x r r
b E k a t p b — ¿ U ba«d prof w b k b ( a u f M* t u .
' I t t l M T T b , doab tb aa, tk a b w l p o lia y .b v l U
t f kaya u p W lo a f a fo .
M. I i m i ' i l u f k m
b to b a i n i i i
w m n d t U w ill ( t u t • • J d i n j I o « m .
EDWARDS & OO.
F. K
SB B l O H
$
i b o r n i l Im I q * l u friraT lr-1 » h e n h*
M M t p b a n jb o d / to b i t h b p u V
• m it tH
H O L B O H * . L O I DO * . W.C.
OVOLC
MOUNT® A K (
TH I
P lM U T
Of
H tT O tl l U i I m i
■ » « M p U M k ft*
lJ lrt no u A sd -
7 « t- f r» » , t l x S to o p s.
BLUSHING.
THE KUttAL.
if «
^
7T " . .
T he U m tt t b i b im a lu b « u k i
v b l f lH D H ( l • ]
A
Im
THODBA-EDfl O r D IW L IC 1 T ID TEST1M 0BU X A .
SUITS FOR THE SEASON.
B U T TOtTB CLOTH1HQ DIKBC7 n O H * H 1
fiO I D I I
b m * v m W ly i s lo r e t b l
J l b j u U
i b l b mA o f
iwn p i i r i o i v i n iv THi n o r m .
A PAIR Of
L o n b »«ry U a K b i H d o « 1 n b i D * b n i
faltow b n i L a g ' f * t a « t u J h t n i a i t » o o u k r j
12
s. 6 d.
TROUSERS
T il C ar J M
i b i now , l^ v j «ay, b m i
m < x |* r t p n l o M
a a 4 h a T iolibi H b to o a b tM
k a r * « r i d « u J j » a d i h i « d a a p e n ta .
rm
to
iv n r
m
i
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o u n o n x , a * s o lu t* lt
uv c E u a
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a u ll p r i o l T i t R c o i m
m m l b H d iM a l b « k a a q a a u . m d Um kfcktt a t
l ; M | b y « U b U u u i m n a n e a a lilL
iha aMafW run »1
iTHIb au * W
I b U y t l U m koUl « U U k n u l b « m i r o n
a * n l t e | k b m m m t b t m i o j T book.
• T b , b f ,* a u i 1 M M v it k a g r w d f t » j » io il
< b M aicr a f tk a 4 a y , " k b tp**ok » m N . r . j
m a t > t o a i k i a 4 a n b ; la a ffc . I U « |k a 4 _ uU I
PHSSRHTATION
T BODSEES.
0
^ f n
M h r b f M »hig<iy«i soCtoa ia i M )Tid M
lk a abcCH c bail a la Ik » too*» t a m k o (al i a M aa■ f’ rcaa L b k a o k rf
« * u l Lb« « a l t e r
70
1111
* f l u u *f w
aM i r
■lu g 1*»rt1*flifpU r f aorn a f o b a a l i akooM M
M t h » M nck i l coaia
— a» aflT t o p r u tw b a a r t | f o r I b a A ia o d in ^ O x a U L a a a mt lh a H o m .
0
W ILSO N
tW )« s in n C w n o b
IB
k
n
i g
h
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i d
e r
s t r
e e
t
,
L O N D O N , *-C.
/
U p» »*»;
« a k da y M i l le a
O I aacfc | i a i i a n o t t a n k *
V baae w ly M b a * w e « « le k e ’
>
5AMeWJAM
s ,.r
w s s ____
o r lU tr * T \0 * $ . U U V A K C t A M WVATMUAA.
l a u b a f mow <m a n k
-
'■
J f
fifth of O10 Harmsworth Jourqaj?. Every Saturday,
'^VjHjB^WONDERl’»
I
•jT\
a
,
,
F ig u re 8.7
Goipic C u t s
N o.]]9,
p . 7,
]892
2] 0
<,
A SLIGHT DIFFERENCE,
HIS GLORIOUS BALANCE.
SHE
SUPPOSED
SO.
Ì
Point* -
T iic iu :
r to o li"
"Bo 1
nifi*)« tìdi k tbs
,
..
S c h o la r (a fter a lo n g m o m ) : “ Y « , 1 c1
Vhe t-ther U a r b « i ] n j i v t th a n k * .
NOT TO BE DONE,
CALLED HER NAHE8,
A LIGHT ANSWER.
S., ! 11 t ( (
and
'S. " Rnaat aw! h
f t* *
add«!
l a d p a r t e d w ith
ia th *
tk
y m litmg * t t h t
th a t & T *pcaad i H ^ t l o l
night b*tnjtùdi)
Iut>t: "Why'dH yonInn j t m r lutpUa IH
S«r»<ut I “-Became thais im i« eaUad m mintl *
L * à j :"Wbaï dW ah«c
allyv*J■
S e rra n i ; “ Sbe »aidI m n a d o n w tk fc , >«4 M
Ibanl-Tarfcngam u «ai t » H«dì"
ioö« 1
(F.B L— Amd U
thiahatfcssfhtkiackriu
TOOK THE SHINE OUT OF HIM.
‘B tie k , » M a s > r o , m t T p a t t a i »
A
iraw" “ Poliih, çuVwrf
IUm cid fiitn, io coci£f<tiwi
Î Jo«»« mji that eiBjpftitSon4a
reaU»,dotveittikmn», é*jti«Ì•MuU
I« h r »¿»id»j*. Ha i*
»(risking ot fcdng «ittaot booti
aHagetfctrio1I17 ■uibiT.
A RUDE AWAKENING.
1.
tx t t
WWjkciJ «.1.»^ l i. Up «Ui-rrf i n
“H*™-**Ën»W
-Jäht.“taM «w t 4
»Ira hrtalu&brou Sk*»
to a i
Wa
;**»»‘Ilrt*H>iw," I As4 th***k» h M frUforkattddr<>r»<♦
~ r*r»wiiiitf f t K*fci»5>S^«û^iïîîïîVri^pii«{¿»‘r i j r . WfW* l
Figure 8.8
noinic Cuts
J]
p. 8, 3892
' f r - , I.5-
,t etortif
**• T?!*1 10
»nto>tj*wiUMtaaftbthwft. 4- 111
Y u ■‘•»•ft*!“)1 *• t * * i *iÌffr." iSirc *W!8T>*1 llir t H H 1 4
I
H E W A N T E D TO
MAKE AN
“ i m p w e s s i o n :*
Figure 8.9
’He wanted to make an "impression" 1
(from
1C 70,
p.2, 1892^
THROUGfr'vT H E
SEASIDE
LpDGING-HOUSE
W IN D O W .
1. " Am * «aid J . T o f f l*
E jq o lra, »1 bo (tro lle d p u t
th e aboda ot ttw o&aniit&jf
H l u M otusm rob ooa lorratjr
m uddy
day
|«urt
U tm k ,
“ itic rt lb * i i Now** U u
tij&o Ur m a ift a a
Un*
prtltj( 8mu
thing
) T h i i 1«
p f e t B , E ha«
Figure 8.]0
X A nd m h t d id , b a t n o t
th e »ort h a n o U d , f o r *
b o n e p a t hi« fo o t In a n u u r a a llj de*p p o d d Je, a n d
MDt np a “ m a d i p o a k ”
A nd tb e v a n ! ot It n i b*
a w th e fab* one e o j o j l a c
ih« fun th ro u g h th e v ia *
dor |
»Through the seaside window*
(from CC 54
Figure 8.1]
»Hirsute adornments extraordinary'
(from CC 54, p.], 2893)
212
, p.S, 1391)
4
COMIC CUTS.
B E H IN D
AN
OPTICAL
AND
BEF O R E.
ERROR.
*
\
11) li yoo think Uie*e men bi« irieod« —
Figure 0.18
’An optica] error'
(I) Yoo (liink Miuliìngtoo liuto extraordinary (9) But lit litin't, after til. Iti* only the
snarly moatUche, don't you ?
pat lem of the ehdr
'Behind and Before'
I (from CC 55. p.4, 1891)
WHO THEY THOUGHT THEY WOULD HARRY, AND THE SPECIMENS THEY GOT.
U lU « Lord Bnoolte* Lid j a i t come loto 100.000/., and till only trouble w u « b e «hoald bo L*dy Snoolcw. Th«rw -wm KuIb J u » la Smith, Ih* SqTiirt'i danght«- *. Lotti* M cK ay, o! tin
C a ie ty ' { Wdlle. M arie, ihe p e tilt Pjaoch widow ; oc l h a i aw foily joUy pirl. Coo ni* J o n * , th e eh*rapion Uinnii p it j a r . H e lored them *11 to ta lly . Which *faroid i t b f ! BtiMgo to **y,
li e y *11 wraaed him, and ha w u «TentuaUjr cLunwd by h ù lo r a lj co min, ih* Hoo. Mi— Bmk», C hairm an ol \Y w m ' i Right* Com mi I lee, <bo,
Figure 8.]3
’Who they thought they would marry, and the
specimens they got1
(from CC 18, p.8, 1890)
815
THE “ PATENT SAFBT?” BURGLAR
EJECTOR.
(1)
Irnoui: " I iMkN tbla ' crib1h
ftboal lb« aafteat IU m IS #
IhmS U b m * n y ■ U j . "
(D
« o d c u ilB »0 JirjfTUi# 1*
Figure 8.14
»The ’’Patent Safety" Burglar Ejector'
(from .CC 53, p.l , 1891 'i
214
S OME
N*. 1.—Be« to a j n T N m li «•
ifei'-tkantal» W
l o k t i i tkfl
tew v .
™
S i - “!??**, *?■"*' *** ?*K jf*
»o jog thi«?
PUZZLES
OF
Pujurie A*o. 2 —Ue* u j c m am U M U
••»Mb to oeeopj • — »hi— lor M kww,
u d k««p « craw*
L l Wki. *?_!*• W*b'“ *'
■•ckwutoit viiknck.jnkl
THE
SEASI DE.
P*m U . V l - H w to tok plaawii
«Wa y«a i n «UifW to jt*p Ml u 4
k u l ip Ik* batV
J N o b A'o. l - H f l * to f*4 rii W i
mAm tad«
Ik« tbov« dreuriM M t
f t — * * « . J.-W k. w . lfcp.ofl.w k»
■ h á i^ im iú a U k ilW iim l
/ W < W. l- W 1 ,7 i i i l l i . l ) » K u ™ S t
.™1 « ^
^euseiD I'Mm Piofimoi jn n i “iB im " 0d«7aj~tl Laitkv, at ]Mfu q BiwLia.
■*L
Figure 8.3 5
*
*Pome puzzles of the seaside*
(from CC 16 , p. 8, 1890'S
A QUIET DRIVE BY TH E SEA
A Brighton bath-chairman’s idea of a suitable route (or an invalid lady
Figure 8.16
»A quiet drive by the sea *
(from *Mr. Punch at the Seaside» (no date)
reproduced in J.K. Walton (1933),
The English Seaside Resort, p.204)
21 5
k*
fcw ,«i M i¿. prwtío» »
G*1’7™***Mwr
^
I h ib Copy of “ ALLY SLOPER" carries with it the advantages of a R ailw ay A ccident Life FOllCy lor ¿>100,
i
C O N D UC TED
V o l. V I . - N o . 2 6 9 .]
BY
G IL B E R T
SATURDAY, JU N E
’O O F
GATHERERS
D A L Z 1E L .
2 2 ,1 8 8 9 .
AT
[ONE PENNY,
MARGATE.
" Often, when I have been down with Bob at Margate, I have been amused at those boys who ting that mournful itra in , 1 Oh, chuck u* a ’a'penny in the
water !* by the side o f the J e tty ; but I never dreamt that my revered Parent would ever stoop to low a* to jo in th e ir rank«. Mamma w rite * to ta y th a t the
caught Poor Papa and a lt the children in the tea the other momijig ’ oof gathering, whatever th a t may mean, and that they returned Aonw dripping, w ith not
more than the price o f a p in t o f w inklet among them. Sometimes, I think, it would be better \ f I had no Pa.” — T o c m ic .
ANOTHER
POLICE
OUTRAGE. —(A Fact.)
RACECOURSE ROBBER8.
1* l& il B * ato n N k h o la o a , oiherw la« “ L ord C h ie f B oron
S ic h o lio p ," h it upon th e i d » of r U itiD g th e p rioeip»! race
m eeting* w ith a rxirt*hm eD t b oolh, m d a t E paotn m o o u n c e d :—
• G m . n o c a i n x . 1«», K u i i u o t H a k , am d la m b C i o n v i r a
Ob i i « F m *.
* m ■ H I t tk* OoQW m B U i f v u r pc M u w C oo t ot tha o a W tn t« !
J v ' t t and J a n i ^ o o r .
• to m o C b ib * »*»o w M c a o ta o » latttaafck W « m u> a a-taJ ot k it
U u a i M>T«jU«. U D M lr. OrUUnf u t f l i w i r « J co a u t M M r i a
1 od tm U n 1» ik« iA fX tt <4« to n o A UiH r « U w n w*h »
ft-yk . in » » u h S a U M d » •««*•> T w t r KIH. t o t U r d Nkkotorrt
to Ik« a n t
* r» r w i
j w e u i i j « o p iu M M » !
I
fw U u m B K f 90 Ipa^C V » « * .
L Sftj w n ■ fliintfcaM it. aad altboojb a ih t r
toOarr cm Ifc* pto*. dourmlaM, «lib ÜX kid at »
p m a b o ia to r to m t* tk i iB M n ' took.
| r H<
Iwa « • »aa » w k ilj u M r f C N iukW Bofflna,
“ -■*-------J ‘ -~ ‘ ffa e lb« qaeiUoe,
ih .
e f ll «
L Thk, ot ooana, laJ M t i , u d b « n «« ta p e i
Ba^gUa
■ M e « ad t u tag* o f tk ao ppe rto nitj
o t n d t* him, tad w txettn# bcr
to Lh< lU O oo.
Figure 8.3 7
1 *0of gatherers at Margate*
(from ASHH. Vo]. VI, No.269., 3839)
23 6
W ith ihl* b o o th , w hich » v i » «ff p o p u la r fo r a » b ile .
N icholaoo m ade a good deal of m o a t/ .a o d e * e a a t a ttu a llra c *
m r e l i e f (R o m fo rd ) he oo c a to o k oo lh a Aral d a* upw arda
of 17X>, " h ic k , how ever, aa «111 be m «d, bo h a d aome
u n u b l« to k e e p ta f tl? .
T ha L ondon pol-ce to o k tb e lr « a j hack to to » B w beo
th e Aral d ay'a r a o o j «a« at a a en d . aod th e b ooth-ke*(«r*
therefore, fo o a d th r m M U n . « ith c o a iid e ra b le a a r a tia r e a .
al th e aM /cr Of th e b la ^ k io a r d lr acuai a a d ra b b le th a t
l uiuelly ta k a poaaeaaioa of th a courae a t a ig b tfk ll—lay-ool
I tcuta, aadgcra a o d tn u a p a —ra a d r fo r a a ? m iachlef. T h e
a«»* o f th a good buaiotaa N k k o la c o had d o a a « a a b u iio d
I aro a o d , th a tu rn ta k e s , of o o o m , g ra a tly e x ag g erated , a » d
Figure 3.18
»After the Regatta
»fron> CC_ 23, p.4,
]89 0)
M r . O x fo r d {it fcofiiin^ rfilAwjmwrfl ■ “ M ather, this is Mr. Kortney, th e jtrofetaian&l
o&nttnAU. H e ■ ju if, won th e ihree*mi)e
M rs . O x f o r d .- " Did he win any money t"
.
M r . OXFORD : “ W h y . yea ; A hundred pou n d * .'
Mbs* O x f o j l b t “ W hy d o c u 't h e lake w iu e of It And bny some clothes r
Figure 8.3 9
»Blouses and B3ooirers. A case of General Utility»
(from CC 259, p.l, 1395)
BLOUSf AND BL00MEC8.-A CASE OF
' «jrtiAijmLrn.
-M ;
1
Figure S.20
»The spinning wheel»
(from
& fih® j u r t t a r n s i t upfrido d aw n v fico
k b d p t to ayok?, i s d I t r ry tk s * a£4en4ld p e lf ‘.-I*
o rW c y e lin y U oom era.
*w
'*£\
*/»MB
217
137 j o.4 ,
3 396)
K E E PIN G
UP
W ITH
THE
PROCESSION.
Figure
8.21
»Keeping up w i t h t h e
procession * and
*Profitab]e
P.th] etics »
(from IÇ 4?, p.5, 309]}
0'Fl>nioas : “ Faith, V what are yea doin’ tbot for, Murphy ?"
M l’r f h y : 11 W hiat, w ill y e? So th a t th e neighbooia will f i n k th a t Biddy
and Ibe p ir-r-la h e r gone to the lay ih o re for tb e sayaoa^., J t ' i fashionable, it ia,
old oion."
O U ) H ou~lhlaji ; •*A n d i l 'i an a th letic d a b j n r o a /th a r
w antiri’ to join, u it f
Y o c h o H o d l t b a h : MY is, io r ; lor company a n d exeiciaa."
O l d H o f l i h a j t : “ C om paay and exe/rifcts in d ad e I J ia t
lak e one of me th p ara bod* on y m e ih o tild e r to-m orrow m a ra to 1,
a n ' O ttl bring y ea lo a jo b where yes'll find plioty aT b o th ,“
p ly '
Figure 8.22
GOT
A
B IT E .
»Real portrait of the editor
of "Comic Cuts" at last»
(from ÇÇ 16; p.8, 39901
REAL
PO RTRAIT OF T H E
' ■COMIC C U T S ” A T
EDITOR
LAST.
OF
IKTINTOB {at ioindoe) : " P i t j t o i « l t û lellffV lik*
w itu s o o jp e tiie .”
Figure 8.23
»Got a bite*
(frorr
He m a healthy yooog man when he atarted tbe paper, bnt
thiae moatha' work haa reduced him to a confirmed Invalid.
218
IÇ.
1
0, p.4,
219
h a s b e e n d e c id e d
a d v e r tis e m e n ts ,
to
jo k e s
e l a b o r a t e d b e lo w .
ite m s ,
d e s p it e
g ro u p
th e
c a rto o n s
a nd fu n n y
s to ry
Because o f t h e i r
th e ir
and n o n - s e r ia lis e d
c o m p e titio n
f i c t i o n a l n a r r a tiv e s
a n c h o r in g ,
w i l l be d e a lt w it h
s e p a r a te ly
in
sequences,
fo r
re a s o n s
fo rm a l d if fe r e n c e
comm on e d i t o r i a l
fic tio n
and p ic t o r i a l
th e
to
th e s e
s e r ia lis e d
to g e th e r w ith
non-
C h a p t e r N in e .
'ONE HUNDRED LAUGHS FOR ONE HALFPENNY'
To b e g i n w i t h
c o m ic s .
its
we w i l l
th e
p ic t o r ia l
F ro m p a g e 1 o f C o m ic C u ts
s c a tte re d ,
s its
lo o k a t
d is o r d e r e d
o v e r an a rra y
th e v a r io u s
lo o k .
gags,
8 .1 )
th e
and p e r p e n d ic u la r s
w ith
no l o g i c a l
in
we a r e
T he s y m m e tr y o f
o f p a r a lle ls
p ic to r ia l
( F ig u r e
e le m e n t s
th e
s tru c k by
m a s th e a d
fe n c in g
d ir e c tio n
to
o ff
th e
r e a d in g .
To a d d t o
th e
a s y m m e tr y ,
a c c o m p lis h m e n t a n d t h e
Those c a rto o n s w it h
th e
s tr u g g le
b y s in g le
q u a lit y
fo r
a p r e d o m in a n c e
r e a lly
fo r
fa re
o f s h a d in g
th e
in
th e
in
to
th e
d e v e lo p m e n t o f
m o st o u ts ta n d in g
v i s u a l d is o r d e r
a n d th e
th e
th e
s ty lis tic
fe a tu re
a re
d if fic u ltie s
own,
poor
p a g e m a ke s
im p o s s ib le .
lo o k a t th e
on t h e ir
b e s t in
a n y d e g re e
T h e c o n s e q u e n t im b a la n c e
su ch as th e y a re ,
p ic t u r e s
s o lid s
m e rg e w i t h
t h a t th e jo k e s ,
th e s e
th o s e w i t h
e x tr e m e ly u n e v e n .
to
s ta g e
th e
a re
te n d
w o r th w h ile
a rtw o rk ,
o f a r tis tic
o f b la c k e d
o r c r o s s - h a tc h in g
h o r iz o n t a l o r v e r t i c a l r e a d in g
A t th is
d e g re e
o f te c h n iq u e
a t t e n t io n w h ile
s tro k e s
p a p e r.
ra n g e
th e
c o m ic s
a s p e c ts
of
th e s e
p r im a r ily
it
is
not
o f th e
c a rto o n s
v e r b a l.
is
A m id t h e
o f m a k in g m uch s e n s e o f
c a p tio n s
p r o v id e
th e
o rd e r.
In
220
m any c a s e s
te a s in g
re a d e r
th e y
a d d re s s
q u e s tio n ,
in
ite m s .
and t h is
is
at
th is
s h a ll be p r im a r ily
T h e re
a re
c o n tin u itie s
to
th is .
a re
b e tw e e n t h e
( F ig u r e
m ig h t b e d eem ed p r o t o t y p e s
r e g u la r
th e
d e v e lo p
s tru c tu re s
in
of
th e
th e
th e
8 .4
o f th e
( F ig u r e
and 8 .5 ) ,
n o r m a lly
( F ig u r e
a lo n e
o th e r
can be
ty p e s
in
th e
SEE I T ' ,
( F ig u r e
8 .4 ),
'A
T IE
8 .8 ).
8 .1 ),
THAT
T h o u g h th e s e
s tr ip ,
th e
absence
c h a r a c t e r s , m akes
a nd th e
show n to
o f c a rto o n
'T H E
'T H E RUNAWAY BARREL'
m o d e rn c o m ic
ty p e s , l e t
'9 0 s
t h a t we
s e q u e n c e s w h ic h
'BROWN D ID N 'T
a m in o r t e n d e n c y am ong t h e v i s u a l e le m e n t s ,
t h a t d id
th e
d if fe r e n t
th e n ,
'AD DING IN S U LT TO IN J U R Y '
'A RUDE AWAKENING'
o f r e c o g n is a b le ,
o f d r a w in g
These a re
'TOO IN Q U IS IT V E '
UPSET TWO FOND LOVERS'
and
a r h e to r ic a l o r
t h e s e v i s u a l e le m e n t s .
E x a m p le s o f t h i s
LAYING THE G H O S TS ',
8 .5 )
f u n c t io n s
v i o l e n t and v is u a l jo k e s ,
IN D IAR U BBER B A LL G A M E ',
( F ig u r e
w ith
l e v e l o f v e r b a l a n c h o r in g ,
e x c e p tio n s
fra m e .
th e
c o n s id e r in g
c lim a c tic ,
u lt im a t e
re a d e r d ir e c t ly
has
and e s t a b lis h in g
It
in v o lv e
th e
have
c o m ic
th e m
s tr ip s
d ra w n m o re f r o m
and sequence w ith
t h e i r v e r b a l a n c h o r in g .
Am ong t h e s e
fa s c in a tio n
d re s s
w ith
th e
as a k e y to
d e c e p tio n
W ith in
te n d e n c ie s
F ir s tly ,
in
r a is in g
s o c ia l
te r m s
o f s e lf - g r o o m in g
a
and
s ta n d in g ;
and a fa s c in a tio n
id e n t if y in g
s e v e ra l d if fe r e n t
w ith
as p u n ste r
th e s e
th in g s .
c o r p o r e a l, in
te n d e n c ie s :
and s e lf - d e lu s io n .
The e d it o r
m o s tly
c a r t o o n s we c a n d e t e c t tw o b a s i c
puns:
th e re
we a r e
is
a d e g re e
'TWO TOGETHER',
'N EAR LY A C A L A M IT Y '
s c o re s
at
'A
th e
o f w o rd p la y
T A IL OF WOE'
expense
o f th e
in
th e
( F ig u r e
c a rto o n s ,
8 .1 ).
C o ckn e y d ro p p e d
221
’h'
( F ig u r e
JO K E,
8 .4 ),
T H IS )
as does
( F ig u r e
8 .7 )
does
la r g e ly
e d ito r
w o rd s
T he p u n s
th e
c u rre n t
in
is
w ith
th e
a t th e
d ir e c t io n
to w a r d s
ty p e s .
'g r e a s e '.
th e
supposed to
k n o w le d g e
be.
T h is
is
c r it ic
o f h u m a n i t y 's
le v e l
o f th e
m a n ip u la tio n
is
in
th a n
tw o
th e
r ic h n e s s
w ith
re a d e r to
o f w o rd s
but
a
its
a
c r it ic is m
w h ic h
m o re
th e
in d ic a te s
s e r io u s
v e r b a l p u n n in g ,
of
C ockney gags
fa ilin g s ,
th e
e x te n d e d b y t h e
th e
c o n tin u o u s
o f e le v a t in g
ra th e r
of
a n d th e
as
e d it o r ia l p re s e n c e ,
tra d e
b e tw e e n
ig n o r a n t,
T he d u p l i c i t y
th e s e
a s o r t o f s h a re d jo k e
th e
as
F ig u r e
a s m e re
in
fu n - p o k in g
be
'd is h '
(b o th
M ost o f
p ic t u r e s
to
a c tin g
h u m o u ro u s w e e k l i e s ,
o p e r a tio n
th e
gag,
w o rd
'ARMLESS
d o u b le m e a n in g o f
'S L IP P E D H IS MEMORY'
a d e lig h t
p r iv e le g e d p o s it io n
s o c ia l
th e
expense o f
r e v e a l w ho t h a t
o f th e
c o n s titu te
and re a d e r,
at
a p p e a rs
w h ile
w ith
on th e v e r b a l
a d ju n c t.
'V ER Y BADLY WORDED'
expense
a lik e ,
lik e w is e
(A
8 .5 ).
m a k in g a p u n a t t h e
h o ld e r and fo o d
'H E WOODEN(T) LET GO.
of
e s ta b lis h e s
c o m p le x
c o m b in a t i o n o f v i s u a l a n d v e r b a l g a g s .
'QUERY, WHY?1
'NOT A F I T '
and dandy,
( F ig u r e
s tr id in g
second p ic t u r e ,
fin a lly ,
lo o k s
on.
he
he re s ts
L ik e
w h ic h
ta k e
is
a lo n g
is
in
in
tie d
th e
a id
e s ta b lis h e s
r e la te d
d e p ic t s
in
to
of
'm a s h e r ',
w ild ,
a rm s o f a h e l p f u l
th e
pun.
th e
th e
a s p ir a n t ra k e
a f f e c t e d m a n n e r;
k n o ts w it h
b u lg in g
'b o b b y '
in
th e
eyes;
and
as a d o c to r
s e q u e n c e m akes p r a c t i c a l l y
a c c o m p a n y in g c a p t i o n s ,
a s ta n d a rd
th e
a
a posed,
o t h e r e x a m p le s ,
se nse w ith o u t th e
th e y
8 .1 )
te c h n iq u e
" W h a t 's
th e
in
a nd th e
fo rm
such sequences,
m a tte r w ith
th is
no
222
masher
asks the first caption in a rhetorical way.
fig u r e
is
o f th e
h e ig h t o f fa s h io n
c o lla r ,
w e ll- e x e c u te d ,
a n d w id e
tr o u s e r s ,
sm oke,
e a r)
s p a ts
c u ffs
to
B u t th e
th e h ig h
c o lla r
a n d lim p
o f th e
th o u g h t th e
c ra v a t,
ta ils ,
checked
c ig a r e tte
( '. . .
f it
b e n e a th
a d e r iv a tio n
fa ls e
o f th e
c u r v in g
nose
th e
th e
th e
is
and a ffe c te d
te c h n iq u e s
as
la r g e
and sends
a re d -n o s e d ,
r ig h t ,
e d ito r
of
u lt im a t e ly
f i n a l p ic t u r e .
a ll
h ig h
and
c ig a r e tte
le a v e s
ta il
a n d c h in ,
o f s a r to r ia l
w h ic h
He l o o k s
b o b b y ! 1) e s t a b l i s h e s
o f tru th
( lo n g
s w a llo w s
w re c k f o r
c a p tio n
w ith
h e ig h t o f fa s h io n
a s e e m in g ly e p i l e p t i c
r h e to r ic
m o n o c le ,
in d ic a to r s
fr iz z le - h a ir e d
T he
d o e s n 't he?
th e
a u th o r ita tiv e
a p p e a ra n c e
e v id e n t i n
So
and d re s s .
ASH H , b u t t h e r e
im p o r ta n t d if f e r e n c e s .
The m a sh e r i s
s p e c ific
c la s s
p r e s e n t e d n o t so m u ch a s a s o c i a l
o r ig in s ,
c o r p o r e a l a p p e a ra n c e
escapades.
b u t as a ty p e
and d re s s ,
le s s
u n iv e r s a l a c c e s s ib ilit y
am ong t h e
s p e c ific
of
( h is
o f s e x u a lity .
B u t h e w as
sequence
is
and codes
th e
s u it )
to
c o n c e rn e d w it h
o f d re s s
as
th e
in d e x e s
anyone
n o tio n
to
th e
th a n w it h
e q u a lly
w h ic h
of
th e
s ig n a lle d
A s s u c h h e w as u n a t t a c h e d
and a s ta tu s
of
b y s ta n d a rd
m asher in
a r r iv a l
30 s h i l l i n g
s o c ia l s e c to r
c o d ific a t io n
d re s s
th e
u p p e r c la s s e s .
T h is
o u t,
ty p e
p u r s u i t o f r o m a n tic
a m uch l o w e r - r u n g e d v e r s i o n
c o n c e rn e d w it h
o v e r t e x p r e s s io n
id e n t if ia b le
and b y h is
A s R o n a ld P e a r s a l l p o i n t s
'9 0 s w as g e n e r a l l y
'd a n d y ',
[3 ].
shoes,
to p p e r,
w a lk as
in to
and
s h ir t,
p a r a p h e r n a lia
( s h in y
s tru tte d
h im
a re
th e
'9 0 s
p r o file
u n d o in g a s
is
th e
c la s s ic
c la s s ic
h is
T h is
th e
th e
b e h a v i o u r a l e le g a n c e .
ju d g e
in
and b la c k
and c a n e ),
a nd th e
w ith
The
to
to
'8 0 s
R egency
th e
an
be fo u n d
any
c o u ld
a s p ir e
o f c o rp o re a l
p e r s o n a lity
ty p in g
223
on a c la s s le s s
does
s o c ia l s ta g e ,
in d ic t p e rs o n a l f a ilu r e
a n d b e h a v io u r .
fr e q u e n tly
The f a c t
T h is
c e le b r a t io n
fa ilu r e
to
m a s te r i t
W h e th e r t h e
lo o k s
u n fo rtu n a te
a re a s
in
by
is
h e re
w h ic h
to
in d ic a te
s ta tu s
p u t d ow n t o
le g itim a te
is
in
In
on p a th e t ic
a s ig n ific a n t
a m eans t o
is
to
o r b e a rd s ,
u n c le a r .
w ith
p h y s io g n o m ic ,
F ig u r e
o v e rc o m e
or
th e
b y a b a d c h o ic e
th e
W hat th e
'd is t in g u is h e d 1
e v e n m o re
fa ilu r e
of
a tte m p t to
r e f i n e m e n t o f a m o re
A n d o n c e a g a in ,
in d iv id u a l
( a ls o
a tte m p ts
fe a tu re s
p e rs o n a l in e p t it u d e .
D e s p ite
[6 ]
to
The co d e
th a n
th e
m a s te r th e
its e lf
is
d e p ic t in g
tru th
gam e.
M a s h in g t o n h a s
m ay o c c a s i o n a l l y b e d r a w n i n t o
fu n - p o k in g
th e
fo rm ,
'A N O P TIC A L ERROR'
th e
m a rk s
'Q UERY, WHY?'
a fa s c in a tio n
and le g itim a tio n
th is
o f such
absence o f a c e n tr a l c h a ra c te r o r a
th e s e
e m e rg e n c e o f a s t a n d a r d
p la y
th e m o s t
m o c k e ry o f
o f m o u s ta c h e s
now a t th e
s im u lta n e o u s
s ta n d a rd n a r r a t iv e
s tru c tu re
It
[5 ].
c o d if ic a t io n .
th e
by fa r
[4 ]
th e
fa c ia l h a ir ,
b y th e
The r e a d e r h im s e lf
e x e r c is e
c o m ic s
o f e x is t e n t
c u lt iv a te
c o rp o re a l le v e l.
is
is
c u lt iv a tio n
p e r s o n a l a p p e a ra n c e ,
code
th e
r e in fo r c e d b y
jo k e
th e
augm ent s o c ia l
fu ll,
in
m asher is
c o m b in e d w i t h
a c c e n tu a tio n
sequence does
c o d e s o f a p p e a ra n c e
th e
o f c o r p o r e a l e m b e llis h m e n t a s
s o c ia l s ta n d in g ,
p la in
to
m a s te r
b y c la s s .
ASHH.
enhance
8 .1 ).
ty p in g
t h a t th e
e n c o u n te re d ty p e
m ove a w a y f r o m
as o p p o se d t o
s e q u e n c e s n e v e r th e le s s
fo r m u la :
and fa ls e
( F ig u r e
8 .1 2 )
T h e k n o w in g c a p t i o n
an e x tr a o r d in a r y
illu s tr a te
a s o rt o f b e fo re /a fte r
a p p e a ra n c e ,
[7 ],
th e
o r v ic e
re a d e r
s m u g ly s t a t e s :
c u r ly
m o u s ta c h e ,
is
v e rs a .
in v ite d
to
'Y o u t h i n k
d o n 't y o u ? '
In
224
th is
case
th e
jo k e
is
t h r e e - d im e n s io n a lity
p a r tic u la r
[8 ]
a re
th e y
th e
by
th e
o f a n a r r a tiv e
's u r v e illa n c e '
o f w hat is
r e g u la r
th e
e d ito r ia l,
on th e
h a p p e n in g
c h a ra c te r
absence
th e re
o f th e
is
fro m
fo r m u la ic
endedness,
is
do w i t h
w ith
th e
e q u a ls ,
n a r r a tiv e
th e s e
e d ito r
o r e x c lu s io n
is
an ego i n f l a t e d
b u t w ith
no
lo g ic a l
in
S uch c a r to o n s
c o d ifie d
fo u n d a tio n
c o n s titu te
is
th e y
e a r ly
th e
h is
In
s e ts
as
illu s tr a te
s ta g e s .
The
e le m e n t o f
ow n u n d e r s t a n d i n g
th e
absence
a d v e n tu re s ,
fig u r e
lik e
c a rto o n s
th a n
a w o r ld
a nd d e s p it e
A lly
S lo p e r ,
a nd a r u n n in g
The o p e n -
in
ASH H , a n d i s
a n d m o re
o f m a le
The t a r g e t
s u p e r fic ia l
of a
in
a ll
s o c ia l
of
th e s e
t r a n s fo r m a t io n ,
r e a l p e rs o n a l a ttr ib u t e s
a p l a y f u l c o m m e n ta ry o n fo r m s
o f pages
u n s ig h tly
'MOUSTACHIOS IN A MONTH'
These a re
[9 ].
a c tu a lly
fo r
8 .2
'r e m o v i n g
of
r e in fo r c e d
and 8 .6 ) .
a ll
p im p le s ,
a n d d is e a s e d c o n d i t i o n s ' .
g u a ra n te e s
th e
a re
2 and 6 ( F ig u r e s
a s k in p r e p a r a tio n
b lo tc h e s ,
'H IR S U T IN E '.
in
A n c h o re d ,
o f s o c ia l ty p e s ,
a n d b e h a v i o u r w h ic h
a d v e r tis e m e n ts
fr e c k le s ,
th ro u g h
in
a m o n th
a p p e a ra n c e
'GOLDEN BALM'
m o u s ta c h e
and r e a d e rs .
fro m
b a s e d on p e r s o n a l a d o rn m e n t.
M o u s t a c h io s
s in c e
q u e s tio n .
a h i e r a r c h i c a l s c a le
a d m is s io n t o
th e s e
m uch m o re f o r m u l a i c
c a rto o n s
b y th e
in
a p p a re n t
S uch p i c t o r i a l
c o m p lic a te s
in
o f th e
v e rb a l pun.
m u lti- la y e r e d
in c lu d in g
to
o f ra n k .
p a rt,
open to
c o m m e n t a r y / d ia lo g u e
le s s
a nd on th e
th e
c a rto o n s
o f a m b ig u it y
h o w e v e r,
a c c e p ta n c e
r h e t o r i c a l d e v ic e s ,
r e a d e r 's
o f a c o m p le x ,
a d e g re e
c a rto o n ,
s tru c tu re
is
in
r e a d e r 's
in d ic a to r
e x te n s io n
o p e n -e n d e d n e s s
absence
o f th e
as a c o lo u r f u l
a fu rth e r
a re ,
o n th e
s e r io u s ,
fa c ia l
g ro w th w it h
u n a m b ig u o u s v e r s i o n s
o f th e
225
p r o m is e s
th e
t h a t a re
c a rto o n s
p a r tly
[1 0 ].
In
'i n v e n t i o n 1 o r new ness
SNAKE'
is
'o n e
an u m b r e lla
a lr e a d y
u n d e r m in e d ,
a d d it io n ,
fa s te n e r,
th e p re s e n c e
a n d c o n s u m p t io n .
fo r
h o w e v e r,
th e
th e
c a r r ie d
th e
c o m m o d itis a tio n
access
in te r c o u r s e
to
fre e
fo r
s e llin g
in d iv id u a lity
fre e
g if t
T h is
is
is
The
in d u s tr y
some d i s t a n c e
th e
fr o m
as a d i r e c t
te c h n iq u e s .
c la im s
'n e w '
a re
And th e
o f p a te n te d p ro d u c ts
in
o p e r a tio n h e re ,
w a rn s :
d e g re e
'A c t io n s
w ith
at
a g a in s t
n o tio n
e v e ry b o t t le ,
of
s ta m p .
p o in t s
th e w ay t o
H o w e v e r,
in d u s t r ia l needs
s u b tle
o f s c e p tic is m
m ust have
to
id e n t it y
And t h is
c o n te m p o ra ry m a n ip u la tio n
n o t m e d ia t e d b y
s e lf -
is ,
a p e rs o n a l
ad.
o ffe r,
c le a r ly
to
'C R YS TAL PALACE (JOHN
a s we k n o w i t .
a d ju n c t to
d e m o c ra c y o f
T h e re
im it a t io n s '.
ru b b e r
fe w
a s tr a ig h t­
c o s t a n d dam ages a w a rd e d ,
e x te n d e d b y t h e
m o d e rn a d v e r t i s i n g
o u tra g e o u s
a
on a c h ie v in g
c o lo u r a b le
o f a d v e r tis in g
an
o f c u lt u r a l p r o d u c tio n
and b e h a v io u r .
o f a p e r s o n a lis e d
k in d
to
d a y ',
c o m p a r a t iv e ly
c o m ic s
o f p s e u d o - in d iv id u a lis in g
in ju n c tio n s ,
o f th e
o f p e rs o n a l b a r r ie r s
GOLD MEDAL MARKIN IN K o r P E N C IL '
w ro n g d o e rs
v a n ity
m a ke s
a b ra n d - n a m e p r o d u c t .
Law g r a n t e d w i t h
th e
ads.
e m p h a s is
of
PATENT UMBRELLA
b ra n d -n a m e d p ro p
ASHH ( w h ic h
g o o d a p p e a ra n c e
e x t e n t t h a t th e
BO N D 'S )
an a ir
in
young a s p ir a n t.
T h e y p r o m is e
a d e g re e
b y p u r c h a s in g
of
o f th e
s o c ia l
im p r o v e m e n t i n
a l l have
'H U T C H IN 'S
an a d d it io n a l,
o f th e s e
r e fle c tio n
u n p r o b le m a tic
ads.
l e a s t q u e s tio n e d
o f th e b e s t and s im p le s t in v e n t io n s
e s s e n tia l p ro p
fo rw a rd
th e
a b o u t th e m .
E v e n m o re so t h a n w i t h
a d s .)
or at
g e n e ra te d
is
as y e t
o f p e rs o n a l
[1 1 ].
Its
p e r s u a s iv e
w h ic h
-
it
th e
th e
th e
p r o life r a tio n
m ir a c le
c u re s
fo r
226
a ll
'ills ',
in c lu d in g
('G O LD E N BALM '
n a iv e
above)
'c o n s u m e r ',
and th e
th e
u n s c r u p u lo u s
't e s t im o n ia ls '
fro m
in e p t ly
in
M r.
( F ig u r e
7 .2 ).
8 .1 4 )
th e
[1 3 ]
th is
th e
d o c to rs
C h ip s
in
th e
n o te d
ads.
m id d l e
o f th e
c la s s
w h ic h
th e
'c o m m o d it y '
how ever
C h a p te r S even
th e
fo r
th e
im p r o v e m e n t
ad.
s lo ts
th e
as d e s c r ib e d b y W illia m s ,
f o r h is
p a p e rs '
s u r v iv a l,
p o p u lis m
and e d i t o r i a l b o a s ts
H o w e v e r,
we c a n s e n s e
c o m m o d it is e d w o r l d
in
o f th e
th e s e
n e w ly
c a rto o n s
a v a ila b le to
o f unease
and m o c k e ry
a t h is
is
d ir e c te d
th e
p a r tly
th e
n a iv e
at
and
consum er h im s e lf,
as
m a s h e r.
w ay to
c a te r in g
s in c e
In
( F ig u r e
c o m m e n ta ry o n t h e
p ro d u c ts
s tra te g y ,
th e b a s is
o f th e
th e
th a t r u le s
m o s t v a lu e d .
th e
T he
hom e.
p r o d u c e r b u t m o re a t
c la s s ,
in
r e g u la r and e x te n s iv e
C h a p te r S e ven ,
as
re p ro d u c e d
o f p a te n te d
The c r i t i c i s m
a r e la te d
in
c a rto o n s .
la m p o o n e d ,
e n o u g h h u m o u ro u s
r e a d e r a n d a c o m b in a t i o n
In
th e
c o m p la in t s
q u e s tio n a b le
in d e e d ,
e p is o d e
[1 4 ].
a c e le b r a tio n
e x e m p lifie d b y
in
in
a d d re s s
u n s c r u p u lo u s
in
and s k in
c o u n te rp a rt to
a re ,
o f H a r m s w o r t h 's
m a n ip u la tio n .
th e
in e v ita b le
s tr in g
r e fle c te d
e d ito r ia l
d u ly
[1 2 ]
p r o d u c e r a rm e d w i t h
o f m a k in g a d v e r t i s i n g
b o th
r e fle c te d
is
case p r o te c t io n )
r e a lis a tio n
is
-
w as a t y p i c a l
We c a n s e e
th is
b lu s h in g
'T H E "PATENT SAFETY" BURGLAR EJECTOR'
s e e m in g ly e n d le s s
( in
b a ld n e s s ,
th e
we c a n r e a d
q u ite
a ll
m ovem ent i n
th e
th e s e
s p e c ific a lly
e v id e n c e
th e
e d ito r ia l
ty p e s
to
th e
s u g g e s ts
o f c a rto o n s
needs
th a t
o f p e r s o n a l g r o o m in g a n d p u b l i c
a v e ry
chances
lo w e r ru n g e d c l e r k s ,
r ig id ly
se e m e d
b u t w hose a p p e a ra n c e s h a d t o
it
as
and
o f th e
lo w e r
w as t o
th is
b e h a v i o u r w e re
h ie r a r c h i c a l w o r ld
o f p r o m o tio n m u s t h a v e
a d d re s s
o f c le r k d o m ,
r e m o te
be k e p t
t o th e
up on a
227
lo w
of
in c o m e ,
it
'h i r s u t e
T h is
is
seem s r e a s o n a b le
a d o rn m e n ts '
c e r ta in ly
th e
K ip p s
d e s c r ib e s
a p p r e n t ic e s h ip
d re s s
t h a t th e
c u lt iv a tio n
case
th e
odds.
as e la b o r a t e d b y one o f th e
o f th e
'l o w e r m id d l e
c la s s ',
H .G .
W e lls ,
[1 5 ].
W e lls
o f e n try
suppose
w as s e e n a s a m eans o f e v e n in g
q u in t e s s e n t ia l n o v e lis t s
in
to
to
y o u n g K ip p s '
o f p u b lic
th e
w o r ld
d is p la y
in itia tio n
th e s e
th e
and fo rm a l f l i r t a t i o n
o f e q u a lis e d
and d e p o rtm e n t i n
to
s o c ia l
s ta tu s
in
a s a m ea ns
fa s h io n a b le
te rm s :
'T h e r e i s a q u i t e p e r c e p t i b l e d o w n u p o n h i s u p p e r l i p ,
a n d h i s c o s tu m e i s j u s t a s tr e m e n d o u s a "m a s h " a s l i e s
w i t h i n h is m eans.
H is c o l l a r i s s o h i g h t h a t i t s c a r s
h i s i n a g g r e s s i v e ja w b o n e , a n d h i s h a t h a s a c u r l y b r i m ,
h i s t i e sh o w s t a s t e , h i s t r o u s e r s a r e m o d e s t l y
b r i l l i a n t , and h is b o o ts h a v e l i g h t c lo t h u p p e rs and
b u t t o n a t th e s id e .
He j a b s a t t h e g r a v e l b e f o r e h im
w i t h a c h e a p c a n e , a n d g la n c e s s id e w a y s a t F l o B a t e s ,
th e y o u n g la d y fro m th e c a s h d e s k .
She i s w e a r i n g a
b r i l l i a n t b lo u s e a n d a g a i l y tr im m e d h a t .
T h e re is an
a i r o f f a s h i o n a b o u t h e r t h a t m ig h t d is a p p e a r u n d e r t h e
a n a l y s i s o f a woman o f t h e w o r l d , b u t w h ic h i s q u i t e
s u f f i c i e n t t o m ake K ip p s v e r y p r o u d t o b e d i s t i n g u i s h e d
a s h e r p a r t i c u l a r " f e l l e r " , a n d t o b e a ll o w e d a t
t e m p e r a t e i n t e r v a l s t o u s e h e r C h r i s t i a n n a m e '. [ 1 6 ]
N or is
K ip p s
a b o v e p u n - m a k in g :
'" Y o u a r e a o n e f o r b e i n g r o u n d a b o u t " ,
" W e l l , y o u ' r e n o t so p l a i n y o u k n o w " .
[•••]
" Y o u 'r e n o t a b i t p l a i n - y o u ' r e " ( h i s
to a sque ak) " p r e t t y .
See?" [1 7 ].
We c a n s e e
in
im p r e s s io n
am ong t h e
d r a p e r 's
th e
e m p h a s is
a s s is t a n t)
w as a f f o r d a b l e
on fa s h io n
' l o w e r m id d l e
of a
th ro u g h
'n e w '
o n e 's
e ra
v o ic e
t h a t W e lls
c la s s '
in
says
in
w h ic h
th e
th e
la d y .
ju m p s u p
is
r e c r e a tin g
'9 0 s
( K ip p s
is
some r e s p e c t a b i l i t y
m ode o f s e l f - p r e s e n t a t i o n .
T he
an
a
i
228
a tte m p te d c le v e r n e s s w i t h
o f G is s in g 's
m o r s e ls
fr o m
' q u a rte r-e d u c a te d '
th e ir
th a t
is
W e lls '
'g e n t le m a n ly '
T h is
a c c o r d in g
th is
and th e
to
th e
th e
ir o n ic a lly
in
h is
m o re
th e
songs,
o v e r t s e x u a lity
once
v u lg a r
e x c lu s iv e
a s s e r tio n
th e
w o r k in g
th e
c la s s
's w e ll')
u p p e r c la s s e s
c r it ic s .
d e g re e
c lim b e r a re
fig u r e
is
w as o n e a s p e c t o f
as a r t i c u la t e d
B u t h e w as q u i t e
o f th is
a ttr ib u t e s .
r u le s
o f re a l
of
e le v a t io n
c o n s tru c te d
re a d e r.
And t h is
We c a n d e m o n s t r a t e
For
if,
as
c la s s le s s
s o c ia l
th a t d e fin it io n
v a r ia n t.
o f th e
As r e f le c t e d
a n d w as w o n t t o
p r iv ile g e d
e q u a lity
th e
th e
w o r k in g
th re a t o f
b y A r n o ld
a lie n
The p o i n t
c o d ifie d
in
to
th e
w ith
in v a d e
a
o f comm on d r e s s
m a n n e re d r e s p e c t a b i l i t y
( a lo n g s id e
of
o f C o m ic C u t s ,
'm a s h e r ' .
e v id e n t h e r e ,
new s y m b o li c
to
s o rt
w as c h a r a c t e r i s e d b y a f a r
W e s t End h a u n t s
o f th e
to
w as a s o r t o f new ,
v a r ie ty
th e
s ta tu s
a m y th .
of a
th e
a n d m a le w o r l d ,
b o u r g e o is '
w o r k in g - c la s s
th a n
'm a s h e r '
c la s s '
o f c o d ifie d
is
th ro u g h
o th e r p a p e rs .
b y s e x u a l o r ie n ta tio n ,
th is
w it h o u t a n y a d h e re n c e
p r e c is e ly
g u id e
th e
'p e t t y
'm a s h e r '
d e fin it io n
m u s ic - h a ll
at
d é m o c r a t is a tio n
encom passed a d i s t i n c t l y
th e
n o tio n
a p ic t u r e
' in fo r m a tio n '
supposed s ta tu s
s c e p tic is m
n e e d s o f th e
th e
of
e d i t o r i a l jo k in e s s
to n g u e - in - c h e e k
th ro u g h
r e in fo r c e
lite r a c y
a n d th e
a s p ir a n t s o c ia l
o f s y m b o li c
P e a r s a ll a rg u e s ,
ty p e
th e
b e h a v io u r a n d i t s
can a f fo r d
n o tio n
to
w h ic h p e r v a d e d t h e
r e in fo r c e m e n t o f th e
p r e s e n ta tio n
it
b o th
s lig h tly
is
' l o w e r m id d l e
te n s io n s
e v id e n t i n
T h is
C o m ic - C u ts
a d e c id e d ly
in e v ita b le
a re
and in
fe ig n in g
n ew r e a d i n g m a t t e r .
it
and th e
c la s s
te n d s
o f m a n u fa c tu re d h u m o u r a n d fr a g m e n ts
p u n - m a k in g e v i d e n t i n
is
w o r d - p la y
[1 8 ].
c la s s
T he
v e r s io n
'd e m o c r a c y '
and o th e r
c u lt u r a l
s o r t o f p o s itiv e
to
of
th e
229
d e m o c r a t ic w o r l d
d e s ig n s
a re
c h a n n e ll e d
r e s t r a in e d ,
w o r k in g
as e la b o r a t e d
f e m a le
s e x u a l m a tte rs
th e
is
b o ls te r
w ith
B u t th is
to
is
m is s in g
g e t a p ic t u r e ,
th e
in
th e n ,
p e tty
p a ra m e te rs
th e
ego.
th is
T h is
to
th is
its
th e
b o u r g e o is
fu n c t io n
p u ts
th e
in
I f
in a b ility
it
is
to
o n a c o n t in u u m
fu n c t io n in g
th e
c le a r w h a t e x a c tly
c o d e w h ic h
'v u l g a r '
to
of
c a p tio n s
And as w it h
or
is
th e
w h a t e x a c tly
a re v i r t u a l l y
is s u e
c a rto o n s
th e s e
a b s e n t.
e la b o r a te d b y
th e
e x a m in a t i o n
o f C o m ic C u t s .
e n g a g e m e n ts
m o s t comm on b a c k d r o p
th e
c le a r as
fu rth e r
th is
'THOSE H O LID AY ENGAGEMENTS'
e s p e c ia lly
it
th e y
can be
c a rto o n s
T hose h o lid a y
is
th e s e
e d ito r ia l
n e v e r q u ite
in
H a r m s w o r th c o m ic s .
a n d ASHH, b u t t h e i r
is
th e
c o n s tr u c t io n
c o m ic s
ta k e n -fo r-g ra n te d
because
T h e s e a r g u m e n ts
o th e r
and a re
g r o o m in g .
th e
e s c h e w in g o f t h e
B u t n e ith e r
encom passed,
sexual
L ik e w is e ,
le v e l o f in d iv id u a l
a d d re s s , i t
d e fin e d b y
'o f f e n s iv e '.
o f th e
at
and in
r e a d e r 's
e d ito r ia l
w h ic h
th ro u g h
r e s p e c t h a s n a rro w e d d r a m a t ic a lly .
n e g a tiv e ly
te r m s
o n ly
o l d e r h u m o u ro u s w e e k l i e s
a n c h o r in g
th e
is
m ost o f i t ,
th e
th is
it
in
s tre tc h e d .
d e m o c ra c y o f s e lf - a g g r a n d is e m e n t th r o u g h
m ake t h e
a re
it
o f a d e c i d e d l y m a le ,
q u e s tio n e d ,
in
c o m ic s ,
e q u i v a l e n t w as b y n o m eans r e t i c e n t
[1 9 ].
We c a n b e g i n
th e
a common s e n s e o f p r o p r i e t y
no m a tte r how f a r
c la s s
and a d s .,
in to
in
in
s e a s id e
( F ig u r e
8 .4 )
t h e H a r m s w o r th
re s o rt.
ta n d e m w i t h
'T H E LATEST S E L L '
c o n s titu te s
a lo c a tio n
in
T h is
( a ls o
w h ic h
th e
in tro d u c e s
c o m ic s :
c a rto o n
F ig u r e
th e
p e rh a p s
th e
h o lid a y ,
and
s h o u ld b e r e a d
8 .4 ).
p a r tic ip a n ts ,
in
T h e s e a s id e
fa r
re m o v e d
230
fro m
th e
th e ir
te n s io n s
o f u rb a n l i v i n g ,
comm on m ode o f d r e s s .
b o a te r h a ts ,
s tr ip e d
women a n d g i r l s
b rim m e d h a t s .
beach,
c liff- w a lk
p e r fe c t venue
a s s e r tio n
and p la in
fr illy
T he s e a s id e
th e
fu rth e r
d re s s e s
r id e .
o f b e h a v io u r ,
th e
e s p e c ia lly
It
in d u l g e n c e
o f p o p u lis t a p p e a l on th e
LATEST S E L L ') a n d f o r
w h ite
s u it s ,
m en s t r a w
fla n n e l
tro u s e rs ;
o f p ro m e n a d e ,
th e re fo re
p ie r ,
p r o v id e s
o f s e lf - p u b lic ity
p a r t o f M r.
r e in f o r c e m e n t o f th e
in
b e e q u a lis e d b y
and flo w e r y b ro a d -
r e s o r t c o n s is ts
and o p e n -c a b
fo r
seen to
B oys w e a r s a i l o r
b la z e r
w e a r w h ite
can be
r o m a n tic m a tte r s
as an
C o m ic C u ts
n o tio n
a
( 'T H E
o f a code
('T H O S E H O LID AY
ENGAGEMENTS' ) .
T h e s e e m in g ly n e u t r a l v e n u e
th e
r e v ie w
a c c e s s ib le
w h e re r o m a n t i c
e n g a g e m e n t,
th e
p o in t
th o u g h
a n c h o r,
escape
s p e c ia l
th e
to
th e
( F ig u r e
b u t w o r ld - w e a r y
in
it? '
th e
is
8 .1 5 ),
m assage
e x a lte d
a ls o
th e
p o in t
p r o v id e s
as a
of
e n g a g e m e n ts '
eye.
d e m o c r a t is in g
o f th is
th e ir
avenue
a d o r n m e n ts
is
s ta tu s
as
e m p a th e tic
of
of
'SOME PUZZLES
o f illu s tr a te d
r e a d e r 's
T he
e d ito r ia l
as an a f f o r d a b le
e s ta b lis h e s
tra p
h o lid a y
q u e s tio n in g
a s e r ie s
th e
s e a s id e h o l i d a y
T h e s e a s id e
th e
th ro u g h
in to d u c tio n
th e
th is
A g o o d e x a m p le
tr a v e lle r
v o lu n t a r y v i c t i m s to
d is p la y
even w ith
in
a n d m u t u a l e n jo y m e n t ,
s c e p tic a l e d it o r ia l
th a t
to
c e le b r a te d
th e
sm ug,
't h o s e
o b s e rv e d
to
o u tf it s .
c a lc u la te d
to
as
re fe re n c e
re a d e r and o ffe r s
s e a s id e
'H o w /w h y i s
can be p u rs u e d
s e a s id e h o l i d a y
OF THE S E A S ID E '
q u e r ie s
th e
r e v e a ls
h o w e v e r,
is
m eans o f r e l a x a t i o n
escapades
c a p tio n
is ,
s e a s id e ,
o f ASHH, a n d a s e v i d e n t h e r e ,
u n iv e r s a lly
in
o f th e
e d ito r ia l
a seasoned
to n e .
T he
a m u tu a l b o n d o f
o f a s s e r tin g
s ta tu s
th ro u g h p u b lic
[2 0 ],
an o p p o r tu n ity
to
fir e
a n o th e r
231
p o ts h o t a t th e
p r o m is e
in
to
b e d r a g g le d
sh o w s
th e
th e
s u it
fa ls e
(th e
s h ru n k b y h is
ta g
re tu rn
a re ,
is
s ilh o u e tte
b e lo w
s till
in
m a r c h in g
v a r io u s ly
a g u a ra n te e d
a tta c h e d )
w h ic h h a s ,
of
[2 1 ].
c o n tig u o u s
s tru c tu re
But i t
in
s o n w e a rs
th e n ,
c o r p o r e a l and th e
a p p e a ra n c e .
fa m ily
is
an age o f fa ls e
'T H E GOING AND COMING-HOME
and r e tu r n in g
The e ld e r
S uch c a r to o n s
on th e
u n w a ry co n su m e r i n
B lib b e r s
s e a s id e
s ta te s .
'U N S H R IN K A B LE '
c o u rs e ,
o f th e
c o m m o d it is e d p r o d u c t i o n .
OF B L IB B E R S '
p r o u d ly
n a iv e te
w ith
o f th e
lik e w is e
th e
c o n c e n tr a tio n
d u a lity
r e m a r k a b le
of
tru th
and
fo r w hat i t
o m its .
John K.
r e g a r d in g
fa c t
W a lt o n r e i n f o r c e s
th e
e m u la t i v e
th e
im p u ls e s
p o in t
o f th e
I
h a v e b e e n m a k in g
l o w e r m id d l e
c la s s ,
th a t
' t h e c o m p e t i t i o n f o r s t a t u s p u t p r e s s u r e f r o m b e lo w o n
e s ta b lis h e d f a m ilie s to e x p re s s and v a li d a t e t h e i r
p o s i t i o n b y a p p r o p r i a t e p a t t e r n s o f c o n s u m p t io n , w h ic h
i n t u r n w e re c o p ie d b y a s p i r i n g i n f e r i o r s as b e s t th e y
c o u l d ' . [2 2 ]
The r e t r e a t b y
sp as a nd th e
th e re fo re ,
as a r g u e d
r is in g
by
in
th e
u p p e r c la s s e s
s e a s id e
th e
C h a p te r F iv e ,
w ages and f a l l i n g
a nd th e s e
o p p o r tu n ity
w as
fo r
r a c e m e e tin g s ,
th e
in
in c r e a s in g ly
s e a s id e
w e l l h a v e b ro a d e n e d h o r iz o n s
w h ile
to w n s m o re
d is p la y
fo r
th e
The p ro c e s s ,
f a c ilita te d
'm e d i c a l p r o p e r t i e s
p u b lic
th e
tu rn ,
lo w e r o r d e r s .
c o m m o d ity p r i c e s ,
m ade t h e
o ffe r e d b o th
th e
w as f o l l o w e d
p r o g r e s s iv e ly
tra n s p o rt f a c ilit ie s
a n d th e
re s o rts
to
[2 3 ],
by
im p r o v e d
a c c e s s ib le ,
o f s e a w a te r'
W h ile
l o w e r m id d l e
th is
c la s s ,
m ay
it
th e
232
a ls o
e x te n d e d th e
p o s s ib ilitie s
w ho m ay n o t h a v e b e e n a b l e
b u t th e
o c c a s io n a l d a y - t r i p
W a lt o n p l o t s
th e
e v o lu t io n
b a s e d on m u tu a l t o le r a n c e
but
in
th e
tr ip p e r s ,
s e c to rs
of
re s o rts
e x is t e n c e
o f th e
in te r - c la s s
A t th e
e v id e n c e
of
p r o b le m
m adness.
Its
te n s io n s
c la s s
day-
w o rk
th e
m o re
te x tile
to w n s .
th e
- w e re b y
u rb a n c e n t r e s , and th e
e x is t e n c e
w ith
th e
of
th e
its
in
th e
le is u r e d
ASHH ( F i g u r e
ow n a d v e n t u r e s
d is g u is e
MARGATE'
[2 8 ]
te rm
d a n c in g )
w ith
8 .1 7 )
th e
d e a l w ith
sh o w s A l l y
as T o o t s i e
w h a t lo o k s
lik e
a
b o rro w e d
[2 7 ].
lik e w is e
k id s
[2 6 ],
th e b u s t l i n g
one c o r n e r ,
o f S lo p e r h im s e l f .
( F ig u r e
b u c k e t and s in g in g ,
8 .1 6 )
'M id s u m m e r
o f q u ie t'
show s
w ith
no l i t t l e
P unch d e a lt w it h
of
s e a rc h
p ro m e n a d e
S lo p e r h im s e l f i n
is
c o m ic s .
d e fin it io n
s e a s id e
th e
th e re
p u r s u i t o f p le a s u r e ,
u n a n n o u n c e d fro m
fo r
e tc .
in v a d e d
[2 5 ].
d ir e c t ly ,
S lo p e r 's
n o rth e rn
B r ig h to n ,
in
in
fr e q u e n tly
t h a t a num ber o f
th e ir
o f A lly
th e
n o te
1900s,
as o p p o s e d t o
th e
te n s io n s
lo w e r o r d e r s
th e
th e u n s k i l le d
h e ig h t o f th e s e
c a rto o n v e r s io n
th r o u g h
la r g e
of
in
c u lt u r e
lo w e r w o r k in g
[2 4 ]
sea,
s e a f r o n t c o u ld n o t c o m p le t e ly m ask t h e i r
- G o in g t o
d e p ic t io n
a ls o
- B la c k p o o l,
'9 0 s b e c o m in g q u i t e
th e
fro m
th e
t h e i r m eans.
h o lid a y
w e re
o rd e rs
w eek b y
c la s s e s
am ong t h e
w o rk e rs
r e g a r d we s h o u ld
'c o m m o n '
re s o rts
o f L o n do n and L iv e r p o o l
th is
la r g e r
of a
d ra w n p r e d o m i n a n t l y
s k ille d
e v e n lo w e r
m anage a f u l l
am ong t h e
'r o w d y i s m '
'r e s p e c t a b le '/
th e
w as w e l l w i t h i n
1 8 9 0 s m an y o f t h e
b y a d e g re e
In
to
fo r
is s u e ,
but
''O O F GATHERERS AT
''o o f
g a th e r in g '
a t M a r g a te p i e r ,
re m a rk s ,
th e
'O h ,
h o ld in g
chuck us
a
(a
s la n g
o u t h is
''a 'p e n n y
233
in
th e w a t e r ! 1 to
b o y 's
s w im s u it ,
th e
but
to u r is ts
is
n e v e r th e le s s
s h e lls ,
a s a n e x c la m a t o r y
on fro m
a n e a rb y r o w in g b o a t .
id e n t it y
fro m
im p o s e d d o m e s t i c i t y
c o n v e n tio n
in
n e u tr a lis e d
as e a s ily
w e ll.
one a c t .
in
T h is
th e
B anks
d is t o r tio n
is
r e a lity
e x te n s io n
lim ite d
p r o p r ie tie s
o f th e
25,
re v e rs e
o f th e
s e a s id e
He c o u l d
s o - c a lle d
o f th e
le is u r e ,
as
C o m ic C u t s ,
o f S lo p e r 's
c o n s titu te s
re s o rt.
It
o f a p o p u lis t
b y a m a le p e t t y b o u r g e o i s
la s t
C h a p te r F iv e ) .
s id e
and t h is
c o n s tr u c t io n
o f d o m e s tic ity ,
th e k id s .
w o r k i n g m an a t
at
its e lf ,
in n o c u o u s m a n i f e s t a t i o n
n e v e r seen a t a l l ,
o f th e
S lo p e r 's
e v e ry
te n d e n c y
w ith
a
S lo p e r lo o k s
b r e a k in g
'r o w d y '
a b s e n t fro m
th e
M rs .
illu s tr a te s
fa m ily ,
F o o tn o te
is
in
seaw eed and
m o r tifie d
p la y - a c tin g
(s e e
d is g u is e d
w ith
c a rto o n
th e
'r e s p e c t a b le '
s o rt o f d u p lic ity
m an p e r s o n a
is
is
is
s u b u rb a n h u s b a n d f r e e d
o f h is
And he
a n d F u n n y W o n d e r, f o r
fu rth e r
th e
b e re a d as a c o m ic a lly
re p re s e n te d b y B i l l
w h ic h
He i s
some c h i l d i s h
v io le n t a s p e c t to
C h ip s
T h is
A lly
p e lte d
and c le a r ly
m u ltip le
th e
above.
fa m ily
a s e r io u s
is
a
in c lu s iv ity
w o r ld v ie w
'r e s p e c t a b i l it y '
o f th e
and
p a tr ia r c h y .
As she
lik e d
'THOSE H O LID AY ENGAGEMENTS'
c o m ic s ,
in
s p it e
o f th e
e d i t o r i a l a d d re s s ,
g e n e r a lly
a re
p la y
d e p ic t e d
r e in fo r c e s
c la im
fa m ilia l
a re p r i n c i p a l l y
a m a r g in a l r o le
as v ic t im s
fo u n d e d r e a s o n i n g
to
o r as
in
o f th e ir
s im p ly
th e
fo r
th e
im p r e s s io n
o r ie n ta tio n
in
th e
a m a le r e a d e r s h i p .
c a rto o n s .
ow n i l l o g i c a l
s tu p id .
t h a t th e s e
A t tim e s
Women
th e y
and ig n o r a n tly
'C A LLE D HER NAMES'
2 3 4
(Figure 8.8) is a good example of the latter [29].
A lte r n a tiv e ly ,
ta k e n u p ,
th e
and g e n e r a lly
th e m e o f t h e
as a p o s i t i v e
T he p r e d o m in a n t r e p r e s e n t a t i o n
e x e m p lif ie d b y th e s e
a lt e r n a t iv e
r e v e a lin g
'A
( F ig u r e
th e
't r u t h '
p u n c tu r in g
m an .
to
th e
tw o
in f la te d
b e tw e e n t h e
r o le
a p p e a ra n c e ,
( F ig u r e
on th e
o f wom an a s u n t h i n k i n g
is
In
b o th
th e y a re
s im p ly
a n o th e r s o c ia l
ty p e
in
w o r ld .
s lig h t.
The d if f e r e n c e ,
p o s itio n
illo g ic a lity
q u e s tio n
th e n e u t r a l i t y
a s itu a tio n
s u b je c t to
p r e c is e
and
in to
[3 1 ].
fro m
a use
ta s k
in
n a rro w
in
scope.
young
The d if f e r e n c e
and in s e n s itiv e
c o lle c tiv e ly
a young,
th is
of
as
m a le
m a r g in a lis e d
ir o n y
w h ic h
s o c ia l a t t it u d e s ,
can
th is
w o r ld ,
and i t
lo w e r m id d l e
is
c la s s .
th e
c o n s tr u c te d w o r ld
s u c h c a rto o n s
and i f
and re a d e r,
is
th e
a t th e
o f th e
m o re .
c a lc u la te d
is
p o in t.
is
lik e
a n y fo rm
r e s tr a in e d
It
o f th e
is
th e
of
and
a m a n 's
needs
o f th e
'y o u n g
la d ie s ',
p o te n t ia l
young,
s o c ia lly
c lim b in g
B u t th is
to
it
is ,
a n y th in g
th e re
le v e l
Women b eco m e
a s p ir a tio n s
g e n tle m a n a n d l i t t l e
in
V e r y fe w c o n t a i n
S lo p e r ,
p it c h e d
is
a nd a n a ly s is .
and w it
B u t th is
of
'TOO FAT TO S IN K '
b u ffo o n
th a t
th e
p r e te n tio u s
d e fin it e ly
o f p a tr ia r c h a l
s c r u tin y
b e tw e e n e d i t o r
to
is
as an
w h e re e v e r y a s p e c t o f b e h a v i o u r a n d a p p e a r a n c e
l e v e l o f b u r le s q u e
th re a ts
th o u g h ,
e x tr e m e ly p o o r .
d ia l o g u e
assum es
p re s e n te d
w hat is
can tu rn
The l e v e l o f ir o n y
h o w e v e r,
8 .5 )
th e m e
c r it ic
is
o r a se con d c a rto o n
ego o r h o p e s o f th e
a re v a r ia t io n s
[3 0 ],
T he y o u n g l a d y ,
c a p tio n ,
fa ls e
S LIG H T D IFFER EN C E'
8 .7 )
e n d o rs e m e n t
w om an i s
o f w om en, h o w e v e r ,
c a rto o n s .
e d ito r ia l
b e h in d
'n e w ', lib e r a t e d
is
b o ls te r
a v e r y n a r r o w ly
th e
s ta n d in g
o f th e
in
i
235
r e a d e r as a b o v e
th is
le v e l
o f fa ilu r e .
a n o th e r im p o r ta n t a s p e c t o f t h i s
r e p r e s e n ta tio n
An I r is h
As w it h
th e
as
r e p r e s e n ta tio n
th e
o f w om en,
m ost fr e q u e n tly
Ir is h
fr o m
P unch i n
ASHH t h e y
a re
b a c k d ro p ,
a f a c t o r w h ic h
a n a r c h ic
n o t to
th e
is
th e
a p p e a ra n c e s
re p re s e n te d
be
th e
to o
and
'c o lo n ia l
of
Ir is h
r a c e 1 , a re
to
in
d e fu s e s
th e
c a r ic a tu r a l
c o m m o n -s e n s e
lo g ic .
(b o th
8 .8 )
S uch in s t a n c e s
th e
( F ig u r e
in
e ffo rt
t h a t B id d y
to
in
'O l d H o u l i h a n '
a ll
p a r a lle l
of
p o litic a l
p o te n t ia lly
fe a tu re s
th e
lo g ic
te n d
'A N IR IS H
good
r e p r e s e n ta tio n
g u r - r - ls
a d v is e s
'...
h e v gone
a s m a r tly
of
m ay e q u a l l y b e u s e d
a s p ir a tio n s
h a s M u rp h y b o a r d in g up h i s
fa s h io n :
be tr e a te d
o f th e
'K E E P IN G UP W ITH THE
to
'P R O F IT A B L E A T H L E T IC S ’
th e
to
a re
s o c ia l- c lim b in g
c a rto o n s .
f o llo w
and th e
s a y s o n ', w h ile
fin d
th e
8 .2 1 )
F ig u r e
p e r v e r s io n
c o m m e n ta ry o n t h e
a p e rv e rs e
t h a t he w i l l
ro b b e d o f a ny s p e c if ic
[3 2 ],
th in k
m o re c e n t r a l f i g u r e s
fa rm e r
H a r m s w o r th c a r t o o n s , b u t a s w i t h
and th e
'NOT TO BE DONE'
as an i r o n i c
t 'in k
r a c i s t r e p r e s e n ta tio n
th e m o s t fr e q u e n t a s p e c t o f I r is h n e s s
And s im ila r ly
PROCESSION'
o v e r tly
c o n s e q u e n tly
o u tra g e o u s
e x a m p le s o f t h i s .
w om en.
th e
c h a r a c te r is t ic a lly
in a b ility
REMEDY'
o f th e
t h r e a t o f v io le n c e ,
By f a r
th e
m a n n e re d w o r l d
c o n tr a d ic to r y .
o f th e
in
re g a rd ,
Ir is h .
We c a n s e e d e r i v a t i o n s
is
th is
R em edy
fig u r e s ,
q u ite
o f th e
In
th e
n e ig h b o u r s
th e
s a y s h o re
( F ig u r e
d re s s e d
'c o m p a n y a n d e x e r c i s e '
fro n t door
8 .2 1 )
w ill
fo r
[3 3 ],
'Y o u n g H o u l i h a n '
o f th e
a th le tic s
236
c lu b
he
is
s h o u ld e r
s e e k in g b y t a k i n g
s tu p id it y
o f th e
im p e c u n io u s w o u ld - b e
p o in ts
up b o th
( p r o b a b ly
up h is
Ir is h
in s id io u s ly
a re ,
I
and th e
v a r ia n t
o f th e
to
fro m
or
r a th e r p a tr o n is in g
w h ic h
of
th e
'H u r r y
fu n n y p e o p le '
c h o s e n is s u e
re a d e rs '
fu n n y
s to ry
a c tu a lly
g iv e n
th e
p r a c tis e
o f le g itim a te d
fro m
As f o r
e v id e n t
in
T h e re
an o ld
th e
is
c o u p le
th e
jo k e s
in
th e
H o u lih a n '
h is
in
s o n 's
s e a rc h
of
fu n c t io n
e d ito r ia l
r a c ia l
fu n n y
in
a re
a d d re s s
ta u n ts
These
of
and
gags
any sense)
(m o re
( w h ic h
a re
a
as a m eans o f s p ik in g
a re
couched in
a
m u st be
d is t in g u is h e d
T e n n ie l's
e ffo rts
in
o f C o m ic C u ts
o p p o r tu n ity
th e
r a c is m
c o m p e titio n
a b o o k o r a p a p e r,
o ld '.
fro m
in
on
S uch r e p r e s e n t a t io n s
Though th e y
th e ir
'O l d
e le v a t in g
r e a s o n in g
pom pous.
a ttitu d e ,
go.
p r e ju d ic e .
o u tr a g e o u s ly
g lo s s
w h ic h
s e n d in g h im
d e p o litic is e
d if fe r e n t
P a ge 2 o f t h e
is
'n o r m a l i s e '
to
o f e x e r c is e
'le is u r e '.
as q u a l i t a t i v e l y
up th e r e ,
le n g th s
p re p a re d to
th e m e o f i l l o g i c a l
a u th o r ita tiv e
a h u m o u ro u s
s h a k ily - fo u n d e d
an a tte m p t to
fa r
b o th
te n d e n c y o b s e rv e d
p e rh a p s )
a d m it ,
is
e m p lo y m e n t,
o f th e
to w a r d s
is
and on th e
c lim b e r
in s t it u tio n a lis a tio n
its e lf
house
m o n o to n y a n d l a c k
c lu b ,
an e x te n s io n
th e
th e
o ffic e )
an a t h le t ic s
th e
on y u re
to -m o rro w m o r n i n '' .
M u rp h y b o a r d in g
th e
' o n e o f me s p h a r e h o d s
( F ig u r e
to
jo in
is
ta k e n up w it h
8 .2 ).
in
th e
p la g ia r is m
-
th e
m ust be a t
la tte r
'I f
P unch.
...
th e
The r e a d e r
p a p e r 's
[th e
t h e m s e lv e s ,
th e y e x te n d
in
-
own
s to ry ]
le a s t
th e
is
fiv e
...
is
y e a rs
tr e n d s
c a rto o n s .
a d e lig h t
w o r d p la y
ig n o r a n t o f th e
te rm
th e
'd it t o '
g ib e
( 'A
at
th e
expense
POUND . . . ' ) ,
of
a pun
237
on th e
w o rd
'b it e '
f o r e ig n e r 's
( 'H E
in a b ility
ENGLISH LANG UAG E'.
( F ig u r e
8 .3 )
g iv e
'WHERE'
illu s tr a te
'S H E WOULDN'T
r e in fo r c e
th e
to
m a s te r th e
'L IT T L E
'D IS A P P O IN T E D '
e d ito r ia l
lin k
and t h is
R u le
to
a c tu a lly
th e
e s s e n tia lly
in
to
R u le
th e
re q u e s ts
some
jo k e s
2 s u g g e s ts
w hy E va G r e v i l l e ' s
y o u " '.
th e
T h is
h a ir
is
e s ta b lis h e s
h is
e le m e n t o f d i a l o g u e ,
re a d e r,
a nd th e
a d m it te d
v a n ity
th a t
it
c o n c e n tr a tio n
f u n c t io n s
a t th e b e g in n in g .
s p e c ific
s to ry .
'M a k e
and f o r b a c k g ro u n d
th a t,
fa k in g
o f f w ith
o r,
th e
on th e
q u e ry ,
' tic k le [ in g ]
R u le
3 c h a n n e ls
th e h e ro
T h is
lo s e
he
f o r m u la
as
is
and
'N o
m essage
a re
is
as
"Y o u w a n t t o
Then I ' l l
"Y o u
know
te ll
a u th o r ity ,
b e tw e e n w r i t e r
h is
th e
It
[th e
is
o p e n ly
in to
a
he a d v is e s ,
g u id e b o o k s ,
an e d i t o r i a l
and
r e a d e r 's ]
'r u le s '
a t g a m b l i n g ',
s u g g e s ts
'T H E
a q u e ry ,
c o r p o r e a l.
in
in fo r m a tio n
k n o w le d g e .
in
r e q u ir e m e n t o f e d i t o r i a l
th ro u g h
o b s e rv e rs
im m e d ia t e
p r e m a t u r e ly w h ite ?
th e
o f th e
Such b a c k d ro p s
b u t th e
a s k me w h y B ob M o n tg o m e r y n e v e r s m il e s ? "
Ir is h .
's h o u l d b e c o m m it t e d
ow n c o u n t r y ' .
'S t a r t
and
[3 4 ],
a C o n tin e n ta l b a c k d ro p
r e a d e r fro m
...'
fe llo w
s p e lt o u t
w h ic h
and c a rto o n s ,
th e
'S P A R K L E S '
s to r ie s
a jo k e - w r itin g
'r u le s '
'T H E
a s p e c ts
These
re a d e r as
a c tu a lly
re a d o f h is
d is t a n c e
s u r r o u n d in g s .
is
above.
th e
o f th e
r e v e a l b o th
an 1896 F un ny W onder
1 s u g g e s ts
E n g lis h m a n c a r e s
ra re
w ith
lin k
fro m
to
and
'T H E PO INTS
and
d u ly p r o v id e s
m e m o r y '.
8 .7 )
d if f e r e n t r e p r e s e n ta tio n s
A " W o u ld - b e H u m o r i s t "
to
( F ig u r e
at
o f E n g lis h
th e
E D IT O R 'S WEEKLY T A L K '
e d ito r
some l a u g h s
s u b tle tie s
sam e.
o f women r e f e r r e d
o f h um an f o l l y ,
th e
LAUGHS'
u s m o re o f t h e
...'
r e p r e s e n ta tio n
EXPECTED O N E ') ,
or
in v ita tio n
fa ilin g
to
jo in
238
in
h is
ow n t r i c k
o f sm ug ,
w ith
th e
o f c la im in g
u n tr a v e lle d
a q u e ry
e d ito r
m e d io c r e
...'
p re te n c e .
a n d g iv e s
a s s u re s
u n i v e r s a l k n o w le d g e
us,
7 a d v is e s
'a r e
a ll
p r e c is e ly
th is
r id ic u le d
as q u in t e s s e n t ia lly
g o o d '.
T h is
c a rto o n s
o f pom pous, p r e te n tio u s
l o w e r m id d l e
C o m ic C u ts
o t h e r H a r m s w o r th p a p e r s .
p ro d d e d
in
la n g u a g e
th e s e
th e
in
it
is
th is
c a rto o n s
th e
'r u le s '.
is
th e s e
e a r ly
o n ly
g u a ra n te e d
c o m ic s ) .
so t h a t
th e ir
T h e re
it
v is u a l
c a lls
( in
m ake s
te rm s ).
in
no
th e m )
y e a rs ,
o r ig in a l
th e
th e m d i f f i c u l t
to
th e
la c k
to
in
p r o c e s s b e tw e e n e d i t o r
as
is
o u t above,
(o r
d u p lic ity
in
th e
a re
fo c u s
c la s s
c la im e d ,
th e y
th is
r e a d e r 's
p e r c e p tio n s
It
o f th e
T he
o f w hat is
is
of
g e n tly
e v id e n t h e r e
c h a ra c te r
in
fig u r e s
o f M r.
in
m ost o f th e
C h ip s
as
th e
th e
c a rto o n s ,
t h a t we r e c o n s t r u c t
th e ir
own,
e d ito r
as he
uses
th e
is
no
c h a ra c te rs
h a p p e n in g
a d m it s
im a g in a t iv e ly
v e r b a l m e d iu m ,
T h e re
le a d in g
p u r e ly
a c tu a lly
o f V ic to r ia n
h as n a rro w e d .
c la s s le s s .
in
th e
and r e a d e r.
id e n t it y
w as
m a in s ta y
c a rto o n
fig u r e
'jo k e s '
e v id e n t th r o u g h o u t th e h i s t o r y
b u t th e
th e
o f a n y common s t y l i s t i c
re a d
A nd th ro u g h
at
a r e s tr a in e d
a ls o
th e
c a rto o n
new c a p t i o n s
added.
w e e k lie s ,
is
w h ic h ,
b y P unch and
th a t
is
t h e i r v e r b a l a n c h o r in g
As p o in t e d
a re
w h ic h
a s tiffn e s s
any ca se ,
m an y c a s e s ,
T h e re
h im
It
b u t w as t h e
i n h e r e n t m e a n in g t o
th ro u g h
m e a n in g
te c h n iq u e
th a t
is
is
w in d u p
h u m o u r t h a t w as
s o r t o f p o m p o s it y
c a p tio n s ,
T h e re
in
[3 5 ],
t h e m s e lv e s .
c a rto o n
( e s p e c ia lly ,
s ig n e d ,
e ffo rts
p it c h e s
c la s s
c la s s
Ir o n ic a lly ,
'A lw a y s
and jo k e s .
o t h e r u p p e r m id d le
a nd th e
a p o s itio n
some p o o r p o t e n t i a l p u n c h l i n e s
l e v e l o f m o s t o f th e
ty p e
R u le
fro m
a game i s
same f r a m e w o r k
h u m o u ro u s
in te n d e d
because,
it
is
a n d u n d e r m i n in g
o f th e
is
th e
c o n d u c te d a t
2 39
le v e l
o f d e lu s io n s
e d ito r
is
no
in v e n t io n
r e g a r d in g
lo n g e r
lik e
th e
S lo p e r .
p a r a d o x ic a lly
ro o te d
a p p e a ra n c e
in tr e p id
and s ta tu s .
e x p lo r e r
lik e
He h a s a p a t e r n a l ,
in
a p e tty
b o u r g e o is
A nd th e
Egan,
o r a c o m p le x
c la s s le s s
p e rs o n a
s u b u rb a n co d e
of
d o m e s tic ity .
T he c a r t o o n w h ic h ,
e le m e n ts m o re
th a n
any o th e r,
"COMIC CUTS" AT L A S T '
h a v e b e e n ta k e n
o r i g i n a l jo k e
a d d ic t io n
g e n tle
to
fro m
s u b - e d ito r ia l
e d ito r ia l
( F ig u r e
8 .2 2 )
on th e
c o lu m n .
a t th e
o f fu n
It
d e m o c r a t is in g
it
a p p e a ra n c e
When I
g ift
say th a t
tr a n s m is s io n
th e
p e r s is t e n c e
th e
fa c t
th a t
m ost - and f o r
of
o f th e
is
lik e
c o u ld
th e
tra n s fo rm e d
g iv in g
e d ito r '
re a d
e d ito r
th e
in to
It
to p p in g
th e
is
a l l h is
of
a ls o
as an e x te n s io n
e x te n d in g
a
im p r e s s io n
s ta ff.
of
th e
re a d e rs .
common b e f o r e / a f t e r
it
w as t o
th e
d o m in a n t m o t i f w i t h i n
' l o w e r m id d l e
fo rm
s till
c la s s '
And
fo r m u la
th is
c la s s
o u tlin e d
th a t
in
th e s e
p r e ju d ic e s
f o r m a l a n d th e m a t ic
re a s o n s
o u tc o m e o f a p r o c e s s
a re
th e
o f th e s e
p a r tic u la r
T h e re
th e
lo o k s
o ffic e
m ig h t e q u a l l y b e
to
c a rto o n
o f fa ls e
and tr u t h .
th e
a t th is
it
o f s h a re d hum our to
c o n fo r m s
T h is
it
e d ito r ,
am ong t h e
'p o r t r a it
o f th e s e
expense o f a g u llib le
H e re
th e p r o m o tio n o f th e h a r d - w o r k in g
fin a lly ,
[3 6 ].
In d e e d ,
m e d ic i n e s .
g ib e
a ll
'R E A L PORTRAIT OF THE ED ITO R OF
m ig h t h a v e b e e n a t t h e
'p a t e n t '
'in - jo k e '
e n c a p s u la t e s
is
a n y w h e re .
t h e w e e k ly a llo w a n c e
an
p e rh a p s ,
th e s e
in
I
r e fle c ts
e le m e n t s
C h a p te rs
5 -7 .
is
m ean t h a t
e le m e n t s
o f hum our c a n be re a d as th e
e v id e n t
c a rto o n s
a p p e a le d
The a r r i v a l
u lt im a t e
ASH H .
u n a n s w e re d q u e s tio n s
h e re ,
h o w e v e r.
It
w as
240
a r g u e d t h a t ASHH c o n s t i t u t e d
p o l i t i c a l p o p u lis m
engaged w ith
th e
as e x p e r ie n c e d b y
c o m p le x itie s
H a r m s w o r th p a p e r s , i t
is
in s t a n c e
AWAY'
th e
o f th e
s o rt
m e a n w h ile
ta b le s
th o s e
( a ls o
'( . . .
o f f b y an
F ig u r e
e v id e n tly
on a p a t r o n is in g
fig u r e s
on a t r a i n
b e h a v io u r
th is
to ld
is
sh o w n i n
and in
is
'O l d
to
( F ig u r e
o f any
is
a good
s u it
th e
G e n t le m a n '.
fro m
In
tu rn s
n e ith e r
w h e re
th e
as
th e
s c e n a r io
o f u rb a n
As w it h
th e
ta lk in g
o f th is ,
g a llo w s ) '
u p m a rk e t s t r e e t ,
a b ra s h ,
'A D V IC E THROWN
sh o w s a n i n v e r s i o n
in n o c e n t.
dow n a n y
we do e n c o u n t e r :
fo r
it
th e
tra c k
8 .4 )
'O l d G e n t ' .
8 .4 )
some d i s t a n c e
In
fig u r e s
t h e ir n a tu r a l h a b it a t
a fa ir ly
and th a t
a tig h t- lo o k in g
d e s ig n e d
anyw ay f a i r l y
lik e w is e
in
h a rd
c la s s
o f r e p r e s e n ta tio n
'c o c k n e y y o u t h '
and b e in g
'I m p '
o f w o r k in g
re a d e rs ,
o f th e
r e la t io n s .
q u ite
'VALU ABLE IN FO R M A TIO N ’
v a c a n t lo o k in g
r u b b is h
its
o f c la s s
a c tu a lly
c o n s is te n t r e p r e s e n ta tio n
d e s c r ip tio n .
a c o m p le x n e g o t i a t i o n
s lu m ,
a re
but
th e ir
o ffe n s iv e
o th e r
c a rto o n s ,
'r o w d y i s m '
o f th e
s e a s id e .
N or is
it
easy to
W h a t we do f i n d ,
't r a m p ',
fin d
a n y r e m n a n ts
o c c a s io n a lly ,
as re p r e s e n te d
in
s e a r c h o f a s q u a r e m e a l,
is
th e
u n d e r c la s s
'GOT A B I T E '
th e
't r a m p '
o f m u s c u la r E n g l i s h n e s s ,
th e
ty p ic a l
e x a m p le
lo a fe r
in
s e a rc h
And
as w it h
o f fre e
fo o d
s h if tle s s
and g e t t in g
' e x tr a - s o c ie ta l'
th e
fig u r e s
above,
is
th e
h is
tr a m p
n e u tr a l s o c ia l t e r r i t o r y ,
and is
u s u a lly
in
b u lld o g .
th e
fig u r e
8 .2 3 )
is
T h is
is
o f th e
[3 7 ].
In
of
v e ry
th e
a fa ir ly
as e x t r a - s o c i e t a l
ju s t
an a p p r o p r ia te
fa ir ly
d e p ic t e d
( F ig u r e
c a d g e rs .
becom es a v i c t i m
essence
o f th e
o f M a y h e w 's
d e s s e rts
c o u n tr y s id e ,
[3 8 ],
d e s c r ip tio n b e ca u se ,
g e n e r a lly
he e x is t s
th re a t,
o u ts id e
p re s e n te d
th e
w h e re h i s
in
u r b a n s lu m
r e lu c ta n c e
241
to
fin d
w o rk is
T h is
o v e r v ie w
w e e k lie s ,
s u g g e s ts
a q u ite
c a rto o n s .
a n a ly s is
It
us
is
th e
to
to
'p e t t y
c la s s e s
le a d s
d e d ic a te d
th e m t o
in
th e
to
s te a lin g
b o u r g e o is '
is
n e ith e r
or
th e ir
'B e a g l e
s e a rc h
B o y s ',
boys'
And i t
ty p e s
w o r ld v ie w
a n d D o r f m a n 's
w h ic h
U n c le
on th e
do n o t e n t e r .
o f id e o lo g ie s
M a t t e la r t 's
D is n e y c o m ic s ,
c o n c lu s io n
s im p ly
e x c lu s io n
g e n e ra l
s im ila r
O r w e ll's
c la s s e s
d e lib e r a te
w ith
o f th e
v illa in s
re tu rn s
t h a t th e w o r k in g
in c o m p a tib le
w o r k in g
d u l y p u n is h e d .
in
th e
(1 9 7 3 )
fo r
th re e
th e
m asked
S c r o o g e M c D u c k 's b i l l i o n s
[3 9 ],
H o w e v e r,
r e a lity
is
fo r w hat
in
th is
any sense d e lib e r a t e ly
's h o u l d '
of
can be
w ith
te rm e d ,
th e
c o m ic s
n e u r o tic
d e c o ru m
th e
p e tty
its
r e fle c ts
to
n e g o tia tio n
o f th is
d if fe r e n c e s
in
is
tra m p ,
in
absence
a m eans o f r e i n f o r c i n g
n e u tra l
m em be rs
o f p o p u lis t
in c lu s io n
th e
such
h o r iz o n s
s u c c e s s io n
and i t s
o f th is
code
is
it
'm e n t a lit y '
s o c ia l
ty p e
by
a nd th e
c la im s
of
to
th is
o f th e
o f d e fe re n c e
and
one a s p e c t o f th e
The f a i l u r e
o f r e c o g n is a b ly
B o th a s p e c t s
am i n v e s t i g a t i n g
o f th is
a n o th e r a s p e c t.
th e
n o r a n a rg u m e n t
'w o r ld v i e w ' , i f
fa v o u r o f a c o n c e n tr a tio n
tr a m p
k in d
its
of
i n d i v i d u a l m e m b e rs .
m e n ta lity .
o f th e
c la s s .
s o lid it y
o f its
a ll
fig u r e
m id d le
th e
o f a s o c ia lly
a v a ila b le
th e
b o u r g e o is
T he n e g o t i a t i o n
b o th
v u ln e r a b ilit y
I
s e lf - lim itin g
fa lla c ie s .
T he n o t i o n
e x c lu d e d ,
h a ve b e e n in c lu d e d .
s o c ia l r e a l i t y
o f p a th e t ic
a n a rg u m e n t a b o u t w h a t p a r t
to
d e a l w ith
re a l
on an u n d e r c la s s
T he d e p i c t i o n
'w o r k i n g
c la s s '
s o c ia l s ta tu s
n e g o tia tio n
r e a d e r w h ic h
in
o f th e
p e o p le ,
o f th is
c o n tr ib u te
d e n ie s
th e
c la s s
is
lo w e r
to
a
242
d if fe r e n c e s ,
lim ite d
lik e
b u t th e re
r e p r e s e n ta tio n
th e
s e r io u s ly
London,
a n d th e
in c lu d in g
r e a lity
th e
as a s e r io u s
T h e re
e le m e n ts
a re
It
c o m ic s
is
C h a p t e r N in e .
It
co n ce p t o f c r im in a lit y
n e g o tia tio n
o f th e
r e la t io n
th o s e
to
a re
c e r ta in
c o m p le t i o n
b a s is
fo r
r e s o lv n g
th e
of
u n d e r c la s s
o f th is
in
a t th e
th e s e
of
th a t
th e
c h a p te r,
th e
r u n n in g
and n o n - f ic t io n a l
a ro u n d
is
fo rm
a n o th e r
c la s s '
L ik e w is e ,
th is
I
o f th e
in
fe e l
th a t
c re a te d
c o m ic
th e
of
p ro c e s s .
h o p e f u l l y we w i l l h a v e
r o le
c o n c e n tra te
r e v o lu tio n
th ro u g h
w e re
b e tw e e n t h e s e
' l o w e r m id d l e
c r e a tiv e
lo a fe r s
above.
t h a t we s h a l l
e le m e n ts
th e
'r e s i d u u m '
d if f e r e n t ia t e d ,
c la s s e s
fic tio n a l
lo w e s t l e v e l .
te n s io n s
su ch te n s io n s .
th o s e
c o m p o n e n ts
p o s ite d
p o s itio n
u n d e r s t a n d in g
a ll
or
's e m i- c r im in a ls ',
and fo rm a l c o n t in u it ie s
is
th e
c o m e -u p p a n c e c o u l d n o t
c a te g o r ie s
on th e s e
fo r
o f c o m p lic a tio n b y c la s s
th a t
and t h e ir
th is ,
th e m asher a n d lo c a t io n s
h is
th r e a t to
th e m a t ic
o f th e
n a r r a tiv e s .
th e s e
g e tt in g
in h e r e n t i n
c a s u a l p o o r w h ic h w e r e n o t p r o p e r l y
p e r c e iv e d
in
lik e
a r e a lity
T h e tr a m p
c o n c e a l th e
te n s io n s
o f ty p e s
s e a s id e b e l i e d
d iffe r e n c e s .
in
w e re
On
a
s tr ip
in
243
CHAPTER EIG H T - NOTES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
I n CC 9 1 , p . 2 , 1 8 9 2 , M r . C o m ic C u ts e x p l a i n s t h a t "A s s o o n
as th e p ic t u r e s a re s e le c te d and p a id f o r th e y a re " e d it e d "
b y m e, t h e j o k e s im p r o v e d , a n d s o m e tim e s w h e n t h e p i c t u r e i s
good and th e jo k e p o o r, a n o th e r jo k e m u s t be fo u n d " .
R e g i n a ld P o u n d a n d G e o f f r e y H a r m s w o r th ( 1 9 5 9 ) , N o r t h c l i f f e ,
p . 200.
R o n a ld P e a r s a l l ( 1 9 8 3 ( 1 9 6 9 ) ) , T h e Wor m i n t h e B u d : T h e W o r ld
o f V ic to r ia n S e x u a lity , p . 71.
O t h e r e x a m p le s o f t h e m a s h e r g e t t i n g h i s c o m e -u p p a n c e
i n c l u d e 'H E WANTED TO MAKE AN "IM P W E S S IO N "' ( F i g u r e 8 . 9 - IC
7 0 , p . 2 , 1 8 9 2 ) , i n w h ic h a c u l t i v a t e d e x a g g e r a t i o n o f u p p e r
c l a s s la n g u a g e i s s u g g e s t e d b y t h e m is p r o n o u n c e d ' r ' .
'THROUGH THE SEASIDE
LODGING-HOUSE WINDOW' ( F i g u r e 8 . 1 0
- CC 5 4 , p . 2 , 1 8 9 1 ) s h o w s 'B o u n d in g B i l l i a m ' s e e i n g h i m s e l f
as " d o o s id s l y " as h e g a z e s lo n g in g ly a t " a p r e t t y l i t t l e
t h i n g " - m o u s ta c h e d a n d s w a g g e r in g , h e s p o r t s a c i g a r a n d
c a n e . The t h i r d c a r to o n r e v e a ls th e t r u t h , as h i s fa c e
f l a t t e n s o u t t o a c c o m o d a te a w ic k e d l e e r , a p e n c i l - l i k e
m o u s ta c h e , a d o le s c e n t f u z z o n t h e c h i n , e n l a r g e d h a n d s a n d
f e e t , s h r i v e l l e d le g s a n d a n a b s u r d ly o v e r t p h a l l i c
s y m b o lis m i n t h e h u g e c i g a r , w h ic h r u n s d i r e c t l y i n t o a n
e q u a lly o u ts iz e ca n e .
'H IR S U T E ADORNMENTS EXTRAORDINARY' ( F i g u r e 8 . 1 1 - CC 5 4 , p . l ,
1 8 9 1 ) i s a s i m i l a r e x a m p le o f t h e h a l f - s p o o f i n g , h a l f e n d o r s i n g d e p i c t i o n o f 'h o w a n o t h e r w i s e u n i n t e r e s t i n g
c o u n te n a n c e m a y, b y t h e g r o w t h o f a l i t t l e h a i r , b e m ade t o
a ssu m e a t w i l l a w a r l i k e , m e r c a n t i l e , f o r e i g n , l e g a l o r
a r t i s t i c a p p e a r a n c e '. I t s t a n d s e q u a l l y w e l l a s a c o n v i n c i n g
a rg u m e n t f o r th e e q u a l i t y o f a p p e a ra n c e w i t h r a n k , th e
a c h ie v e m e n t o f a n I n d i v i d u a l i d e n t i t y i r o n i c a l l y t h r o u g h
th e a d h e re n c e to co de s o f s e lf - p r e s e n t a t i o n a s s o c ia te d w it h
d i f f e r e n t p r o fe s s io n s ; a nd an a t t a c k on th e s u p e r f i c i a l
a tte m p ts a t e x c lu s iv e i d e n t i t y b y th e s e p r o f e s s io n s .
The im p r e s s io n fr o m th e s e c a r to o n s i s i n v a r i a b l y t h a t th e
i n t e n d e d r e a d e r i s m a le , d e s p i t e t h e ' f a m i l y ' m a g a z in e a i r
o f th e e d i t o r i a l a d d re s s .
See a l s o b e lo w , 'T h o s e h o l i d a y
e n g a g e m e n ts ' .
CC 5 3 , p . 4 , 1 8 9 1 .
'B E H IN D AND BEFORE' o n
t h e same p a g e i s a n o t h e r g o o d
e x a m p le . T h i s t im e t h e h a t i s t h e s t a t u s p r o p . A f e n c e
c o n c e a ls w h a t a p p e a r s t o b e a f r i e n d l y b u t f o r m a l g r e e t i n g
as h a ts ( to p p e r a nd b o w le r ) a re t ip p e d i n m u tu a l
r e c o g n i t i o n . A v ie w o f
th e r e v e r s e s id e o f th e fe n c e r e v e a ls
t h a t th e h a ts a re a c t u a l ly i n f l i g h t as a f i g h t i s i n
p r o g r e s s . A g a i n , t h e e c o n o m ic a l c a p t i o n s s t a t e t h e c a s e :
' ( 1 ) I f y o u t h i n k th e s e m en a r e f r i e n d s - ( 2 ) Y o u a r e
m is t a k e n '.
'A N O P TIC A L ERROR' i s a b o u t t h e p o t e n t i a l a b s u r d i t y o f
a tte m p te d e n h a n ce m e n t b y f a c i a l h a i r . T hese c a r to o n s a re
c o n c e rn e d w it h th e m u tu a l d e c e p tio n in v o lv e d i n co d e s o f
d e f e r e n c e a n d d e c o ru m - t h e d e l u s i o n s f r o m w h ic h t h e r e a d e r
h i m s e l f i s b y n o m eans f r e e - c r e a t e d b y m a n n e re d
244
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
' r e s p e c t a b l e ' b e h a v i o u r a n d w o u ld - b e s e l f - a d o r n m e n t .
T he i n d e t e r m i n a c y o f t h e s o c i a l i d e n t i t y o f t h e s e f i g u r e s i s
f u r t h e r e x e m p lif ie d b y a n e a r - r e g u la r c h a r a c t e r fro m The
F u n n y W o n d e r , ' S l i m j i m * . 'S L I M J IM 'S F I B S ', t h e v i s u a l i s a t i o n
o f h i s 'h o r s e - t a m i n g ' s t o r y (FW 3 , 3 r d . s e r i e s , p . 4 ,
1 8 9 4 ) sh o w s t h e b o a s t f u l S l i m j i m p o s i n g t r i u m p h a n t l y w i t h a
f o o t o n h i s h o r s e ' s h e a d . T he a c c o m p a n y in g c a r t o o n sh o w s t h e
h o r s e a c t u a l l y s w i n g in g h im b y t h e s c r u f f o f t h e n e c k .
'ANOTHER OF S L IM J IM 'S F IB S ' (FW 3 , 3 r d . s e r i e s , p . 4 , 1 8 9 4 )
c o n t r a s t s h is t a l e o f r e s c u in g a f a m i l y fr o m a f i r e
s i n g l e h a n d e d l y , w h i l e t h e ' t r u t h ' s h o w s h im l i m p l y p o u r i n g
w a t e r d ow n t h e c h im n e y . W h a t e x a c t l y h e i s s u p p o s e d t o b e i n
s o c i a l te r m s i s n o t c l e a r , b u t as a p e r s o n a l i t y t y p e h e i s
o b v io u s e n o u g h .
A n o c c a s i o n a l v a r i a t i o n o n t h e u n d e r m i n in g o f i l l fo u n d e d e g o is m i s e x e m p l i f i e d b y 'WHO THEY THOUGHT THEY
WOULD MARRY AND THE SPECIMENS THEY GOT' ( F i g u r e 8 . 1 3 CC 1 8 , , p . 8 , 1 8 9 0 ) , i n w h ic h t h e u g l y b u t w e a l t h y ' L i t t l e
L o r d S n o o k e s ' a n d t h e 'L a d y C l e m e n t i n a ' a r e p i c t u r e d o g l i n g
th e o b je c t s o f t h e i r s e x u a l d e s ir e : ' . . . th e S q u ir e 's
d a u g h t e r ' , ' . . . t h e p e t i t e F r e n c h w i d o w ', 'M a c S m ith t h e
a c t o r ' e t c . T h e ir e v e n tu a l s p o u s e s a re r e v e a le d t o b e th e
e q u a l l y u g l y M is s B i n k s , 'C h a ir m a n o f W o m a n 's R i g h t s
C o m m it te e ' a n d P r o f e s s o r B a c k d o w n , r e s p e c t i v e l y .
F ig u r e 8 .1 1 a p p e a rs t o be a c l e a r l y in t e n d e d jo k e a t th e
e x p e n s e o f 'H IR S U T IN E '.
F o r an a n a ly s is o f a d v e r t is in g i n th e t w e n t ie t h c e n tu r y ( i n
t h e U S) i n te r m s o f t h e m a n i p u l a t i o n o f p e r s o n a l a n d
f a m i l i a l i d e n t i t y , and th e c o n s t r u c t io n o f a l i m i t e d v e r s io n
o f ' t r u t h ' , s e e S t u a r t Ewen ( 1 9 7 6 ) , C a p t a in s o f
C o n s c io u s n e s s : A d v e r t i s i n g a n d t h e S o c i a l R o o ts o f t h e
C o n s u m e r C u l t u r e . E w e n 's u n d e r s t a n d i n g i s f i r m l y g r o u n d e d i n
F r a n k f u r t S c h o o l C r i t i c a l T h e o ry , th e n o t io n o f th e 'c u l t u r e
i n d u s t r y ' as a n e x t e n s i o n o f i n d u s t r y i t s e l f , s o t h a t
a d v e r t i s i n g i n t h e s e n s e we k n o w i t n o w r e a l l y b e g in s w i t h
th e F o r d is t p r o j e c t i n th e 1 92 0s f o r th e t r a n s f o r m a t io n o f
w o r k e r / p r o d u c e r i n t o t h e c o n s u m e r.
"EDWARDS' 'H A R LEN E' W o r ld - R e n o w n e d H A IR PRODUCER & RESTORER"
w as a f r e q u e n t a d v e r t i s e r i n t h e f i r s t y e a r o f C o m ic C u ts
a n d C h i p s . I t s s u b t i t l e s r e a d : 'F o r p r o d u c i n g L u x u r i a n t
H a i r , W h is k e r s a n d M o u s ta c h e s , C u r i n g B a ld n e s s , W eak a n d
T h i n E y e la s h e s , D a n d r u f f , S c a n t y P a r t i n g s , o r R e s t o r i n g
G r a y H a i r ' , a n d p r o m is e d 'T e s t i m o n i a l s , a l s o a v a l u a b l e
t r e a t i s e o n t h e C u l t i v a t i o n o f H a i r , a n d some e x t r a o r d i n a r y
f a c t s o f t h e e f f i c a c i o u s n e s s o f t h e HARLENE, f o r w a r d e d f r e e
o n a p p l i c a t i o n ' - CC 3 2 , p . 13 ( a s p e c i a l d o u b le i s s u e
C h r is t m a s n u m b e r ) , 1 8 9 0 . 'VARNHAGEN'S SYSTEM' f o r a 'R A P ID ,
PERMANENT AND IN E X P E N S IV E CURE' f o r 'B L U S H IN G ' w as a n o t h e r
r e g u l a r - CC 5 3 , p . 7 , 1 8 9 1 .
CC 5 3 , p . l , 1 8 9 1 .
"WHY THE PRINTER WAS SACKED" i s a n o t h e r
g o o d e x a m p le f r o m t h e same i s s u e ( p . 8 ) .
In an ad. f o r "D r.
M c P H IT T S ' H A I R O I L " , t h e ' b e f o r e u s i n g ' a n d ' a f t e r u s i n g '
i l l u s t r a t i o n s h a v e b e e n r e v e r s e d b y t h e p r i n t e r , so t h a t
' a f t e r u s i n g ' sh o w s a b a l d h e a d .
245
14.
The f o l lo w in g
(1 8 9 1 ):
is
a t y p i c a l e x a m p le ,
a g a in
fro m
CC 5 3 ,
p .2
'We w a n t t o e m p lo y s o m a n y a r t i s t s t h a t t h e r e
s h a l l n e v e r b e a d u l l n u m b e r o f COMIC CUTS, t h a t t h e
p a p e r s h a l l a lw a y s b e f u l l o f l a u g h s , a n d t h i s c a n o n l y
be done b y a b ig g e r s a le .
A b i g g e r s a l e w i l l e n a b le u s t o g e t a l a r g e r p r i c e
f o r o u r a d v e r tis e m e n ts . . .
We w a n t , t h e r e f o r e , e v e r y p e r s o n w ho r e a d s t h i s
a r t i c l e t o s a y t o h i m s e l f , i f h e l i k e s COMIC CUTS a n d
i s a f r i e n d o f th e p a p e r:
" I w i l l m ake u p my m in d t o h e l p t h i s p a p e r i f I
c a n ". '
15.
T h e g e n e r a l t h e m a t i c f o c u s i n K ip p s i s s e t b y i t s o p e n in g
q u o t e f r o m " 'M a n n e r s a n d Ru l e s o f Goo d S o c i e t y ' b y a M em ber
o f th e A r is t o c r a c y " :
" T h o s e i n d i v i d u a l s w ho h a v e l e d s e c lu d e d o r i s o l a t e d
l i v e s , o r h a v e h i t h e r t o m ove d i n o t h e r s p h e r e s t h a n
t h o s e w h e re w e l l - b r e d p e o p le m o v e , w i l l g a t h e r a l l t h e
i n f o r m a t i o n n e c e s s a r y fr o m
th e s e p a g e s t o r e n d e r
th e m
th o r o u g h ly c o n v e rs a n t w it h
t h e m a n n e rs a n d a m e n i t i e s
of
s o c ie ty " .
16.
17.
18.
H . G . W e lls ( 1 9 6 8 ) , K i p p s , p . 5 8 .
I b i d . , p . 59.
T .W . B a r r e t t s s o n g f r o m t h e '8 0 s
is
a g o o d e x a m p le :
"(....)
By p r o fe s s io n I
S o m e tim e s I ' m a
B u t a t n ig h t I 'm
When I m o u ch o u t
C ite d
19.
in
am a t r i p e
d re s s e r,
t r u s s e r o f fo w ls ,
a l l th e r e as a m a s h e r,
t h e same a s t h e o w l s . "
P e a r s a ll (1 9 8 3 ),
T h i s e x a m p le
p o in t:
fr o m
op.
c i t . , p . 73.
a n o t h e r m u s ic h a l l
song
illu s tr a te s
th e
"Come c l o s e r , d e a r
P la c e y o u r a rm ' r o u n d m e ,
I w i l l m ake y o u f e e l q u e e r .
F o n d le a n d k i s s me
When n o o n e i s n e a r . . . "
C ite d
20.
in
ib id .,
p . 76.
CC 1 6 , p . 8 , 1 8 9 0 . "OUR S U B -E D IT O R 'S FATAL S U R PR IS E' i n t h e
same i s s u e ( p . 4 ) i s a n i n t e r e s t i n g c o u n t e r p a r t .
T he s u b ­
e d i t o r " s t a r t s f o r th e c o u n tr y , i n f u l l e x p e c t a t io n o f th e
a n n u a l m is e r ie s and d is a p p o in tm e n ts " , b u t i s p r o g r e s s iv e ly
s h o c k e d t o d i s c o v e r t h a t t h e p r o m is e d d e l i g h t s o f h i s
h o lid a y lo c a tio n a re r e a l .
F i n a l l y , " i t w as t o o m u c h .
R eason
246
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
f o r e s o o k h im . I n s a n e " . T h e j o k e h e r e i s o n o u r p e r s i s t e n c e
w i t h a n n u a l h o lid a y s , d e s p it e o u r m u tu a l e x p e c t a t io n o f th e
in e v it a b le w eek o f s h e e r h e l l . I t is th e c la s s ic p a ra d o x
t h a t we a r e s u p p o s e d t o b e e n j o y i n g o u r s e l v e s i n s p i t e o f
t h e e v id e n c e , b e c a u s e th e s e a r e d e s i g n a t e d l e i s u r e t i m e s a n d
lo c a tio n s .
I t i s t h e r e f o r e b o th a n a c c e p ta n c e o f th e s i t u a t i o n
b e c a u s e th e r e i s no a l t e r n a t i v e , and a r a d i c a l q u e s tio n in g
o f i t . I r o n i c a l l y , i n d e a lin g w it h th e s u b je c t a t a l l , i t i s
a c e l e b r a t i o n o f t h e v e r y a f f o r d a b i l i t y o f a w e e k 's h o l i d a y s
away - a p r i v i l e g e th e r e a d e r c a n in d u lg e i n , w h a te v e r th e
r e a l i t i e s . The s u b - e d it o r as s u b je c t r e i n f o r c e s th e e d i t o r re a d e r bond.
FW 1 8 4 ( 3 r d . s e r i e s ) , p . l , 1 8 9 6 . A m eans o f a v o i d i n g
e m b a r r a s s m e n t i n s u c h s i t u a t i o n s i s re c o m m e n d e d i n t h e
s e q u e n c e i m m e d i a t e l y a b o v e t h i s , "IM PORTANT TO A L L WHO WEAR
FLANNEL TROUSERS". F a s h io n a b le H a r r y i s c l e v e r e n o u g h t o d o n
g o l f s to c k in g s w it h h is f la n n e ls ( d e p it e th e a c c u s a tio n o f
c la s h in g c o lo u r s ) , so t h a t he ca n c o n c e a l th e i n e v i t a b l e
s h r i n k a g e d u e t o r a i n b y m e r e ly p u l l i n g th e m u p t o m ake h i s
t r o u s e r s lo o k l i k e w a lk in g k n ic k e r s (a s a r t o r i a l
r e q u i s i t e f o r b r a v in g th e e le m e n t s ) .
J o h n K . W a lt o n ( 1 9 8 3 ) . T h e E n g l i s h S e a s id e R e s o r t : A S o c i a l
H is to r y 1 7 5 0 -1 9 1 4 , p . 216.
I b i d . , p . 217.
I b i d . , p . 2 1 3 -2 1 5 .
On t h e p a t t e r n s o f u r b a n d e v e lo p m e n t i n t h e r e s o r t s , s e e
i b i d . , c h a p te rs 3 -5 .
M r. P unch a t th e S eas id e (n o d a te g iv e n ) , p . 2 2 . C it e d i n
W a lt o n ( 1 9 8 3 ) , o p . c i t . , p . 2 0 4 .
"A Q U IE T D R IVE BY THE S E A ". R e p r o d u c e d i n i b i d . , p . 2 0 4 .
ASHH V o l . V I . N o . 2 6 9 , p . l , S a t u r d a y , J u n e 2 2 , 1 8 8 9 .
"AFTER THE REGATTA" ( F i g u r e 8 . 1 8 ) i s a n o t h e r u s e f u l e x a m p le .
M rs . O x fo r d a s k s w hy K o r tn e y , th e p r o f e s s o n a l o a rs m a n , d oe s
n o t s p e n d some o f h i s p r i z e m o n e y t o b u y som e c l o t h e s ,
u n a w a re t h a t h i s a p p a r e n t u n d e r w a r e i s h i s a t h l e t i c g e a r .
A s w i t h H a r m s w o r t h 's v e n t u r e s o n I l i f f e s ' s c y c l i n g m a g a z in e s
i n t h e '8 0 s , t h e b i c y c l e i s f r e q u e n t l y v ie w e d a s a p o r t e n t
o f w o m e n 's l i b e r a t i o n ( F i g u r e s 8 . 1 9 a n d 8 . 2 0 ) . "BLOUSES AND
BLOOMERS - A CASE OF GENERAL U T IL I T Y " a l s o r e f l e c t s t h e
m a n ip u la t io n o f th e n e e d f o r s p e c ia l c y c l i n g c lo t h e s a s a
n ew a v e n u e f o r t h e f e t i s h o f " f a s h i o n " - CC 2 5 9 , p . l , 1 8 9 5 .
A n o t h e r t y p i c a l i n s t a n c e , "A HARD H I T " , h a s M is s D a s h a w a y
I n n o c e n t ly e x c la im in g to " b e s t m ash" F re d , o n r e c e iv in g h is
p r e s e n t o f a p u g d o g , t h a t " I t ' s j u s t l i k e y o u ! " - CC 7 4 ,
p . 2, 1891.
" A SMART G IR L AT THE S E A S ID E " h a s t h e f o l l o w i n g
exchange:
HE: " I w o n d e r w hy th o s e g i r l s
a s I p a s s e d th e m ? "
SHE: "O h , I d o n ' t k n o w - some
a n y t h i n g " . CC 5 3 , p . 5 , 1 8 9 1 .
32.
s ta re d
g ir ls
a t me s o h a r d
w i l l s ta re
at
T h e s e q u e n c e e n t i t l e d "POOR IRELAND A G A IN " i s a lm o s t
b e n e v o le n tly p a t r o n is in g i n I t s tr e a tm e n t o f th e " t h i c k
m i c k " . B o w le d o v e r b y a g i a n t s n o w b a l l , P a d d y O ' R a f f e r t y
247
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
d ra w s o u t h i s s h i l e l a g h t o c l u b t h e n e a r e s t ( i n n o c e n t )
g e n tle m a n a v a i l a b l e : " O i ' l l t a c h e y e , y e s p a lp e e n ( w h a c k ) ,
t o a t t a c k a p o o r d e f i n c e l e s s m an ( w h a c k ) b e h in d h i s b a c k "
(w h a c k , w h a c k , w h a c k ). The t i t l e
i s p r e t t y i r o n i c , g iv e n th e
o u tc o m e , b u t r a t h e r t h a n b e i n g p a t r o n i s e d w i t h i n some
m o r a l i s t i c f r a m e w o r k f o r c o n d e m n a tio n , P a d d y 's t e n d e n c y t o
r e a c t i v e v i o l e n c e i s deem ed r a t h e r p a t h e t i c . IC 7 0 , p . 3 ,
1892.
B o th IC 4 9 , p . 5 , 1 8 9 1 .
FW 1 5 8 , p p . 4 - 5 , 1 8 9 6 .
See L . D a v i d o f f ( 1 9 7 3 ) , T h e B e s t C i r c l e s ,
C h a p te r 2 .
CC 1 6 , p . 8 , 1 8 9 0 .
IC 1 0 , p . 4 , 1 8 9 0 .
"A DISTU R BER" f u r t h e r i l l u s t r a t e s t h e u n s y m p a t h e t i c
r e p r e s e n t a t io n o f s u c h t y p e s . T h is tim e D u s ty R ho de s a n d h i s
d o g B o b b in s l a z e i n t h e m id d l e o f t h e r o a d , o n l y t o b e r i d d e n
o v e r b y a c y c l i s t w ho e x c la im s " D r a t i t ! How b u m p y t h e s e
r o a d s a r e . " IC 3 1 2 , p . 5 , 1 8 9 6 .
T he i d e o l o g y o f t h e tr a m p
w i l l b e d is c u s s e d i n m o re d e t a i l i n C h a p t e r s 11 a n d 1 2 .
A rm a n d M a t t e l a r t a n d A r i e l D o r fm a n ( 1 9 7 3 ) , How t o R e a d
D o n a ld D u c k .
248
CHAPTER N IN E
REREADING THE COMICS,
PART I I :
F IC T IO N A L AND N O N -F IC T IO N A L NARRATIVES
'M IS S IN G
P a ge 3 o f
-
1 0 ,0 0 0 REWARD'
is s u e
p r o m is e d s t a r t
s to ry
is
b a r o n e t 's
1 19 o f C o m ic C u ts
o f th e
s e r ia l
( F ig u r e
'M IS S IN G
-
8 .3 )
T e m p le ,
has
c a r e e r a n d h a p p y m a r r ia g e
a h e a d o f h im ,
m is g iv in g s .
s h o r tliv e d ,
H a p p in e s s
is
b e tro th e d
M a d e lin e
is s u e s
G e o rg e s t a n d s
d is c o v e r s
re v e a l
p a rtn e r.
122,
th e
t h a t G e o rg e h a s
f o r h is
seven y e a rs '
s to ry
is
b ille d
an d becom es a c h r o n ic le
in
th e
fa c e
a
1 0 ,0 0 0
't h e
t h a t he has
A w a rra n t
s e n te n c e d t o
in
in
s p it e
h o w e v e r,
o f d e g r a d in g
re w a rd
'f le d '.
is
o f th e
in
w h ile
f o r n ew s o f H a w k s le y
he
is
A
subsequent
o f h is
fo u n d and
F ro m C o m ic C u t s , n o .
s to ry
p r e s e r v a t io n
in
o f p r is o n
life '
o f p e rs o n a l d ig n ity
M a d e lin e m e a n w h ile
in
is
w h ile
s e a rc h
is s u e d ,
th r illin g
fo rc e s ,
a
as G e o rg e
E p is o d e s
f a c t gone
a rre s t
The
th e b a r o n e t 's
shadow o f d is g r a c e ',
in
'a
of
o f fra u d .
p e n a l s e r v itu d e .
as
to
m uch
a s e e m in g ly b r i l l i a n t
fr a m e d b y p a r t n e r H a w k s le y , w ho a c c u s e s h im
's t u n n e d '
th e
1 0 ,0 0 0 REW ARD'.
o f y o u n g b a n k e r G e o rg e D a le w h o ,
d a u g h t e r M a d e lin e
p re s e n ts
an e f f o r t
to
try
o ffe rs
and
c le a r G e o rg e ' s nam e.
T h is
e le m e n ts
s to ry
o f th e
is
p e r fe c t ly
c o m ic s ,
and I
c o n tin u o u s w i t h
th e
s h a ll a tte m p t to
o th e r
te x tu a l
show t h a t
it
is
249
ty p ic a l
in
some r e s p e c t s
s e r ia lis e d
fic tio n
One o f t h e
re fe re n c e
to
in
o f b r o a d e r m o v e m e n ts
th e
p o p u la r
1890s.
c o n s is te n tly
G e o r g e 's
in
s tr ik in g
o u ts ta n d in g
a s p e c ts
lo o k s .
o f th e
F ro m t h e
s to ry
is
o u ts e t,
th e
he has
'a f a c e w h ic h a l l t h r o u g h h i s l i f e h a d s e r v e d h im a s a
p a s s p o rt to fa v o u r.
H is e y e s a n d h a i r w e r e d a r k , h i s
f e a t u r e s s t r o n g a n d c l e a r l y c u t ; h i s e x p r e s s i o n w as a t
t im e s p l a y f u l , a t o t h e r t im e s s a d .
T h e r e w a s s o m e th in g
i n th e s e t o f h is h e a d t h a t s u g g e s te d p o w e r a n d
d e c is io n o f c h a r a c t e r '.
T h is
is
o f c o u rs e
is
n o th in g
s ig n ific a n t
is
th e
p r is o n
life
D e s p ite
h is
o u t fro m
am ong t h e
a re
p e rp e tu a te d
th e
m a k e -u p
c o a rs e
th a t
s till
tr a n s c e n d s
T h is
th e
s ta te
o f th e
u rb a n
fa c e s
in to
fig u r e .
m o u s ta c h e ,
s till
a r o u n d h im
lik e
's t o o d
th e
o f s a ty rs
G e o r g e 's
and
T r a n s p la n te d
e n v ir o n m e n t o f p r i s o n ,
to
and
fe llo w
p h y s ic a l m a lfo r m ity
c o n d it io n s .
a n in d e x
th ro u g h
s e n s itiv e '
d e b a s e d v is a g e s
W hat
th e ir
in h e r e n t e v i l
p h y s ic a l
and t h is
c le a n lin e s s .
o n p h y s io g n o m y c a p t u r e s
a p p lie d
th e o ry
b o th
i n t e l l e c t w ith
o f im p e r ia l
by liv in g
G e o rg e
and fa s h io n a b le
a n ew f u n c t i o n .
c le a n
n e w ly c u r r e n t e u g e n ic
lin k in g
am ong t h e
c a rry
and c u lt iv a te d
d e lic a te ,
and e v i l
n e v e r th e le s s
e m p h a s is
in c r e a s in g ly
in t e llig e n t
u rb a n d e g e n e ra te s b o r n
in
f i c t i o n a l h e ro e s .
lo o k s
im p r e s s iv e
B e a u ty a d o p t s
c o m p u ls o r ily
is
p o p u la r
th e s e
o f fe a tu re ,
o f an A p o llo
[1 ].
c o n v ic ts
in to
s h o rn o f h is
'r e f in e d
c o u n te n a n c e
fie n d s '
w ay t h a t
as a n e v id e n t ly
b e in g
fa c e ,
new i n
c o n q u e s t)
to
fa c ia l
and to
s lu m - d w e lle r s
in
th e
th e
essence
o f th e
1 8 9 0 s w h ic h w as b e i n g
e la b o r a t io n
fo r m a tio n
th e
th e
o f a r a c ia l
(b a s e d
in
q u a s i- s c ie n tific
as a b i o l o g i c a l
s ta te
th e
s c a le
e x p e r ie n c e s
u n d e r s t a n d in g
p e rp e tu a te d b y
250
c o n d it io n s
th e
( C h a p te r S ix ) .
c o n te x t o f th e
p r is o n
o f fa ls e
im p r is o n m e n t ,
c a d g e rs
and s t r e e t - f o lk ,
h a b it a t to
p r is o n .
id e n t if ic a tio n
A t th is
seem s t o
tr a n s p la n te d
H e re a n y d o u b ts
o f c a s u a lis in g
e lim in a te d
as
th e y a re
c r im in a lit y ,
s o c ia l p a th o lo g y .
a ttitu d e s
th is
fig u r e s
and in
in
th e
w o r ld .
c a rto o n s
t h e i r p la c e
o f fo rc e d
in c lu s io n
a n y r e a d e r s e e k in g
'M IS S IN G '
th e s e
s to r ie s
r e la t io n s ,
g e n re s
in
t h a t th e
th e
th e
come t o
th e
a c h r o n ic le
th e
h is
c la s s
absence h e re ,
o f th e h o r r o r s
u lt im a t e
one a s p e c t o f th e v i s i b l e
te r m s w i t h
s to r ie s
o f p r is o n
th e
w e re
W h ile
p r o b le m s
n ig h t m a r e
of
it
c o n d it io n s
p r e s e n ta tio n
th e
ow n i n t e g r i t y ,
d e s p it e
th e s e
w as o f t e n
p r is o n
u n f it because o f
th e s e
out
couched in
'M IS S IN G '
show s a
as a m e d iu m f o r
fitte s t
c o n d it io n s ,
in
m o s t p o p u la r
m u st be p o in te d
c o n d it io n s ,
of
a tte m p ts
o f c la s s
one o f th e
s u r v i v a l o f th e b i o l o g i c a l l y
th e
u n a m b iv a le n t i n
a p a r a lle l
r e s id u u m ,
c o n d e m n a tio n o f b r u t a l
d e g e n e r a t io n o f
h a b it u a l
r e s p e c ta b ility .
u n d e r s ta n d in g
th e
to
is
a re
a b s e n c e o f w o r k in g
m a tc h e d b y
H a r m s w o r th c o m ic s .
te n d e n c y to w a rd s
th e ir
w ith
r e p re s e n ts
to
T he h e r o
th e
tr ib e
u n e q u iv o c a lly w i t h
tr e a te d
and su ch p r is o n
a m o r a lis tic
c o m p a r in g
we a r e
n a tu ra l
re s p e c t fo r
'w a n d e r i n g '
The v i r t u a l
is
M a y h e w 's
c a s t b y B o o t h 's
o f th e
id e n t if ie d
th e ir
le v e l,
n o t ju s t
lo w - life s ,
now fro m
o r M a y h e w 's
o p p o s itio n a l n a tu re
fic tio n a l
re p re s e n t a th re a t,
b u t o f e n tra p m e n t b y
c u ltu r a lly
to
s e r ia lis e d
w ith
in
m a in t a in in g
th e
c o n d it io n s
fu rth e r
[2 ].
251
'HIDDEN LONDON'
'T H E ADVENTURES OF A GENTLEMAN CADGER;
LO N DO N', h e r a l d e d
o f life
[3 ],
as a n
'in t e n s e ly
am ong t h o s e w ho l i v e
w as a v a r i a t i o n
e x p e r ie n c e s
of a
d e s titu tio n ,
in
c a d g in g
w h ic h
it
D e s p ite
in n o c e n t c o n v ic t ,
is
he passes
a ls o
th e
c o n d it io n s ,
h is
th e m e .
in
and tr u e
th e
re d u c e d
th ro u g h
th e
lik e
n o b le - b r o w e d
th e
to
th e
added b it e
p u t th e re
in v e s tig a to r
s u p e r io r ity
th e
gam ut o f
o n M ayhew w i t h
in v e s tig a te d ,
account
g re a t c it y '
C h r o n ic lin g
p r o g r e s s iv e ly
w as a n a d v a n c e
in v e s tig a to r
n e c e s s it y .
p r is o n
s ta te
in te r e s tin g
b y t h e ir w its
'g e n t l e m a n '
d e v ic e s ,
t h a t th e
o n th e
OR F IF T E E N YEARS IN HIDDEN
by
and th e
r e m a in s
in ta c t
th ro u g h o u t.
A f u r t h e r v a r ia n t on t h i s
a n e c d o te s ,
d ir e c t
b y d o c to rs
c o n ta c t w ith
and b a r r is t e r s ,
lo w - life
c o n d e s c e n d in g v e r i s i m i l i t u d e
A ll
v e ry
of
th e s e
s tre n u o u s
e ffo rts
c la im s
to
b a r r is te r s
to
c o n ta in e d
w e re h e ld
e lim in a tin g
to
s a v in g
liv e s ,
p re s e n te d
v e r a c it y
c r im in a lit y ,
of
c r im e ,
'g e n t le m a n
s y m p a th e tic
o f c o u rs e
o n a c o n t in u u m w i t h
ty p e s
s o c ia l
c a d g e r'
th is
o r ig in s
w e re u n s e l f i s h l y
d e v o te d to
'N e w g a te
fo r
w as
A n d a l l w e re
o f c r im in a lit y
new ,
-
d e d ic a t e d
ro b b e d o f p o s it io n ,
c h a ra c te r.
w as
re s p e c t).
g e n e ra l p u b lic ,
w as n o t h i n g
th e
of
T h e y made
c o lu m n i n
o f th e
in
[4 ].
'g e n t le m a n
'n e u t r a l '
c a d g e r ',
t h e m o re c o l o u r f u l
w h ic h
(th e
d o c to rs
'p r o f e s s i o n a l '
a sense
a c c o u n ts
e d ito r ia l
as s e r v a n ts
as a u n iv e r s a lly
o bse ssed w ith
t h e y w e re
th e
th e ir
of
t h o s e w ho h a v e b e e n
w e re c o n tig u o u s .
a fig u r e
s e r io u s
s e r ie s
and can b r in g
c o n s is t e n t ly b a c k e d up b y th e
T h e y a lw a y s
w as t h e
in
C a le n d a r '
a n d s e m i­
th is
sense,
( c o n ta in in g
252
th e
l a s t c o n fe s s io n s
o f im m in e n t e x e c u t i o n
c a n d id a t e s ,
o f th e m o s t p o p u la r b ro a d s h e e ts
o f th e
n in e t e e n t h
h ig h w a y m e n s t o r i e s
P u rk e s s
c e n tu r ie s ) , w ith
and o th e rs ,
u rb a n ju v e n ile
th e
c r im e ,
th e
N e w s a g e n ts '
d is t in g u is h e d
th e p re s e n c e
an in n a te
th e
e le m e n t o f t h e
th e m
fro m
o f th is
c r im in a l
th e
and e a r ly
o f L lo y d ,
C o m p a n y 's c o n c e n t r a t i o n
And as w it h
g o th ic
e a r lie r
a ll
a b o u t th e m
n a r r a tiv e
te n d e n c y
[6 ].
In
e m e rg e n c e o f t h e
th is
in
[5 ].
on
p o p u la r
th e re
W hat
h o w e v e r,
and th e
re g a rd
'd e t e c t iv e '
o f th e s e ,
f o r m u la e ,
a p p a r e n t l y n e u t r a l g u id e
m o s t o u ts t a n d in g new d i r e c t i o n
p e r io d ,
w as o n e
a nd a g r e a t d e a l o f a s s o r te d n in e t e e n t h
c e n tu r y p e r io d ic a l p r o d u c tio n s .
w as a l i n g e r i n g
e ig h t e e n t h
it
th e y
fic tio n
w e re
n o tio n
of
in d ic a te d
in
th is
g e n re .
Th e C r i m i n a l Mi n d
T h e re
c a n b e no d o u b t t h a t
p o p u la r
'd e t e c t iv e '
C h r is t m a s A n n u a l i n
re a p p e a re d
fro m
Lee
in
in
fro m
th e
th e
S w ift,
1887
u n d e r w o r ld ,
saw t h e
in
in
[7 ].
deb ut in
in
in tr o d u c e d
1893,
th e
to
'D ir k ,
la te r
ru n
th e
D og D e t e c t i v e '
a s g u id e s
e lim in a tin g
'H a w k s h a w t h e
in
1893.
D e te c tiv e 1.
S h e r l o c k H o lm e s
S t r a n d M a g a z in e
in c lu d e d
a n d N e ls o n
In
im p o r t e d
F a lc o n
T ra c k ,
a q u ilin e
to
c r im in a l
th e
it.
T h e H a r m s w o r th c o m ic s w e re n o e x c e p t i o n .
ra n
B e e t o n 1s
a n d N i c k C a r t e r w as
D ix o n H aw ke a n d M a r t i n
b u t d e d ic a te d
g r e a t w ave o f
S e x to n B la k e
L e s s e r fig u r e s
n o t m e r e ly a c t in g
fir s t
S c a r le t ') ,
o f s h o rt s to r ie s
US a r o u n d 1 9 0 0
s le u th s
S tu d y
H a r m s w o r th
Locke,
1890s
A f t e r h is
( 'A
Halfp e n n y M a rv e l
F e rre rs
fe a tu r e d
fic tio n .
a s e r ie s
1891 o n w a rd s .
th e
Illu s tr a te d
And h is
'T h e
C h ip s
T h e J e s t e r w o u ld
T w o -F a c e d M an;
o r,
253
C r im e ,
C o n s c ie n c e ,
d e te c tiv e
P eace.
and R e tr ib u tio n '
N ed C r i c k l e w o o d
is
P e a c e w as a c t u a l l y
in v a r ia b ly
E .S .
used a gun.
T u rn e r p o in ts
R oad,
Peckham '
s tra n g e
and w ith
S ig n ific a n tly ,
th is
sense,
o f s e lf - g a in ,
In
o f th e
M r.
sought its
a
b a c k g ro u n d .
H is
a re
w r itte n
te r m s
r o m a n tic
and g i r l f r i e n d
H e s te r:
th e
in
'c r im in a l'
in c lin a tio n ,
th e s e
su ch d e te c tiv e
c la s s e s
th e
s to r ie s
n o tio n
in
re n d e re d p a r t i c u l a r l y
o f th e
o f th e
show ed p o in t s
in
th e
o u tra g e o u s
fic tio n a lis e d
p ro s p e c ts
o f N ed
N ed; i s t h a t s o ? " she
h is fa c e .
"S u p p o s e he
s to r ie s
te r m s
s u s p e c ts
to
's t r a n g e ,
p r iv ile g e d
T he t e n d e n c y
a
P e a c e b e c o m e s a m o re
c la s s e s ,
' " I h a v e h e a r d h e a lw a y s s h o o t s ,
a s k e d , lo o k in g a n x io u s ly up i n t o
s h o u ld s h o o t y o u "
as
b o u r g e o is
a n d w h a t a ll o w e d h im
because
in
w as,
he c o n s titu te d
w h o s e c r im e s
a d v e n tu re s
t h a t he
T hom pson o f E v e lin a
m is g u id e d m a n '
o f h is
a re
b u r g la r
id e n t it y
p a ro d y o f th e
in v a r ia b ly
'c r i m i n a l '
re a l
th e re fo re ,
C o m ic C u t s , h o w e v e r ,
c o lo u r fu l v a r ia n t
a n o to r io u s
h is
In
f o r h e w as a l i v i n g
C h a r le s
added d is t in c t io n
r e s p e c ta b le
s u c c e e d w as a s y s te m w h ic h
lo w e r o r d e r s .
th e
C o m ic C u t s ,
o f b u r g la r
fig u r e ,
't h e
in d iv id u a lis t p u r s u it
fro m
tr a il
o u t,
[9 ],
p a ra d o x ,
on th e
a re a l
am ong L o n d o n 's w e l l - t o - d o ,
[8 ],
is
to w a rd s
o f an in n a te
'c r i m i n a l '
th e
g r o u p in g
of
c r im in a l
m in d .
In
th is
w ay
o f c o n t a c t a n d some d iv e r g e n c e s
fro m
t h e m o re u p m a r k e t d e t e c t i v e s .
T he o r i g i n a t i o n
fic tio n a l
e x p lo r e d
C ro w d '
in
fo rm
its
th e
is
o f th e
u s u a lly
p o s s ib ilitie s
la te
1830s.
'd e t e c t iv e '
c r e d it e d
in
h is
to
g e n re as a d is c r e t e
E dgar A lla n
s h o rt s to ry
'T h e M u r d e r s
in
th e
Poe,
w ho f i r s t
'T h e M an o f t h e
Rue M o r g u e ',
w h ic h
254
fir s t
a p p e a re d i n
d e te c tiv e ,
G r a h a m 's M a g a z in e
C. A u g u s te D u p in ,
d e te c tiv e s
su b se q u e n t decades
a n o ta b le
h is
e a r ly
d id a c t ic
passages
r a tio n a lit y
e x te n s io n ,
s o c ia l
to
fa ith
and a c tio n .
in
th e
te r m s
e x te n d e d b y th e
th e
't a le s
g lo s s ,
th e
th e
T h e re
lo g ic
s o c ia l
a re
d is a p p e a r e d .
In
th is ,
a n d M ayhew ,
T h is
in d iv id u a l,
of
in d iv id u a l
is
th e
u n e r r in g
'p o e t ic '
u n p r e d ic ta b le
q u a lific a tio n
c lu e s ,
g o th ic
th e
s c ie n tific
th e
we c a n s e e
th e
th a n
ca n be
th e
m u ltip lic ity
ra th e r
in f e r e n c e s
h im s e lf t o
D e s p ite
th o u g h
and b y
in
o f u lt e r io r
in s o lu b ly
im p o r ta n t p o in t s
p r o b le m a tic
g ro u p
in
Poe
o r c la s s ,
fo r m a tio n .
im p o r ta n t c o n t i n u i t i e s
Poe a n d C o n a n D o y l e 's
d e b u t th e
a s tr in g
o b s e s s io n w i t h
in v is ib le
is
o f s e e m in g ly
w h ic h
th e
(1 8 5 1 )
a new
He s t r e s s e d
[1 0 ].
o f P o e 's
fa n ta s tic .
o f th e
fix a tio n
W h ile
e x a m in a tio n ,
and d e lib e r a te
and a c tio n ,
lo g ic s ,
is
h is
F ra g m e n ts
c o n c e rn e d w it h
D ic k e n s
in
im p o r t a n t w e re
e s ta b lis h
o f m y s te ry and im a g in a t io n '.
or
B le a k H o u s e
o f fo r e n s ic
c a lc u la te d
e v id e n c e
o f c o n ta c t w ith
w ith in
w h ic h
r e a s s e m b le d f o r
o f fo rm a l
a lt e r n a t iv e
m y s te r io u s
th e
B u cke t in
A n d y e t Poe n e v e r l i m i t e d
h e w as a lw a y s
m o tiv e s ,
M r.
m e th o d s
hum an m o t iv a t io n
la te r
P u r lo in e d L e t t e r ' .
a m a th e m a tic a l s o r t o f l o g i c .
a s p e c t to
w ith in
to
re -e m e rg e
P o e 's
w e r e b y n o m eans uncom m on i n
in v e s tig a tio n .
le d u lt im a t e ly
in tr o d u c e d
w h a t made P o e 's w o r k s o
u n c o n n e c t e d e v id e n c e w e r e
m o tiv e
'T h e
on a n a ly s is ,
s c ie n tific
w h ic h
and
( D i c k e n s 's
e x a m p le ) ,
1841,
a n d h e w as t o
'T h e M y s t e r y o f M a r ie R o g e t '
f i c t i o n a l p o lic e
in
g o th ic
S h e r l o c k H o lm e s .
h a n g o v e r w h ic h
H o lm e s c a n t a l k
and d is c o n t in u it ie s
By th e
a ffe c te d
now w i t h
tim e
H o lm e s m ake s
Poe h a d a l l
a s s u re d n e s s
b e tw e e n
of
but
't h e
255
S c ie n c e
fro m
o f D e d u c t io n a n d A n a l y s i s ' , b a s e d e n t i r e l y
th e
im m e d ia te ly v i s i b l e .
but fa il
th e
to
w h o le
s le e v e
fro m
...
th e
boot
fo r e fin g e r
[1 1 ].
p e r c e iv e ,
...
a s in g le
w h o le .
T he p a t t e r n
F iv e
w h o le
is
a rg u e s ,
...
p a rt
t h e m s e lv e s :
'T h e
h is
is
fo u n d to
c r im in a l,
of
th e
'T h e
't h e
a s a n o r g a n is m
and s o c ia l
c r im in a l in d iv id u a l,
to
th e
or
C r u ik s h a n k ,
th e
M ayhew f o u n d ,
a re
c r im in a l c la s s ,
in
s a v a g e ry ,
m o m e n t,
th e
s ig n ific a n c e
re a d e r
is
it
is
in v ite d
to
For
th e
b y th e
S p e c k le d B a n d ',
e s ta b lis h e d ,
m ass.
d e te c tin g
and p u rg e
is
re p re s e n ts
th e
As M o r e t t i
(1 9 8 3 )
and in d ic t in g
o f a s o c ie ty
no
[1 2 ].
The r i d d l e
s o lv e d .
The p a r t
th e
The v i v a c i t y
c r im in a l c la s s
th e
lo n g e r
in to
n o b le
o f c r im in a lit y
m a lig n a n t
v a r ie ty ,
w h ic h
in
r a tio n a lly
w ith
th e
v a r io u s ly
d e te r m in in g
s to r y - w r itin g .
is
is
o f c r im in a l a c t i v it y .
denouem ent and r e v e la t io n
p a r tic ip a te
is^ t h e
a u n i - d im e n s io n a l, h a b i t u a l l y
in f lu e n tia l
in e x p lic a b le
of
u n c o v e re d b y Egan and
b u t a lm o s t o f t h e
o f d e te c tiv e
th e
in d ic a te d
'T h e
in n u m e r a b le m a n i f e s t a t i o n s
u lt im a t e
as
h a v in g
T h u m b ',
s o c ia l b o d y '
c h a n n e lle d
a n d fo r m
s h ir t- c u ffs '
b e tw e e n in d e p e n d e n t e n t i t i e s , b u t
C on an D o y le w as h e a v i l y
te c h n iq u e
o f h is
e q u iv a le n t to
is
of
c o a t-
w h o le .
o r g a n ic
b u t w hose e s s e n c e
its
...
m ake t h e
And once
c o m p o s itio n
s /h e
h is
c a n see
p ic t u r e
c a llo s it ie s
...
s to r ie s
e x e r c is e ,
v ic to r y
s o c i a l o r g a n is m .
in f le c te d
e a r ly
be a c o h e re n t,
o b je c t o f th e
e q u a ls
in d iv id u a l
th e
e x p r e s s io n
E n g i n e e r 's
c o n c e iv e d a s a " c o n t r a c t "
ra th e r
fin g e r - n a ils
...
e ffe c tiv e ly
O ra n g e P i p s ' , e t c .
th e
m a n 's
a c o m p le t e
n e e d n o t b e a s s e m b le d t o
H o lm e s ,
title s
'a
tro u s e r-k n e e s
a n d th u m b
The p a r t s
By o b s e r v in g w h a t o th e r s
H o lm e s c a n g e n e r a t e
fra g m e n t:
on in fe r e n c e s
th e
The c l i m a c t i c
a tta in s
a new
e x p la in e d .
a u th o r
in
th e
T he
m u tu a l
256
p le a s u r e
o f s o c ia l s u r v e illa n c e
H o lm e s r a r e l y
le a v e s
p r e fe r r in g
d ra w h i s
to
th e
th ro u g h
c o n c lu s io n s
fro m
b u t e v e n w hen he d oes
d is g u is e ,
p ro p s
H o lm e s w h o ,
th e
w ith
n e u tr a l,
w ith
and o b liq u e
a p p e a ra n c e s
th e
a p p r e c ia tiv e
o n ly
d e ta il.
th e
c a rto o n s
d e ta il
fo r
th e
g u id e
th e
lo n g ,
d e lig h t
to
its
th e
in
u n a ffe c te d
W a ts o n ,
is
c r im in a l
a p p e a ra n c e ,
in
p l a y f u l o b s e s s io n
o f ASHH a n d C o m ic C u t s , H o lm e s
p r e c is e
d e s ig n a t io n
o f h is
s u b je c ts
c la s s .
As E r n e s t M a n d e l a r g u e s ,
r e fle c ts
h is
and n a r r a to r ,
as deep as
B u t u n lik e
in
'c r im in a l'
H o lm e s .
c lie n ts '
c o n c e a l th e
fr ie n d
and i n f a l l i b l e
is
h is
e x e r c is e
s u p e r fic ia lly
C r im in a lity
uses v is ib le
to
o n ly
d is s e c t in g
u n d e r w o r ld .
o b v io u s
h is
e v e r - r e lia b le
c o m fo rt o f B a k e r S tr e e t f o r v e r y
d e s c r ip t io n s ,
th e
th e
th e
r is e
o f d e te c tiv e
fic tio n
an
'o b j e c t i v e n e e d f o r th e b o u r g e o is c la s s t o r e c o n c ile
a w a re n e s s o f t h e ' b i o l o g i c a l f a t e ' o f h u m a n i t y , o f t h e
v i o l e n c e o f p a s s i o n s , o f t h e i n e v i t a b i l i t y o f c r im e ,
w i t h t h e d e fe n c e o f a n d a p o lo g y f o r t h e e x i s t i n g s o c i a l
o r d e r ' . [1 3 ]
It
r e fle c ts
a te n d e n c y i n
b o u r g e o is
s o c ie ty
fo r
' a l l hum an r e l a t i o n s . . . t o becom e q u a n t i f i a b l e ,
m e a s u r a b le a n d e m p i r i c a l l y p r e d i c t a b l e .
They a re
b r o k e n d ow n i n t o c o m p o n e n ts a n d s t u d i e d a s u n d e r a
m ic r o s c o p e . . . ' [ 1 4 ] .
T he o b s e s s io n w i t h
common t o
th e re
n o tio n
is
a ll
d e te c tiv e
a h ig h
d e g re e
e lim in a tin g
fic tio n ,
a re v e ry
and a t i t s
o f d id a c t ic is m ,
o f a s o c i a l o r g a n is m ,
e le m e n ts
c r im in a lit y
d e fin it e ly
fro m
w h ic h
th e re fo re ,
a p o t h e o s is
is
w h ic h c e r t a i n
e x c lu d e d .
is ,
in
H o lm e s ,
b a s e d on th e
'c r im in a l'
We c a n c e r t a i n l y
fin d
257
th is
e le m e n t i n
b u t th e
th e
d e te c tiv e
f o r m a l d e v ic e s
p lo ttin g
fro m
id e n t if ie d
th e
a t an e a r ly
e x a m p le ,
has
lo c o m o tiv e
b y h is
th e
ru n s
e n g in e
s ig n a ls
s ta g e
a rc h
enem y,
a n o n c o m in g t r a i n
d id a c t ic is m ,
fro m
th e
The p r o l i f e r a t i o n
in - jo k e s
at
th e
d e te c tiv e .
M r.
d e te c tiv e s .
C h ip s
g e n re ,
in d ic a tiv e
c r im in a l
th e
o f th e
'o r g a n is m '.
n in e t e e n t h
c r im in a l
As a rg u e d
c e n tu ry
a c tiv it y ,
w o u ld a r g u e ,
[1 6 ],
and,
at
c o n s titu te s
la c k
and
o f o v e rt
o f th e
p e o p le .
tim e
w as e x t e n d e d b y
and I l l u s t r a t e d
in tr o d u c e s
q u ip s
w ith
th a t
'w e d o n ' t
o u r o ffic e
th e
th e
th e ir
th e
re a d e r,
r e v e a ls
o f th e
d e te c tiv e s
in to
th e
h is t o r y
is
of
in te g r a tio n
o f th e
s o c ia l
of
a fa s c in a tio n
o f d ir e c t io n ,
a fu r
me s o m e t h in g
s p o o fin g
e m e rg e n c e o f d e t e c t i v e
a change
lik e
1d e t e c t e d '
s c ie n tific a t io n
th e
C h ip s .
S m e lle m o u t t h e
o f th e s e jo k e
C h a p te r 4 ,
b u t th e
L u c k ily ,
C o m ic C u ts
b y c o r o lla r y ,
p e r io d ic a ls
doom .
a nd e x c lu s io n
th is
D e s p ite
in c lu d in g
in
th e
- p e rh a p s y o u ca n t e l l
fa s c in a tio n
n o n - c r im in a l c la s s e s ,
h is
w ho w o u ld a p p e a r a s
v e r y p re s e n c e
in v e s tig a tio n
o f a s p e e d in g
d e te c tiv e ,
s c e p tic a lly
w h e re a b o u ts '
to
'd e c e n t '
T h e l a s t o n e who cam e t o
about th e ir
d e te c tiv e
in
e x a m p le ,
c o a t a n d a n ew p o r t m a n t e a u
flo o r
S t o r y ',
re s c u e d b y a p a s s e rb y ,
o f d e te c tiv e s
e x p e n se o f th e
37 o f C h i p s , f o r
th e
B u t d e s p it e
of
g e n e r a lly
A D e t e c t iv e 's
a m a r g in a lis in g
s o c ie ty
o c c a s io n a l c o lo u r f u l g u e s ts
Is s u e
to
is
[1 5 ].
we c a n p e r c e i v e
c r im in a l c la s s
he
is
c a re fu l
su b se q u e n t n a r r a tiv e
and h u r t lin g
o u t o f s te a m ,
o f th e
c r im in a l
'D a n g e r !
s tra p p e d
H a r m s w o r th c o m i c s ,
In s te a d
th e
and th e
sequences.
th e h e ro
o f th e
d if fe r e n t.
fra g m e n t o u tw a rd s ,
s u s ta in e d b y a c t io n
fo r
a re
fic tio n
w ith
fic tio n ,
and th e
I
b e s t w ay
258
to
illu s tr a te
th is ,
o n c e a g a in ,
is
b y c o m p a r is o n w i t h
A lly
S lo p e r .
The m o s t o u ts t a n d in g
1880s
s u rro u n d e d
e ig h t m u rd e rs
in
th e
c r im in a l
'R i p p e r '
a ll,
in v e s tig a tio n
m u rd e rs
and th e y
o f la te
a re b e lie v e d
p e r p e t r a t e d b y o n e m an who b e c a m e k n o w n a s
to
th e
common f e a t u r e s
fa s c in a tin g
id e n t it y
n o t o n ly
w as n e v e r e s t a b l i s h e d
in e x p lic a b ly ,
c e n tu r y - o ld
g u e s s w o rk ,
in c lu d in g
as
'R i p p e r
in d u s tr y '
n o m in a t i n g
e v e ry
has
C o n a n D o y le h i m s e l f ) .
d e s tr u c t io n
e v id e n c e
o f v ita l
e ffo rt,
m u rd e rs .
t h a t th e
(In
T h e y a ls o
and le d
R i p p e r ', due
W hat is
m u r d e r e r 's
th e y c e a se d ,
th r iv e d
m e th o d s ,
th e
th is
re g a rd ,
on m o s tly
o f th e
r e v e a le d
w h ic h
o u tla n d is h
day,
th e
in v o lv e d
u lt im a t e ly
to
a
to ta l
th e
t h e ir m ost
p h o to g r a p h in g
o f th e
eyes
M a ry J a n e K e l l y ,
i n th e
a b s u rd hop e t h a t h e r
im a g e m ig h t b e r e g i s t e r e d
o n th e
r e tin a .
m u tila te d v ic t im ,
th e
th e
fa m o u s p e r s o n a g e
d e te c tiv e
k ille r 's
and th a t
T h e re w e re
have been
'J a c k
fa c t
s u d d e n ly as t h e y b e g a n .
in a d e q u a c y o f p o l i c e
p a th e t ic
th e
1888.
to
o f d is e m b o w e lm e n t i n
a b o u t th e m i s
c a s e o f th e
of
th e m o s t b a d ly
AsP e a r s a l l
re m a rk s ,
'c o m p a r e d w i t h t h e p r e s e n t p o l i c e f o r c e , t h e
M e t r o p o l i t a n P o l i c e o f t h e e i g h t i e s w as l i k e t h e
K e y s to n e C ops c o m p a re d t o t h e u n f a i l i n g h e r o e s o f
in n u m e r a b le t e l e v i s i o n s e r i e s ' [ 1 7 ] .
T he
fo r
'R ip p e r '
th e y
m u rd e rs w e re ,
t o o k p la c e
End,
at
le s s
th a n
in
W h i t e c h a p e l,
th e h e ig h t o f th e
th e re fo re ,
tw o y e a r s
a s e r io u s
m o re o v e r,
a fte r
in
th e
a p o litic is e d
h e a r t o f L o n d o n 's
u n e m p lo y m e n t a n d c a s u a l
th e
r io ts
o f 1886.
in d ic tm e n t o f th e
is s u e ,
East
l a b o u r p r o b le m ,
T hey w e re ,
flip - s id e
to
th e
p o lic e
259
r o le
in
c o n ta in in g
a te n s e
s itu a tio n
C o m m itte e s
in
d e m o n s tr a tio n s .
b y e n c o u r a g in g
th e
E a s t End.
la u g h e d o u t l o u d ,
a lie n
as
o ffe r in g
SAD M IS H A P '
' p la c e [ in g ]
jo k e ,
a ny d e g re e
[1 8 ]
s in c e
S lo p e r
is
succeeds
th e o ry
m u rd e re r,
th a t
't h e
w e l l - k n o w n m e n '.
th e o r ie s
la u g h s
com e f r o m
q u e s tio n in g
b u t th e
to
l a u g h t e r w as
s o c ie ty
to
th e
to
fro m
th e
its
c o n fu s io n .
re m a rk s T o o ts ie ,
b lo o d - h o u n d s
th e
n e v e r t h e le s s
p it c h e d
gags
r e c o g n is a b le
fo r
a r r e s t in g
C h a r le s W a r r e n ,
S ir
b a s in g
a tw is t
o ff
to
p r in te d
a r r e s t o n th e
th e
s c e n t,
th e
d is g u is e d
'A S '
'B lo o d h o u n d s
a g ib e
g e ts
on
up
subsequent
as a l o w - l i f e .
in
th e
p ro c e s s
not
a t W a r r e n 's
in
it
The
of
c a n d id a t e
a le g
w ith
fa ile d
in itia tiv e
th e h u n t.
le v e l
o f an e la b o r a t e
o f th e
p o lic e
b ro a d e r p o l i t i c a l
'd e t e c t iv e
g e n re '
we c a n s e e t h e
q u e s tio n e d b y r e a l ,
a re
(a
th e
t h a t W a rre n i s
expense
c o n n e c t w ith
fo rm ,
w ith
d o g S n a t c h e r m a k in g o f f w i t h
a t th e
a t th e
t im e w h e n t h e
a d e te c tiv e '
b o b b y u n ifo r m
fig u r e
a n d S lo p e r 's
S n a t c h e r ',
A lth o u g h
as
t h e m o s t o b v io u s b u t u n p r o m i s i n g
th e
e ffo rt,
is
g a lla n tly
S c o tla n d Y a rd
'd is g u is e d
p u t p e o p le
fa c t
o f m eat in
o f h ir in g
sh o w s A l l y
C o m m is s io n e r ,
T h is
a b u tc h e r,
s u rg e o n s ;
how
in
o f some w e l l - k n o w n
a ls o
9 .1 )
d is p o s a l o f th e
show n i n
P o lic e
b e in g
o f p r o te c t io n
r e la te s
th e M e tr o p o lita n
th a t
le d b y P u n ch ,
a p e r s i s t e n t a m b iv a le n c e
( F ig u r e
th e
T o o ts ie
b u tto n s ), A lly
a fte r
o f V ig ila n c e
T h e h u m o u ro u s p a p e r s ,
r e fle c tin g
h im s e lf a t
a u t h o r it ie s '.
lik e
fo r m a tio n
e x a c e rb a te d
th re a ts .
'A
h is
th e
fu rth e r
a n d ASHH w as n o e x c e p t i o n ,
o f a n e rv o u s v a r ie t y ,
p o lic e
The S t a r
th is
is s u e s .
c a rto o n
A t p r e c is e ly
w as e m e r g in g a s a
b a s is
p o litic is e d
in
fu n - p o k in g
o n w h ic h
e v e n ts ,
it
w as fo u n d e d
and th ro u g h
th e ir
<8n in p«t)
A L LY
8 LOPEK
8
AKT
U Pi I U IM.
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This Copy^of" ALLY S L O P E R ” carries with it the advantages of a Railway Accident Life Policy for £150.
Ihat
A
S A D
M I S H A P .
" 0 / roiiTi«* ùf im j noi to l* w m dertd a l
Papa ihouìd piace H im ttff ai thè ditpotai q f fA t Seotfand Yard m iih ù riiie i. W tiA tke knovUdjtc Ar p o tte tm
o j thè Essi o f London, A ù ketp w u rt& d iìy eccrpied, and, dùpuìted o i a detective, my P orm i hai been prow ling aòovi W Itìtcchaptt fo t te e tra i night* p o ii.
A n infortunate ott%rrencc took piace, A o tcflw , on Wednetday, tohcn tlup idfy he arretled S ir Charte* tVarrcn M m telf, Poor Papa i theory i» th a i ti U noi ai
o li un/U ctjt thè u n rd tre r, lo p%I people o ff thè »ctn t, gett up hke weil-kncien m i* . Bìoodho**dt are noi in ìt unth Snatcher."— ToO tiT*.
TH E
DREADED
M IN O R
ASSERTS
H IM S E L F ,
HUNG IN CHAINS.
lm l i f t I t i OÍ “ A L tt'S tO P « » '! H iLf-R O LTD jlT, «tu a n d »
Uba bautSínc o f " I h * rio * , O ld -F tilñ o cw d t o t u « l « r f i o »
t b r u& nr o f Ili« h o rrfb U m o n ta r o f iw o id m l c*1I«I
itici C b « l« , » h o la io r ro td « o l e * ! * i » « o í aii£ e k n u
n aliU ei im p lk a u d lo ih * r o b w r y s í P » l » r c i t o t n H e w .
A tn ò & i t h c * i hanjted fc * tfa* erirefl » t f n Ruedan* M lllt ib i
« M e r.to d R k Ii» « ì M illa th e j o y n f t r , t o h r r to d to a . Fo o t
of th e m o rd e rn » » a ra, « iter árn ih , h o o f to 'b u in a . b a i ?h*
X lÜ K a * t r * n o i, a n d t h * y *r* M ld W> ha»# b « o ao r* J o k * i
a ie w s p S s # Ihi* p oe i-m oricm t w e i a t i s i n t t h a t d r a lh ae<tofi!
lo ra ti! « Iftih fftì o o t« r r o r ,v h i i it »6* J a f k i o e , Ih e ir accorn
pjiee, n i to è o n « M ln c k « o i l b rin g m i* » a m l fo r lb* ìto o i
b t » w « J , ib i* b* d W oí M * h t befrtftì tha h o or o f b«i
eiéc o ù c m i m r « i . O o llilii tu» ft"* b o d f «•■ri* íoerwí ihrr*
iKTVp* o f » p e r cb in n * ,. " t o fnr«»Ffe
fro m '»«a
it r n i l o a in « road, h r a d « he*. M l i n r rkhm M a,
w ifeb
cra fi, i l i I io d i o f t n lK h k if, an d létJáün d m ih .’" HI* w xl*
v u ^ i f l c a l l , SKK
lochM na, b u t flu h f «n to * h n le o « 1
th e pkfcce Òf « ia c a tk > n .a l < 3 > k h « ler, and a n o n « rrw se i
“ u a s re titorfcj to p o a U rltf,
& w v n i n f to ihl* t o t
f O C W Ì iD f c tn r r ^ J o o » . A .» . M i *
A b o o l f l i m o e lh a « it tr Ih * d e » lh o< th* l » o M ltU w ,«
K w o d ìo o «tu* co mi « n o r d l o < k * i h f o r uiO tb« r W rbjrocsj
raordkr, ih e e t * e t » o il * # fo r « b l i h la do« r r ry e i j w i f * r
f& tth t e Uve o o ly fcoeooa l o f lh a E ñ » « c l) o o I o a n 3 od, iw
H 11 t o £>e lU fp O M d t h a t I b i r i d i s i , i U c h u d H a w k io t,
Figure 9.]
'A Sad Mi s h a p *
( f r o m ASHH, Ve3 . V, N o . 8 3 4 ,
260
Oct.. SO, J 8 9 8 )
261
r e fr a c tio n
in
lik e
th e
fro m
P unch to
s e n s a tio n a l n e w s p a p e r c o v e ra g e b y c h e a p n e w s p a p e rs
S t a r a n d R e y n o ld s '
ASH H .
N e w s p a p e r a n d b y h u m o u ro u s w e e k l i e s
The c o v e ra g e
o f th e
a t one l e v e l r e p r e s e n ts
a new p h a s e
th e
re a d e r b y p la y in g
m a n ip u la t io n
e n ig m a tic
o f th e
a s p e c t to
engagem ent w ith
th e
h o w e v e r,
H a r m s w o r th c o m ic s .
th e m s i m p l y
e v id e n t
in
A t th is
to
th e
p o i n t we c o u l d
c u rre n ts
a d o rn m e n t w i t h
in
d ir e c t
o f th o s e
a lie n
to
r e fin e m e n t o f th e
th e
and i t s
a b s o lu te ly
s tr e s s in g
It
th e
c a rto o n s
ir o n y
c o n s titu te s
of
th e
e le m e n ts
th a t
th is
to w a r d s
'd e t e c t iv e '
of
th e
te n d e n c y
th e
it
e x c lu d e d
fro m
in to
re v e rs e
s id e
to
th ro u g h
lo w e s t c la s s
in c lu s io n
w ay,
o f th e
a s o lu tio n
a t th e h e a r t o f th e
to
th e
fic tio n
th e
r e la te d
of a
and
u n d e fin e d
c a rto o n s ,
can be
of
th e
s o m e t h in g
tr a c k e d
we c a n p e r c e i v e
c a rto o n s :
th e
th e
a
e d ito r ia l
e x c lu s io n
a s a m ea ns o f f u r t h e r
re a d e r in
th is
t h e p r o b le m
h is t o r y
th e
p o p u lis m
th e
is
a m o re p r e c i s e
b u t w h ic h
th e n ,
fr a c t io n s
is
c r im in a lit y ,
s o c i a l o r g a n is m ,
th is
in
p ro c e s s
e la b o r a tio n
b a s e d on th e
T ha t is ,
'lo w - lif e '
In
an
o r c o m p le x ity
see th e
in c lu s iv ity
e x te n s io n s
w o u ld p r o v i d e
id e n t if y
it
u n s o lv e d ,
fic tio n .
a rg u e
'in o f f e n s iv e '.
dow n a n d e l i m i n a t e d .
a d d re s s
th e
o f a c h ie v e m e n t b y p e r s o n a l g r o o m in g
tr a n s la tio n
e n tir e ly
th e
a p o p u lis t
o f th e
d e s ig n a t io n
we c o u l d
u p m a rk e t d e te c tiv e
d e m o c r a t ic w o r l d
n o tio n
up
a s a r a t h e r m o re c r u d e v e r s i o n
th e
th e s e p a p e rs
p r o b le m .
d is c o v e r t h i s
In d e e d ,
in
s e n s a tio n a l jo u r n a lis m ,
A t a n o th e r,
a p o litic is e d
We do n o t ,
in
case.
in
m u rd e rs
p o p u lis t v is io n .
we h a v e
tr ie d
o f th e V i c t o r ia n
to
h u m o u ro u s
w e e k ly .
Our analysis also argues, however, for the inclusion
of
2 62
o f th e
w ith
fic tio n a l
th e v is u a l
V ic to r ia n
a d ia l o g u e
The
'd e t e c t iv e '
c o lu m n
e le m e n ts
o n a c o n t in u u m
p e r io d ic a l p u b lis h in g .
c o n s titu te
re a d e r.
a n d n o n - f i c t i o n a l c o m p o n e n ts
in
th e
'p r o f e s s io n a l'
a ll
e x te n s io n s
d e fin in g
o f th e
its
'C o m ic C u t s '
a d d re s s .
It,
e le m e n ts
B e in g A u g u s t t h e
a t M a r g a t e ',
in
ta k e n up w it h
o ld
to
c u s to m
o ld ,
w h ic h p r o v o k e s
p ie c e
th e
a n d th e
o f th e
e d ito r ia l
in c lu s io n
t im e
m a rk e d
in
b y w hat can
to
C h a p te r S e ven ,
can be
' ly in g
to
seen to
on h is
p o n d e r h is
" o r ig in a l" ,
e ffo rts .
be
th e
h o ld
th e
b a c k o n th e
re a d e rs '
fo r g e ttin g
The r e s t o f th e
o f th e
v o c a lis in g
a jo k e
an o a th
g a u d y a b o u t th e
a c o m p e titio n
o f th e
o f C o m ic C u ts
n e w s a g e n ts '
'p u b lic '
lo v e - le tte r
o f a lle g ia n c e
tr im m in g s '
to
o p in io n b y
fin d
th e
e d i t o r ' ; a nd th e
o f COMIC CUTS s e l f - p u b l i c i t y
M rs .
fa c e
fro m
to
d u b io u s
th is
' The W o n d e r' ;
th r e a te n in g
to
an e ig h t e e n - y e a r -
th e
'n ic e
o f th e
- le a v in g
th e
c o lu m n i s
C o m ic C u t s ;
d e ta ils
sands
in s is te n c e
b a tt le ,
s e l l H a r m s w o r t h 's n ew p a p e r ,
e ls e w h e r e ;
'p o r t r a it
a ll,
is
a r e s u r r e c t io n
ta k e
th e
e d ito r
own e a r l y
an e n c o u ra g e m e n t to
to
th e y
t o g e t h e r a s a w h o le .
jo k e s
o v e r r e fu s a ls
s o lu tio n
of
th a t
O ff ic e
above
w h e re h e h a s
o f h is
and a b i t
d e v ic e
a lo n g
[1 9 ].
m is c e lla n e o u s
tim e
lo c a tio n
p o p u lis t
e x a m in e d w a s o u r p o i n t o f d e p a r t u r e
o r ig in s
e x te n t
'g e n t le m a n c a d g e r ',
e le m e n t o f o u r c h o s e n i s s u e
o n s e n d in g
th e
c la s s
F in d y o u r w ay t o
e d ito r ia l
to
c o m ic s
d e v e lo p m e n t o f
th e
n e g a tiv e ly
T he f i n a l
is
th e
th e
c o n c e r n in g
a re
b e e x c lu d e d
T h is
in
in
and ro u n d
th e
o ffic e - b o y
in
o f a n o t h e r a m u s in g
b la c k
fo o t p r in ts
up
...
263
a n d d o w n M a r g a te p i e r w i t h
'E v e r y
re s o u rc e
d e lin q u e n t,
'n o t ic e d
d u s t-c o a t w ith
th e
jo k e
th e
c o lla r
on th e
s c ie n tific
tu rn e d u p ,
is
e v id e n tly
th e
g e n re
to
o n ly
tra c e
c lu e
th e
b e in g
w e a r in g
th a t
a lo n g
a n d a b r o a d - b r im m e d h a t ' .
o f M r.
o f th e
C o m ic C u ts h i m s e l f ,
d e te c tiv e ,
w h ile
a t th e
as
and as a f o c a l p o in t f o r p o p u la r C o m b in e d w i t h
b e a c h a t M a rg a te ,
C o m ic C u ts
c a p tio n s
own e x p e r i e n c e s
h is
tr ie d
o n th e m .
a m a te u r o r p r o f e s s i o n a l s l e u t h
in v e s tig a tio n .
in to
b e in g
s t o u t man e n t e r ,
in e p t it u d e
r e in fo r c in g
d o m in a n t f i c t i o n a l
is
in s c r ib e d
w it h o u t a v a i l ' , th e
a s h o rt,
d e s c r ip t io n
b e in g
sam e t i m e
d e te c tiv e
b u t h it h e r to
a g a te k e e p e r
The l a t t e r
o f th e
"READ COMIC CUTS"
e x te n d s
h is
th e b a c k d ro p
k n o w in g ,
o f th e
q u iz z in g
as a m y t h i c a l b i o g r a p h i c a l
ly n c h p in .
In
th e
th is
a n c h o r in g
e s s e n tia ls
a d d re s s ,
c la s s
o f a ll
b u t its
c o lu m n ,
th e
th e n ,
o th e r
a p p e a l is
we c a n s e e
c o m p o n e n ts .
c le a r ly
lim ite d
th e
T h is
to
fo c u s s in g
is
of
a p o p u lis t
c e r ta in
'p r iv ile g e d '
f r a c t io n s .
We c a n s e e
p r o g r e s s iv e
G iv e n t h e
c o m ic s
n e g o tia tio n
c o m ic s '
n o t a p p e a r to
in s ta n c e
th e s e
of
th e n ,
be e v id e n t on th e
e n tir e ty ,
a p o litic a l
s u rfa c e .
o v e r tly
p o litic a l
c le a r ly
t h e m a jo r c u r r e n t s
c o m ic s .
id e o lo g ie s ,
but I
r u n n in g
N o t re a d y !
THE WAVES' w as a n n o u n c e d i n
It
fe e l
as a
o f p o p u lis t p o lit ic s .
s ta n c e
B u t th e re
f i c t i o n a l w o r k w h ic h
p o l i t i c a l m e d ia tio n o f th e s e
- ALAS!
th e ir
th e v a r ia n t s
own s e l f - p r o f e s s e d
o f a s e r ia lis e d
'READY?
in
is
th ro u g h
th e
it
in
m ay
one
e x e m p lifie s
a ty p ic a l
th a t
is
th is
th e
its
e x p re s s e s
m o re
c o m ic s .
OR, HOW B R IT A N N IA CEASED TO RULE
is s u e
257 o f C o m ic C u ts
as
264
'a n a b s o l u t e l y n ew k i n d o f s t o r y . . .
[ t h a t ] . . . does
n o t d e a l w i t h c h a r a c t e r s a n d s c e n e s w h ic h o n l y e x i s t i n
th e w r i t e r s ' im a g in a t io n , b u t f o r e t e l l s w i t h t e r r i b l e
a n d v i v i d a c c u r a c y w h a t m ig h t e a s i l y o c c u r i f t h e
p r e s e n t c o n d i t i o n o f t h i n g s g o e s o n m uch l o n g e r ; a n d
t h e a u t h o r s o f t h e s t o r y h a v e b e e n s t u d y i n g f o r m o n th s
p a s t t h e c o n d i t i o n o f t h e v a s t h o r d e s o f u n e m p lo y e d ,
w h ic h a r e , a l a s ! e v e r y w h e r e a r o u n d u s ' [ 2 0 ] .
C o m m e n cin g i n
in
th a t
it
is s u e
258,
c o n n e c ts
m a in t e n a n c e
( v ia
th e
th e
th e
p o litic a l
navy)
c o n s i s t e n t e m p lo y m e n t ) .
r e s u lt o f B r it is h
d e c la r a tio n
s u p p lie s ,
s to ry
o f w a r b y R u s s ia
b y a c o n s p ir a c y
( B la c k )
J a k e Dean.
m e l o d r a m a ', t h e
and F ra n c e ,
o f fo r e ig n
c e n t u r y m e lo d r a m a ,
has
a p io n e e r in g
of
a ll
r e a c tio n
d is a s t e r
as
as
a
of a
c u ttin g
o f th e
s p ie s v i a
its e lf
th e
o u tra g e o u s
(th ro u g h
p o te n t ia l
th e
e ffo rt
im p e r ia l
o ff
u n e m p lo y m e n t p r o b le m
m a n ip u la t io n
D e s c r ib in g
s to ry
th e
- a c h a in
o f th e
and th e
r io tin g
c o n c e rn s
d e s c r ib e s
n a v a l d e c lin e
c o n s e q u e n t f a m in e ,
in d e e d
a n d d o m e s t ic p r o s p e r i t y
It
an e x a c e r b a t io n
w as
o f fo o d
th ro u g h
a
u n e m p lo y e d i n
th e
r in g le a d e r ,
'o u r new m y s te r io u s
c la s s ic
fe a tu re s
c o in c i d e n c e s
o f n in e t e e n t h
a nd e x a g g e ra te d
speech
and a c tio n s .
J a k e 's
w ith
b ro th e r
S a m son ,
n a v a l L ie u t e n a n t H i l l i a r d ,
B a r b e , d a u g h te r o f S t.
le a d e r o f th e
s w e a te r
w a r n in g
th e p o lic e
out fo r
e x e c u tio n b y
e x e c u tio n e r .
In
a d d it io n
c h a ra c te rs
is
B a rb e
b o th
th e
'w o r k m a n ',
a re
of
th e
th e
H ence,
to
in
h is
is
lo v e
in
w ith
M .P .
th e
fir m
E th e l S t.
The
H ouse
fr ie n d s
la tte r
is
o f Commons,
w o rk s h o p s
and f a c t o r ie s .
A fte r
p la n n e d r i o t s ,
Sam son D e a n i s
s in g le d
c o n s p ir a to r s
and Ja ke
d ra w n b y l o t
as
a m o r a l d ile m m a .
s u c h c o in c id e n c e s ,
u n u s u a lly
in
m illio n a ir e
' p e a c e - a t- a n y - p r ic e 1 p a r ty
and a n o to r io u s
h is
an h o n e s t
s tilte d .
S t.
th e
la n g u a g e
B a rb e ,
fo r
o f th e
e x a m p le ,
seen to
265
be
g a in in g
u n d u ly
fro m
in
a s o r t o f s ta g e
th e w a r,
'a s id e '
to
a c tu a lly
th e
v o ic e s
h is
g le e
o u t lo u d
re a d e r:
"T h a t l i t t l e
d a b b le o f m in e i n w h e a t w as a g o o d m o v e .
I t w e n t up a s h i l l i n g a q u a r te r y e s te r d a y .
T h is w a r
w i l l se nd i t up a n o th e r f o u r s h i l l i n g s .
H u rra h !"
T h e n t h e m en i n my b o o t f a c t o r y .
T h e y 'l l have to
come o n a t t h e w a g e s t h e y w e n t o u t a t .
T h e ir u n io n 's
b r o k e n ; t h e i r w iv e s w o n 't l e t 'e m h o l d o u t a n y l o n g e r .
H u rra h !" [2 1 ].
These a re
th e
d iffe r e n c e
te c h n iq u e
now i s
th e
a n d la n g u a g e o f 1 8 3 0 s m e lo d r a m a .
changed p o l i t i c a l
p re s e n te d as an a n a c h r o n is t ic
lib e r a lis m ,
and as
h a n g o v e r fro m
such a p o te n t ia l
d o m e s t ic a n d i m p e r i a l d i s a s t e r .
b u t c y p h e rs
fo r
fra m e w o rk .
a d re a m o f t h e
fu tu re
to
H illia r d
in te g r a tio n
common n e e d s
( s u r v iv a l and p r o s p e r ity
E m p ir e ) .
As
fo r
is
v ic tim
o f fa c to ry
B r it a in 's
in s tin c t
s w e a tin g ,
e n e m ie s ,
o f a b o rn
a h a l f - s y m p a th e tic
w ho a b u s e h i s
h it h e r to
in e v ita b le
k in d
is
a w o rk s h o p ,
T h is
in
's p r in k lin g
is ,
fic tio n a l
as o u t lin e d
in
B a rb e .
o f th e
essence,
te rm s ,
in
on S t.
a n d th e
C h a p te r S ix .
in
1895
[2 2 ] .
c h a ra c te r,
th e
Am ong th e m ,
to
b a s ic
In d e e d ,
fo r
As s u c h i t
of
th is
o r w r o n g '.
h o w e v e r,
a n a rc h y
is
an
whom a c r o w d o f a n y
th e y
tr a n s la tio n
te n e ts
'n a t u r a l
b y h u n g e r to
o n ly k in d w h e r e in
w h ic h H a r m s w o r th h i m s e l f s t o o d
P ly m o u th
th e
r ig h t
d r iv e n
th ie v e s ,
a d ir e c t
o f th e
of
c la s s e s
th ro u g h
u n r e a lis e d
l e a d e r o f men w h e t h e r f o r
re v e n g e
in ju r y
su m m a ry d i s m i s s a l a n d m a n i p u l a t i o n b y
T he u n e m p lo y e d a r e m o s t l y h o n e s t m en,
a n d m u rd e ro u s
th e
o f th e
to
he
is
and E th e l a re
a c c o r d in g
Jake,
B a rb e
la is s e z - fa ir e
added i n s u lt
S a m son ,
S t.
The
la b o u r '.
a n d e x a g g e r a tio n
's o c ia l
w as
e le c tio n
th e
fo r
r e p re s e n ts
im p e r ia lis m '
p la tfo r m
th e
T o r ie s
a n u n iq u e
on
in
in s ta n c e
26 6
o f an o v e r t
c o m ic s .
w o rth
'p o lit ic a l'
The q u e s t io n
m essage,
in
o f d e lib e r a te
c o n s id e r in g h e r e .
1895.
n e w s p a p e r,
th e
E v e n in g M a i l
to
a l o c a l m e d iu m f o r h i s
h is
C h a m b e r la in ite
s to ry
fo r
th e
p o litic a l
h e r e c o n o m ic
p o litic a l
o p p o n e n ts .
c a m p a ig n i n
Now i t
is
1 3 th ,
th e
1895
to
b u t th e
(CC 2 5 7 )
s to r ie s
a rg u e
d ir e c tly
th is
s to ry
th e s e y e a r s
c le a r ly
th e
in
th a t
it
it
is
lim ite d
a re
in c lu d e
o n ly
d e lib e r a te ly
e x c lu d e
th e
p o s itiv e
m a n ip u la b l e
v e r s io n
It
w as
convey
o f a s e r ia lis e d
W r itte n
w as a w a r n i n g
se a a n d o f th e
th e b a s is
lin k s
of
th re a t o f
o f H a r m s w o r t h 's
w ith o u t
C o m ic C u ts w as a n n o u n c e d o n
n o m in a tio n
It
to o
r e a s o n a b le
and as
to
In
its
h a n d lin g
a ll
th e
tre n d s
o r g a n ic
fo u n d e d .
th e
fo rm .
o f a n e g o tia tio n
It
s o c ia l v is io n
'u n e m p l o y a b l e ',
v is io n
o f c la s s
of
th e s e
in
th e
s p e lls
we c o u l d
It
c o m ic s
o u t m o re
o n w h ic h
is
th e
lim ite d
in
'u n e m p l o y e d ', a n d
r e p re s e n te d h e re
th re a ts .
of
same f e a r s
a d d it io n ,
c u rre n t
T h is
S ie g e
o f an o v e r t p o l i t i c a l
h o n e s t am ong t h e
b y a lie n
'T h e
su g g e st th a t
m e d ia t e d .
le g ib le
2 0 th ,
s h a re d th e
in
a m o re e a s i l y
w ill
m ost e a s ily
in
p o litic a lly
o t h e r t e x t u a l e le m e n ts
P a rty
P o rts m o u th
o rd e r to
a n d co m m en ced o n A p r i l
fo c u s s e s
s o rt o f
th is
m ake d i r e c t
s to ry
t h a t a lth o u g h u n u s u a l
th e m e ,
in
a re
S u r e ly
th e
is
k e y n a v a l p o r t o f P o rts m o u th .
s t o r y w as b e g i n n i n g .
n a v a l d e c lin e .
fo r
o f P o r t s m o u t h '.
war a t
w as e q u a l l y
i m m e d i a t e l y a f t e r H a r m s w o r t h 's
P o rts m o u th '
S ie g e
fo r
In
h e c o n c e iv e d
s u p e r v is io n ,
It
im p o s s ib le
d o c u m e n ta r y p r o o f ,
A p r il
id e a s ,
o f p r e p a r a tio n
th e
b r o t h e r H a r o ld .
c a m p a ig n .
'T h e
in
p o l i t i c a l m a n ip u la tio n
th ro u g h h is
paper e n title d
la c k
sense,
He i m m e d i a t e l y b o u g h t a l o c a l
b y B e c k le s W i l s o n u n d e r h i s
B r it a in 's
n a rro w
H a r m s w o r th w as n o m in a t e d
o n M a rc h 2 9 th ,
p r o v id e
its
c o n s titu te s
id e n t it y
as
th e
a m o re
b a se d on an
267
a b s tra c te d v is io n
e le v a t io n
o f th e
o f encoded s o c ia l
r e a d e r above th e
H e re we c a n s e e w ho e x a c t l y
is
we s t i l l
th a t
re a c h e s
m o s t.
g e t th e
im p r e s s io n
o f a c la s s
F in a lly ,
s o c ie ty
it
in n e r u r b a n d e g e n e r a t io n ,
W h a t we a r e
as h o l i s t i c
s a y in g ,
e n titie s ,
s e r ia l,
c o m ic s
th e
is
p r o b le m
to
th e
s id e
to
in
is
th a t
a v a r ie ty
th e
I
m o s t fo r m u la ic
e le m e n t o f t h e
b e lie v e
c o m ic s ,
S lo p e r c a n b e s e e n as a s o l u t i o n
r e la t io n s
c h a ra c te rs
s p e c ific
to
can be re a d
th e
18 0 s ,
to
th e
th e n
as s p e c i f i c
to
in
th e
th e
th e
can be re a d
e v id e n c e
of
r e la t io n s
th is
in
th e
t h a t we c a n p e r c e i v e
th e
th e
u n r e s o lv e d
e v o lu t io n
c o m ic s t r i p .
u n d e r s ta n d in g
th e
of
s ta b ility .
c o m ic s
o f c la s s
ir o n ic a lly
fe a rs
d is g u is e d w ay th e
Y e t d e s p it e
o c c lu d e d .
a n d we c a n s e e t h i s
th e s e
a p p e a le d
o f d is p a r a te
a g e n e r a lly
1890s.
but
l o w e r m id d l e
e m p h a s is o n i m p e r i a l
a p r o g r e s s i v e l y m o re c o m p le x e n g a g e m e n t w i t h
o f c la s s ,
c r im in a l c la s s e s .
a s w e l l a s e x c lu d e d ,
o f a n u n d e r s t a n d in g
n e v e r th e le s s
a n d on th e
s o r t o f v is io n
o th e r
in c lu d in g
o f th e
o f th e
w as
th e re fo re ,
c o m p o n e n ts , w h ic h n e g o t i a t e
p o p u lis t p o l i t i c s
it
th is
th e
th e
le v e l
in c lu d e d
th a t
in c lu d e s
in te r a c tio n
c o m ic
'9 0 s .
If
is s u e
o f th e
A lly
o f c la s s
s tr ip p e d
268
CHAPTER N IN E
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
- NOTES
"M IS S IN G 1 0 ,0 0 0 REWARD", CC 1 2 4 , p . 6 . 1 8 9 2 .
A s n o t e d i n C h a p t e r 7 , 'T h e C o n f e s s io n s o f a T i c k e t - o f - L e a v e
M a n ' ( a n e x - c o n v i c t o n p a r o l e ) w as t h e f i r s t s e r i a l i s e d
s t o r y i n C o m ic C u t s , h a v i n g p r e v i o u s l y a p p e a r e d i n A n s w e r s .
S h o r t l y a f t e r 'M I S S I N G ', C o m ic C u ts r a n a s t o r y c a l l e d
' " 5 5 " : T he G e n tle m a n C o n v i c t ' , a n d 'C o n v i c t " 9 9 " ' w as a n o t h e r
e a r l y s t o r y . T h e s e c o n v i c t n u m b e rs s e r v e t o e m p h a s is e t h e
h e r o ' s a c h ie v e m e n t i n t r a n s c e n d i n g t h e a t t e m p t e d u n i v e r s a l
h o m o g e n is a t io n a n d d e g r a d a t i o n o f t h e i n m a t e s .
F ro m t h e i n t r o d u c t o r y t o t h e s e c o n d i n s t a l m e n t . CC 2 9 , p . 2 ,
1890.
F o r e x a m p le , ' S t o r i e s f r o m a B a r r i s t e r ' s C a r e e r ', I C , 1 6 - 2 8 ,
p . 6 , 1 8 9 0 -1 8 9 1 .
One o f t h e ' S t o r i e s f r o m a B a r r i s t e r ' s C a r e e r ' , f o r e x a m p le ,
r e l a t e s t h e s t o r y o f t h e M a n n in g s w ho b u r i e d t h e i r m u r d e r
v i c t i m u n d e r a k i t c h e n f l a g s t o n e , a n a r r a t i v e w h ic h b e a r s
some c o m p a r is o n w i t h P o e 's ' T e l l - T a l e H e a r t ' , i n w h ic h
th e p a r a n o i d m u r d e r e r im a g in e s t h e h e a r t o f h i s v i c t i m
b e a t i n g b e n e a t h t h e f l o o r b o a r d s ; o r e v e n w i t h 'S w e e n e y T o d d ',
w h o s e v i c t i m s ' b o d ie s r o t t e d i n t h e c e l l a r , t h e s m e l l
c o n s e q u e n tly a r o u s in g th e s u s p ic io n s o f w o r s h ip p e r s a t a
n e a rb y c h u rc h .
A v a r i a t i o n o n t h e g o t h i c th e m e i s i n s t a n c e d b y 'D a r k
P ages fro m th e B o ok o f F a t e ', a s e r ie s o f t w o - p a r t s t o r i e s
w h ic h a p p e a r e d i n C o m ic C u ts i n 1 8 9 5 . L i k e t h e ' S t o r i e s ' i n
C h i p s , m any w e r e c o n c e r n e d w i t h t h e s o l u t i o n o f p a r t i c u l a r l y
h o r r i f i c o r m y s t e r i o u s c r im e s .
One e p i s o d e , 'A n O r d e a l b y
B l o o d ' , h in g e s o n t h e i n c i d e n t o f t h e c o r p s e a t a n i n q u e s t
b le e d in g a f r e s h on b e in g to u c h e d b y th e u n w i t t i n g m u r d e r e r ,
so in v o k in g 't h e o ld h i s t o r i c o r d e a l, w h e re b y a c c u s e d
p e rs o n s w e re f o r c e d t o to u c h th e b o d y o f th e s l a i n , a n d i f
t h a t b o d y c h a n c e d t o b le e d a f r e s h , h e ld g u i l t y o f th e d e e d '.
CC 5 3 , p . 3 , 1 8 9 1 .
T he c o n v e r s e o f t h e r u l e t h a t i n n a t e g o o d b r e e d i n g
s u r v iv e s w r o n g fu l c o n v i c t i o n i s t h a t a c r i m i n a l te n d e n c y
c a n n o t b e d i s g u i s e d . 'A n O r d e a l b y B l o o d ' i n t r o d u c e s t h e
m u r d e r e r a t a n e a r l y s t a g e i n t h e p r o c e e d i n g s , th o u g h h e i s
n o t i d e n t i f i e d a s s u c h u n t i l t h e e n d . H is i d e n t i t y , h o w e v e r ,
is h in te d a t t h u s :
' I n e n t e r in g th e c o u r t I a c c id e n t a ll y j o s t l e d a g a in s t a
man whom, f r o m h i s a t t i r e , I s h o u ld h a v e j u d g e d t o b e a
g e n tle m a n , b u t t h a t h e r e s p o n d e d t o my im m e d ia t e
a p o lo g y w i t h a s c o w l a n d a n i l l - m a n n e r e d i m p r e c a t i o n . '
7.
8.
9.
10.
E . S. T u r n e r ( 1 9 4 8 ) , Bo v s W i l l b e B o y s , p p . 1 1 7 - 1 6 4 .
Com m enced i n CC, 1 1 5 , p . 7 , 1 8 9 2 a n d c o n t i n u e d t h e r e a f t e r i n
IC 1 0 0 , p . 7 , 1 8 9 2 .
T u rn e r (1 9 4 8 ), op. c i t . , p . 61.
E d g a r A l l a n Poe ( 1 9 6 2 ) , 'T h e P u r l o i n e d L e t t e r ' , i n E d g a r A l l a n
P o e: S e le c te d S t o r ie s a n d P oem s.
Poe m a ke s a s i m i l a r a n a lo g y
i n 'T h e M u r d e r s i n t h e R ue M o r g u e ', b e tw e e n t h e c h e s s - p l a y e r
269
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
and th e w h i s t - p l a y e r .
A r t h u r C o n a n D o y le ( 1 9 7 4 ) , A S t u d y
in S c a r le t,
p . 29.
F . M o r e t t i ( 1 9 8 3 ) , S ig n s T a k e n
f o r W o n d e r s ,p . 1 3 5 .
E rn e s t M an de l (1 9 8 4 ), D e lig h t f u l M u rd e r: A S o c ia l H is t o r y o f
t h e C rim e S t o r y , p . 8 .
I b i d . , p . 16.
IC 4 0 , p . 6 , 1 8 9 1 .
IC 3 7 , p . 2 , 1 8 9 1 .
P e a r s a ll ( 1 9 8 3 ), o p . c i t . , p . 3 79 .
ASHH, N o . 2 3 4 , p . l . O c t o b e r 2 0 , 1 8 8 8 .
I n s p it e o f th e e a r ly p la g ia r is m s a nd b o rro w e d s t o r i e s i n th e
c o m ic s , we c a n s e n s e t h a t t h e s t o r i e s w e r e i n c r e a s i n g l y
w r i t t e n e s p e c i a l l y f o r th e m , a n d i n som e c a s e s t h e e d i t o r i a l
v o ic e i s e x tr e m e ly o v e r t .
T h is a s p e c t re a c h e s a p e a k
i n C o m ic C u t s ' ’ T h e B lu e Room M y s t e r y ' w h i c h , i t w as
c l a i m e d , w as w r i t t e n b y t h e e d i t o r h i m s e l f .
L e t t e r s w e re
a c t u a l ly i n v i t e d fro m r e a d e rs p r o p o s in g a s o lu t i o n t o th e
m y s te ry , and p r iz e s o f f e r e d f o r c o r r e c t a n s w e rs .
R e s u lts
w e re g i v e n i n CC 3 0 4 , p . 3 , 1 8 9 6 , th o u g h t h e a n s w e r w as n o t ,
o f c o u r s e , p u b lis h e d .
I n CC 3 0 2 , 1 8 9 6 , t h e e d i t o r c l a i m s a
s u b s t a n t ia l c i r c u l a t i o n in c r e a s e th r o u g h i t s in f lu e n c e , and
e v e n c la im s t o h a v e r e c e iv e d l e t t e r s fr o m r e a d e r s s h a r in g
th e c h a r a c t e r s ' nam es.
T h i s j o k e y c h u m m in e s s w i t h t h e
r e a d e rs i s p a r t o f th e l i m i t e d d ia lo g u e e s t a b lis h e d w i t h th e
r e a d e r s h ip .
CC 2 5 7 , p . 7 , 1 8 9 5 .
CC 2 5 9 , p . 7 , 1 8 9 5 .
R e g i n a ld P o u n d a n d G e o f f r e y H a r m s w o r th ( 1 9 5 9 ) , N o r t h c l i f f e ,
p p . 1 8 1 -1 9 0 .
270
PART IV
C h a p te rs
fir s t
Ten,
r e g u la r
E le v e n a n d T w e lv e
e x a m in e
c o m ic
th e
s tr ip s
a r g u m e n ts p r e s e n t e d h e r e
c o n tin u e
th e
th e
c o m ic s
w ith
th e
o f th is
tre n d s
in
th e
T h e re
'9 0 s ;
h is t o r ic a l
h o w e v e r,
in
is
th e
to
fa n ta s tic
th e
q u ite
an in c r e a s in g
s p e c ific ity
s p e c ific a lly
to
m is c e l la n e o u s
te n d e n c y
fig u r e s ,
a d v e n tu re s .
th e
s o c ia l
d ia lo g u e
The m an ne r
th e s e
e a r lie r
th e
fo r m u la ic
to w a r d s
in
r e a lity
Y e t we c a n i d e n t i f y
te n s io n s
o f th e
s o c ia l p o s it io n in g
at
a p a ir
th e
th e
o f tr a m p s ,
o f how th e y
id e o lo g y
in
r e in fo r c e
th e ir
of
e a r ly
a fe e lin g
1890s
o f th e
and
an
and
'lo w e r
in
h u m o u ro u s p e r i o d i c a l p u b l i s h i n g
s o c ia l o r ig in .
d e v e lo p m e n t o f
lo o k s
r e p r e s e n ta tio n
fig u r e ,
c la s s
ty p e s
They a re ,
to w a rd s
fo r
in
th e
th e
and f ig u r e s
th e re fo re ,
s tr ip
c h a ra c te r
o f a c a s u a l la b o u r e r ,
b y c o n tra s t,
g u is e s ,
s t a n d m id - w a y b e tw e e n a n o l d e r
t h e m o d e rn c o m ic
a t an a lt e r n a tiv e
m o st o u ts ta n d in g
o f s u p e r io r ity
te n d e n c y
o f r e c o g n is a b le
c h a ra c te rs .
and l a t e r
is
in d e te r m in a te
t h a t th e y
th e
It
r e p r e s e n ta tio n
a rg u e d
e a r lie s t r e g u la r
re a d e r.
th is
th e
of
c la s s '.
C h a p t e r E le v e n a n a ly s e s
T w e lv e
fro m
s tr ip s
e le m e n t s
c o n tin u e
d is t in c t
The
t h a t th e s e
no d ir e c t r e f e r e n t s
p r e c a r io u s
C h a p te r T en lo o k s
th e
o n w a rd s .
fir s tly ,
and t h a t th e y
is
o f ty p e s w it h
in c r e a s in g ly
te r m s
m id - 1 8 9 0 s
tw o fo ld :
e s ta b lis h e d
e a r ly
d ia lo g u e ,
r e p r e s e n ta tio n
m id d l e
a re
e m e rg e n c e o f t h e
r e a d e r c o n c e r n in g h i s / h e r s o c i a l l o c a t i o n .
e le m e n t s .
in
fro m
th e
a h a r b in g e r o f
c h a ra c te r.
to
th e
C h a p te r
tra m p ,
a n d e x a m in e s
of
th e
d id n o t becom e a s ta n d a r d
a
re a s o n s w hy
fig u r e .
271
CHAPTER TEN
THE EMERGENCE OF THE COMIC S T R IP :
CHUBBLOCK HOMES TO THE "WORLD
FAMOUS TRAMPS"
It
w as f r o m
'c o m ic
th is
s tr ip s '
m is c e lla n it y
and c h a ra c te rs
d o m in a n t e le m e n t i n
th e
s tr ip s
a ll
th re e
c a r r ie d
to
th e
c o m ic s
fro n t-p a g e
b a c k p a g e a n d a fe w
c o n s tru c te d ,
w hen th e
t h e y w e re v e r y
q u ite
absence
m an y c a s e s
S equences
o n ly
o f th re e
a re
own,
so t h a t s u c h p a ra g ra p h s
th is
a w k w a rd n e s s
s te m s
in s id e
s tr ip s
c o m ic s
fro m
e ig h t
1900
c o m p e tito r s
th e
fa c t
th e re
o n th e
th a t
fro m
th e
o u ts e t.
and c le a r ly
r o le .
a p p e a re d i n
th e y w e re
fr a m e s ,
to
e s s e n tia l.
fa c t
th a t
th e
th e y w e re
fo llo w
We c o u l d
s tr ip s
1893,
fo r m a lly
d ia lo g u e ,
sp ee ch and th o u g h t b a llo o n s .
a re
in
w as n o
in c lu d in g
d if fic u lt
of
s e lf - c o n ta in e d
and s tr ip s
p a ra g ra p h s ,
q u ite
th e
th a t by
a m in o r s u p p o r t i n g
to
th e
pages.
w as
seen,
M ost s t r ik in g ly ,
d e s c r ip tiv e
p ic t u r e s
in
as
le a s t one s t r i p
e c o n o m ic a lly
c h a ra c te rs
o f b y n ow f a m i l i a r
th e
th e
w e re q u i t e
c a p tio n s
fa c t
as c o h e r e n t,
in
r e g u la r
m id - 1 8 9 0 s
o f h is
at
A s we h a v e
th e
The c e n t r a l i t y
th e
o n th e
o f th e s e
a ll.
d if fe r e n t.
a w k w a rd .
u s u a lly
q u a lifie d
r e g u la r
s u p p o rte d b y la r g e
th e
at
in d e e d ,
u s in g
th e
a n d th o s e
s tr ip s ,
o f c a rto o n n a r r a tiv e s
M an y o f t h e s e ,
H o w e v e r,
title s
fe a tu re
th e y h a r d ly
p ic t o r ia l n a r r a tiv e s
s h o rta g e
ca n be gauged b y
s m a lle r s t r i p s
The o u t s t a n d in g
m any c a s e s
e m e rg e d f r o m
th a t
th e s e h u m o u ro u s w e e k l i e s .
o f H a r m s w o r t h 's
fu ll
o f c o m p o n e n ts
in
In
on t h e i r
a rg u e
th a t
d e v e lo p e d
272
m o re f r o m
c a p tio n s
gags.
th e
s tru c tu re
th a n
T h is
th e
o f in d iv id u a l
n e a tly
c a rto o n s
and e d it o r ia l
a s s e m b le d s e q u e n c e s b a s e d a r o u n d v i s u a l
d e v e lo p m e n t,
m o re o v e r,
encom passed b o th
fo rm
and
th e m e .
T he a c c o m p a n y in g p a r a g r a p h s
fu n c t io n
E ig h t.
o f th e
e a r ly
They r e in fo r c e
s e lf - r e f e r e n tia lity
T h e ir s t r u c t u r e ,
sense,
c o n v e r s a tio n a l,
r e g u la r
th e m e ,
c h a ra c te rs
fo r
th e re fo re
p r e c is e
th e y
on th e
f a ilin g
m is e r a b ly
c h a ra c te rs
s ta n d in g
above
th e
th e
to
to
n e g o tia tio n ,
th e
fo r
s o c ia l
th e
to
r e v o lv e
h a rd
to
p in
of
re a d e r.
te n s io n s
o f th e
is
as
c e n tu ry
1890s
a re
e x te n t
and
'c la s s l e s s n e s s 1 .
fig u r e s
ego as
th e s e
som ehow
The m o s t
s tr ip s
th e
c e n tr a l to
o f th e
a
th is
dow n,
T o g e th e r,
d if fe r e n c e .
te n s io n
in
th e re
th e
s o c ia l
r e a d e r 's
tr a m p
th e ir
c o m ic s ,
a ro u n d
S lo p e r t o
n o r m a lit y .
th e
in
The
A lth o u g h
m a r g in a lis e d
n in e t e e n t h
re a d e r,
th e
o f th e
in
th is
't y p ic a l'
d e v e lo p m e n t c a n b e r e a d b o t h
th e
a d d re s s
a new d e m o c r a t ic
d e v e lo p m e n t o f t h e
th e h i s t o r i c a l
in
A lly
is
e s t a b lis h m e n t o f th e
h u m o u ro u s j o u r n a l
s p e c ific
a re
l e v e l o f c la s s
T h is
th e
C h a p te r
speech to
c o m p o n e n ts
fro m ,
w ith
m a s s a g in g
a s p e c t o f th e
fig u r e .
e x te n s io n
in
e d ito r ia l
a c o n s tr u c te d n o tio n
c o n fo r m
in
and re a d e r.
a d v e n tu re s
id e n t it y
o th e r han d,
fu n c t io n
s ig n ific a n t
is
s o c ia l
to
a s r e v ie w e d
e d it o r h im s e lf .
c o n tin u o u s
r e in fo r c e
O th e rs ,
s tr ip
th e v a r io u s
th e ir
e x te n d
n o t s o m uch s e q u e n t i a l a s ,
and e x c lu s io n
now ,
som e a r e
th a t th e ir
re g a rd
is
a s p r o m is e d b y t h e
s tr ip s
use o f d ir e c t
b e tw e e n e d i t o r
in
in c lu s io n w it h in ,
u n iv e r s e
c a p tio n s
and t h e ir
as
th e s e
a p s e u d o - in tim a te
th e re fo re ,
f u n d a m e n t a l th e m e ,
th e
c a rto o n
in
c o m ic
as a n a tu r a l
th e
cheap
and as h i s t o r i c a l l y
-
it
w as a f o r m
e n d u r i n g p r o b le m s
of
of
'c a s u a l
273
la b o u r ',
th e
'r e s i d u u m '
a nd th e
c r im in a l
th r e a t to
s o c ia l
s ta b ility .
T h is
th e
a rg u m e n t i s
s tr u c tu r a lis t
b r ie f ly
in
'c la s s ic
r e a lis t
fo r m a tio n .
w ith
w ith
to
to
fo r m s
th e
th e
th e
n a r r a tiv e
w hose e v o lu t io n
in
fo rm
c e n tu ry .
of
th e
th e
to
[1 ].
is
r e a lly
be
n a r r a tiv e
is
o f th e
1940s
B r itis h
seen to
be
at
t im e
m o re t h a n
th is
an is s u e
w as f a r
g e o g r a p h ic a l s p e c i f i c i t y
th e
a ls o
s u b je c t.
h is
w o rk
to
s tr ip s
c o m ic
a c tu a lly
'S t e v e
t h a t th e
cannot
s tr ip
a u n iv e r s a l s ta n d a rd .
is
a n e x te n s io n
t h a t e v e r y fo rm
te r m s
of
its
of
o f th e
'p o p u la r '
h is t o r ic a l
and
books
assess
th e
o f th e
id e a s
o f D e n is
and a r t ic le s
c o n s titu te
c o m ic
in
s tr ip s
th is
G iffo r d
th e
in
n o w a y a c a d e m ic
- m o re a f o r m
o f n a tio n a l
n o s ta lg ia
-
it
is
w o rk t h a t
s tr ip s
been seen
[3].
th ro u g h
is
th is
im p o r ta n t ,
th e
th e re fo re ,
to
have
r e v ie w
on
o n ly
p e r io d .
is
It
T h is
[2 ].
a q u e s tio n in g
G if f o r d 's
e x te n d e d e f f o r t
It
fa r,
c o m m u n ic a tio n m u s t b e r e a d i n
is
fr o m
o f fo rm .
th u s
m a in t a in e d h e r e
a n d t h a t th e
s tru c tu re
is
C a n if f 's
a n d A m e r ic a n c o m ic
in t e r lin k e d ,
a r g u m e n t as e l a b o r a t e d
T h is
It
s o c ia l
a n d th e
s o c ia l
S uch an a n a l y t i c a l d i r e c t i o n
C anyon'
tr a je c to r ie s
c in e m a ,
c a p ita lis t
o f M ilto n
th e
n in e t e e n t h
m ig h t e q u a l l y b e r e a d
a n a ly s is
in
th e
th e
c a p ita lis t
s u g g e s te d b y U m b e r to E c o 's
s tr ip
of
US h a s h i s t o r i c a l p a r a l l e l s
d e v e lo p m e n t o f H o lly w o o d c in e m a ,
tw e n tie th
te n e ts
id e n t if ie d
h a s b e e n e x te n d e d
as a h a r b i n g e r o f a m o re e s t a b l i s h e d
th e
has
e s ta b lis h m e n t o f
a n a ly s is
b a s ic
o f c o m m u n ic a t io n a s o u t l i n e d
S t r u c tu r a lis m
t e x t ',
T h is
s tr ip ,
th e
a p p ro a c h
C h a p t e r T w o.
c e n tu r y n o v e l,
c o m ic
a c h a lle n g e
W h ile
th u s
th is
fa r
w o rk
in
274
n ow a s a m eans o f d e v e lo p i n g
c o m ic
s tr ip s
in
"H a p p y D a y s :
D e n is
in
th e
th e
o v e r v ie w s
a b s tra c ts
m is c e l la n e o u s
r e g u la r
d e v e lo p i n g
H e n d e r s o n 's
th e
in
fro m
Funny Folk s
s tr ip s ,
G iffo r d
c o lle c to r s .
n u m b e rs ,
p r ic e s
c ir c u la tio n
and in
H is
is
a ra c y
a re
( o r ig in a l
s ty le
c o re
fro m
of
th e
'9 0 s .
o f th e
He s e e s
th e
title s
o f th e
in f lu e n c e s
o f Ja m e s
c a r r ie d
a n d ASHH ( 1 8 8 4 ) ,
G iffo r d
c o n te x t o f th e
H a r m s w o r th
w h ic h
s tr ip
in fo r m a tio n .
fir s t
as
o c c a s io n a l,
w h ic h
c a r r ie d
b u t no
th e
c h a ra c te r.
fu ll
o f c o m ic s w ho w r i t e s
o f fig u r e s
and f o r
- d a te s ,
p r o s p e c tiv e
u n in te r r u p te d
fo r
fe llo w
is s u e
c o lle c to r s ) ,
e v e n t h e p h y s i c a l d im e n s io n s
and F unny F o lk s , he w r it e s
c o m ic
th e
a c o lle c to r
books
fig u r e s ,
e a r ly
in
(1 8 7 5 ),
r e g u l a r w e e k ly c a r t o o n
D e n is
s tr ip
th e
a c o m b in a t i o n
d e v e lo p m e n t o f t h e
lim ite d
c o m ic
and c h a ra c te rs
r e g u la r p i c t o r i a l
fir s t
o f th e
a v e ry
p e r io d ic a l
s tr ip s
f o r my own a n a l y s i s
" F u n n y W o n d e rs "
1 8 9 0 s w o r k fr o m
in v a r ia b ly
b a s is
1890s.
G if f o r d 's
G if f o r d 's
th e
b y c o m m e n ta ry .
of
th e
On A l l y
c o m ic
-
S lo p e r
th a t
'H e w as t h e f i r s t t o a p p e a r i n c o m ic b o o k f o r m a t ( A l l y
S lo p e r : A M o ra l L e s s o n , a p a p e rb a c k r e p r i n t c o l l e c t i o n
o f 2 16 p a g e s a n d 7 50 p i c t u r e s w as p u b l i s h e d i n N o v e m b e r
1 8 7 3 , p r i c e o n e s h i l l i n g ) , t h e f i r s t t o h a v e h i s ow n
c o m ic p a p e r ( A l l y S l o p e r ' s H a l f - H o l i d a y p u b l i s h e d
w e e k ly f r o m 3 M ay 1 8 8 4 ) , a n d t h e l o n g e s t l i v e d i n c o m ic
h i s t o r y ( t h e l a s t r e g u l a r H a l f - H o l i d a y w as o n 29
S e p te m b e r 1 9 2 3 , t h e v e r y l a s t p u b l i s h e d i n S c o t l a n d i n
1 9 4 9 ) [ . . . ] I t w as Ja m e s H e n d e r s o n w ho u n f o l d e d t h e
a v e r a g e s i x t e e n p a g e s i n t o a n e ig h t - p a g e t a b l o i d , 1 1 x 1 6
i n . , a n d c a l l e d h i s f i f t y - f i f t y c o m b in a t i o n o f t e x t a n d
c a r t o o n s F u n n y F o l k s , 'A W e e k ly B u d g e t o f F u n n y
P ic t u r e s , Funny N o te s , F un ny J o k e s , F unny S t o r i e s '.
One p e n n y e v e r y M o n d a y , N o . I w as p u b l i s h e d o n 12
D ecem ber 1 8 7 4 , and c a r r ie d a n e d i t o r i a l i n t r o d u c t i o n i n
v e rs e ' [4 ].
275
He explains that
'c o m ic s a r e a c o n t i n u i n g s a g a , a n d t h e r e l i e s t h e r u b :
t h e r e i s n o p o i n t i n t h e i r h i s t o r y w h e re we c a n p i c k u p
a p a r t i c u l a r p a p e r a n d p r o c l a i m i t 'C o m ic N u m b e r O n e '
[ . . . ] T h i s m ake s c o m ic s i n t r i g u i n g t o t h e h i s t o r i a n ,
i n f u r i a t i n g t o th e c o l l e c t o r ' [ 5 ] .
T he h i s t o r y
to
th e
lis t
m ay b e
c o lle c to r
o f title s
T h is
a
th e
B r itis h
a n d n u m b e rs
s o rt o f
e n t e r p r is e ,
of
th e
[6 ],
o f th e
som ehow t a p
c o m ic
a v e in
be
of
is
c o m b in e d w i t h
o f a c o m m e r c ia l,
He i n s i s t s
is
a p e c u lia r b ra n d
T he se a re w ra p p e d up
c o rp o ra te
t h a t th e
b u s in e s s ,
e n te r p r is e
c o m ic s w e r e
B r itis h
h is
v e r s io n
m e d ia t e d b y
th e
i m p l ic i t n o tio n
o f h u m o u r.
s tr ip
c h a ra c te rs
't r a d it io n a l'
th e
'9 0 s
s y m b o ls
o f th e
The m a jo r t y p e s ,
in
as
p a tr io tis m ,
in
sense
of
- a n e n d le s s
s o u g h t and c o lle c t e d .
't r a d it io n '.
B r itis h
'in f u r ia t in g '
o f p le a s u r e
a nd e a ch s ta g e
c o m ic s
'n a t io n a l'
to
s o u rc e
on fo rm
and a n o tio n
h u m o u r'
e v o lu t io n
h is
in s t it u tio n .
'B r it is h
s ty le
a ls o
'n a t i o n a l i s a t i o n '
'B r it is h '
of
is
c o n c e n tr a tio n
o f n o s ta lg ia
in
'i n t r i g u i n g ', b u t w hat is
a re
of a
e v e n th e
seen to
h u m o u r t h a t w as a l r e a d y
th e re .
The m a s te ry a n d s t a n d a r d is a t io n
a t tr ib u t e d
to
p a r tic u la r ,
th e
'9 0 s ,
m a in s t a y s
B o rn
th e
Tom B ro w n e .
B ro w n e
is
o f B r itis h
in
a p p e a re d i n
n o te s
in d iv id u a l
'g e n iu s ',
have
hum our in to
in
1870,
Jam es H e n d e r s o n 's
p r o p h e t ic
and to
The m o s t p r o l i f i c
d ee m e d t o
N o t t in g h a m
o f th e
title ,
c o m ic
one a r t i s t
a s ta n d a rd ,
S c ra p s
is
a r tis t
of
tr a d itio n a l
la s t in g
fir s t
fo rm
in
and im ita te d
r e m o u ld e d t h e
B r o w n e 's
s tr ip
shape.
p u b lis h e d w o rk
o n 2 7 th A p r i l
'H e Knew How To Do I t '
1889.
[7 ].
G iffo r d
B ro w n e
INNOCENTS OU THE RIVER.
F i g u r e 30.3
» I n n o c e n t s on t h e r i v e r '
(from IÇ 898,
p . 3 . 3 896')
276
ADVENTURES OF CHUBBLOCK
HOM ES AND
• D E 'f f c C t J V E .
-Vis
*■/>tV ‘
O u l W o c i H c 'W ", tH* i f r t t ¿ e le c tiv e , Ji*d !m iu<d « » a n lh ia g . i i n u E*rap* to toal
t* . b o t h a M v « r h ttn tc d JfcUl* [*i p ic * b e / o r t “ f i a d him !—o u r A d e l f * — nmr U lli*
chcrnl»— « d g r * * l ttw * rd * *n* Tunri 1 T h i t 'f hi* p»ct*» t ' l i t S h ir k mUT It f " Ho
'Urt fC E r d lia d A4ofpJn IM B o b j T iR .’
TW
?
; < i..
i«t
1 * H o , tt> l* M ld r tw f c u s w id f e « / m*o " I L*.fl bM cooked your lJttt*
K » * im a go by wW> b i s tow*rd* 0 * dog pH ow ,* T b it wai enough. On w
Hoirta« t a d S h ir t. T h* o « s f ot Adolpfc * u llr a d ; « lie rode.
•
vT ’VV
Figure 30.S
» A d v e n t u r e s o f C h u b b ] o c k Homes a n d S h i r k
t h e dog d e t e c t i v e '
( f r o r r PW 2 3 9 ,
p . ] , 3 897^
277
r*i«
Figure ]0.3
' A d v e n t u r e s o f Chubb! o c k Hornes a n d S h i r k on
t h e s c e n t o f Rabez J aH fo ur *
( f r o m CC_ 2 5 6 . p . o , ] 8 9 5 N
|
U G G L E T P .
E P H R JA M
IR A T E . / W
BRQfiDB
THINGS
I. A torrible s' >nn wa* ranin^ %t Ephriatn'i birthplace,
and tho townapeo, Jo word alarmed for tho pafoty of the boats.
'•Only ono thing for ¡ t j ” yelled Epbriam to the Idayor.
" Pour oil o h tbo troubled water."
¡i. Tho Muyor happened to be nti oU-mert'heisl, and bo be
took Ephrianva tip, and altogether they s p i l t a b o u t a
thousand gallons Oil tho Wave«- it had iho desired efl'oct,
_
•I l.d j
where Ephriam cawo in. As soon u tho
Dtl>ri had cleared off, he scooted d^wn to the beach, got his
boab, end «cooped in gallon after gallon of the olì, for, oj you
know, oil always Coats ati tho top of water.
4- Ho made a good bid out of it; but, of cour^c» ho murò
needs go and spoil bimeelf by being greedy. He badn’o goo
enough to satisfy himself, so ho wont up to the Mayor uguin.
''Thnre’i another storm a-coini»’, nnd wo wants more oil,” ho
eajd. Ho didn't got it—the Mayor hod been watching him.
though,
F i g u r e 10.4
»Ephriarn B r o a d b e a m e r . . . . 1
( f r o m FW 8 8 4 , p . 4 , 3 898')
878
f, " See litíro," -ini llimin (I. lío-* io ihn City man, " tJioro'A
)»ui<¡d hunsuiu in \our Imck ”nu|i>n nt» lincilo-•<-fluiti*)1of it,
* :iminr>n cheque for
ant! i'll (jivc ,VOii ilio jdaii, l’vo roí
ter rniclt a train/*
*
I
*'Ua-lia ! nul rae," InugliocI tlm City mim.
■ 2. Hirrttn *A
vrho wm not tu'bo Unti. 111 miliar e*lculftto J li
httre te iitftfco it Utilt fv"lcr !or lilin/1 fio muimured- So ho
taughtàLeui ,/ho l«bx1'wnrth <>f UrûW courtier*, and burini
ilitìn-in M'It oìmjs'j« bavfc uafdçn.
«61 rilj«*rtfft1, ‘
-i';
IÎ(rim iùrtifti up ]it ticni Ci(3r mnn*n offlcn,
i!. Ariti presently, two irnjm oí boy« «'Rino miti diufe off thè i l^inid t “ 8«J, Jlnlwck
I Ï iftliwsd Mint train; but if you'll
box with those counter*, and loot it wvnv, nini ih it« Jjlfioè ' ■
thoIfitÄ.UlPwlnutfl Iíhown you thdpnld, I'll tulio ver
1tui n luix they hod borrowed Irom their liltJa ijt-ollief/wtifi win
putidi aMi holdtho Untarti wl.ll^vor
it.*'
finin honv\
\*£Flwi>i uoitätV
MlöCHtjr nltti. MHaven cijjar.
G, M I h i , h o i ' ’> n u l t h o l i l y m a i l , 0 i h o È 4 ÎU ,
r e d . r^r! y o l t l : ” w l n n i ln* d u « t i p ih«> l* o s ,
**« ïn t Ih m . C-VM'i 11« n o ( * > s ‘ u n id T f i r w » .
K o ; i t W M a n i i t l y , ttg 1 y ff
" r*-i.'otdv not in timlo the i,ì»ì '*I». went ontheCifjr'tttfto,
" and wraith i> mine, beyond ihe itimra *jf>1 policeman1"
Figure ]0.5
’Hi r am B. B o s s ’
( f r o m FW 8 5 9 ,
5,
279
]898i
tcnjift had bortowod from tonte
M y l UidfVt-
\)k v a
a happy, h r tp p v
lim o *
F ig u re 30.6
»A s h o c k f r o m a t e l e g r a p h p o l e 1
( f r o m CC 8 5 6 ,
p . 8,
3 895)
Figure 30.7
»Mr. Comic C u t s * new c f f i c e - d e s k *
( f r o m CC 8 8 2 ,
p.3 , lass'!
280
281
la te r
to
a n s w e r e d H a r m s w o r t h 's
s u b m it w o r k r e g u l a r l y
's e t '
fo r
C h ip s
( F ig u r e
1 0 .1 )
c a p tu re
a h o rs e
T he h o r s e
th e
c a n a l.
G .H .
has
to
re a c h e s
c o n s e q u e n tly
tw o
to w
C o m ic C u ts
1896 e n t i t l e d
tr a m p s ,
th e ir
G iffo r d
w hose
th a t
s e a le d
on th e
and T ir e d
r o w in g b o a t dow n th e
th e
o u t o f th e w a te r and th e
in tu itio n
and began
B r o w n e 's
'I n n o c e n t s
W e a ry W a d d le s
s to le n
has w r itt e n
a r tis ts
a nd C h ip s .
a s te e p b a n k a t a b r id g e ,
lifte d
C a n tle ,
fo r
o n M ay 1 6 ,
[8 ]
a d v e r tis e m e n t f o r
it
w as
th e
boat
tr a m p s
th e
fa te
R iv e r '
T im m y ,
c a n a l.
is
o v e rtu rn e d
c u rre n t
o f th e s e
in
e d ito r ,
fig u r e s :
'S e n s i n g s o m e th in g e t e r n a l i n t h e s e c a s u a l l y - c r e a t e d
c h a r a c t e r s C a n tle c a l l e d f o r m o re , a n d th e a r t i s t [ . . . ]
c h e e r f u lly o b lig e d ' [ 9 ] .
E ls e w h e r e h e e x p l a i n s
f a n c y ', and th e
th e
w h o le
th a t th is
same c h a r a c t e r s
f r o n t page and to
th o u g h u n d e r th e
s lig h tly
T ir e d
la s te d
T im , w h ic h
12,
1953.
th e
c h a ra c te rs
s c e n a r io
D e s p ite
re a p p e a re d o n Ju n e
com m ence a s e r i e s
g e n iu s .
u n til
B r o w n e 's
th e ir
e a r ly
w e re c o n tin u e d
w a n te d t o
T h e g e n iu s ,
be'
G iffo r d
th e
a c k n o w le d g e s
s tr ip
e a r lie r
such fig u r e
cover
o f a d v e n tu re s ,
in
e v e n t u a l d e m is e
e x it
fro m
s im ila r
pop o f h is
th e
s ty le
th e
in
1900,
am ong o t h e r s ,
The l a t t e r
day,
o n S e p te m b e r
c o m ic s
by,
and
c a lle d
B ro w n
a r t i s t we a l l
c h a ra c te rs .
fo r
H o lm e s ,
t h a t B ro w n e b y n o m eans i n v e n t e d
A y o u n g J a c k B . Y e a ts h a d c r e a te d
C o m ic C u ts
Y e a ts '
p u n n in g name C h u b b lo c k H om es.
c h a ra c te rs
20 t o
[1 0 ].
r e g u la r
C o n a n D o y l e 's
p u b lic 's
d i f f e r e n t nam es o f W e a ry W i l l i e
P e r c y C o c k in g a n d A l b e r t T h a c k e r B ro w n .
'a
'c a u g h t t h e
in c lu d e d
in
1893
[1 1 ].
A spoof o f
i n v e n t i o n w as a d e t e c t i v e
O th e r,
s w i n d l e r H ir a m B .
le s s
an
w ith
th e
f r e q u e n t Y e a ts
B o s s a n d s m u g g le r E p h r ia m
282
B ro a d b e a m e r i n
th e
F u n n y W onder fr o m
H o lla n d 's
C hokee B i l l
b u r g la r s ,
m ade t h e i r
s id e w a y s m o ve s i n
H a r m s w o r th
a n d A re a S n e a k e r,
d e b u t in
th e
T .F .
C o m ic C u ts
W ilk in s o n
im ita te
th e ir
th e
a la r g e
in s t it u tio n s
s in g le
B r o w n e 's
G iffo r d
p u ts
1895,
p o p u la r is e
fro n t-p a g e
th e
s ty le ,
to
a tte m p ts
c o lo n ia l
a tw o
h o w e v e r,
dow n t o
to
o f C ockney
w ith
o c c a s io n a l
a new a d d it io n
(c o m m e n c e d i n
s ta tu s
in
th e
1 8 9 5 ).
C o m ic C u ts
c o n s tr u c t io n
fr a m e
to
in
tim e s b y E . , F . , a n d
s u p e r io r s .
fo u r
w as t o
F ra n k
o f b la c k A f r ic a n s
and m a s te r th e
'c iv ilis e d '
c a rto o n
th is
to
1898.
a p a ir
C o l o n y , d ra w n a t d i f f e r e n t
c h r o n ic le d
s u p p o s e d ly
in
to
C o m ic Home J o u r n a l
They e v e n tu a lly p ro g re s s e d
1897.
C h ip s
an a tte m p t to
title s ,
1897
It
to
s k ills
of
v a r ie d
fro m
s tr ip .
b e a d a p te d as a s ta n d a r d .
h is
' c r i s p l i n e w o r k c o u p le d w i t h c a r e f u l l y - s p o t t e d s o l i d
b l a c k s . . . [ w h ic h ] . . . w as p e r f e c t f o r t h e c o m ic
w e e k l i e s , e s p e c i a l l y H a r m s w o r t h 's h a ' p o r t h s w i t h t h e i r
c u t - p r ic e p r i n t i n g , lo w - q u a lit y n e w s p r in t p a p e r, i l l e tc h e d b lo c k s a n d c h e a p , n e a r - g r e y i n k . ' [1 2 ]
A .E .
J o h n s o n 's
a s s e s s m e n t w as m o re e x t r a v a g a n t :
t h e - s t r e e t c o u ld
Tom B r o w n e '
s ty lis tic
d ra w a t a l l ,
[1 3 ].
A p ic t u r e
s im p lic ity
a m ass r e a d e r s h i p
a c c e s s ib le
As f o r
a ttra c te d
e m e rg e s o f a
by
th e
i n s t i n c t w o u ld b e t o
a p p e a le d b o t h
its
to
'g e n iu s '
c o s t- c u ttin g
u n e la b o r a t e ,
m a n - in d ra w l i k e
w hose
p u b lis h e r s
and
u n iv e r s a lly
c la r ity .
B r o w n e 's
c h a ra c te rs
s a u c y s c h o o lb o y s '
-
m a in s t r e a m
B r itis h
T he o r i g i n s
h is
'I f
o f th e
o f th is
th e y
a re
-
le s s
't r a m p s ,
h is
c o m ic p a p e r '
'm a in s t r e a m '
b u r g la r s ,
in v e n t io n
c o p p e rs
th a n p a r t o f
fr o m w h ic h h e d re w
a re u n e x p lo r e d .
and
't h e
[1 4 ].
T h a t B r o w n e 's
283
w o rk
is
s im p ly
t y p ic a l o r even q u in t e s s e n t ia l
c o m p a r is o n w i t h
Y e a ts '
is
e m p h a s is e d b y
w o rk :
' H i s . . . [ Y e a t s ' ] . . . a r t i s t r y s t a n d s a lo n e i n B r i t i s h
c o m ic s .
'H i r a m B . B o s s ' a n d 'E p h r ia m B r o a d b e a m e r ' a r e
c l e a r l y u n iq u e c r o o k s , j u s t a s h i s 'C h u b b - l o c k H o m e s'
i s o u t o f t h e r u c k o f c o m ic c o p p e r s - t r a d i t i o n a l game
i n t h e V i c t o r i a n c o m ic , t r a d i t i o n a l game t o d a y . ' [ 1 5 ]
G if f o r d 's
th e
son
s u g g e s tio n
[s ic ]
o f a poet
r e m in is c e n t o f M r.
F ig h tin g
t h a t Y e a ts '
E d ito r .
d if f e r e n c e
( W illia m
C o m ic C u t s '
B u tle r Y e a ts )'
The e ase w it h
its
e x c lu d e d ,
is
a k in
w h ic h
r e v e a l th e
re s p e c t.
it
is
't r a d it io n a l'
c o n tin u ity ,
a lm o s t
o f p o e ts b y h is
a c h ie v e s
f r o m w h ic h Y e a t s '
t h e w a y t h a t C o m ic C u ts
e n tir e ly
G iffo r d
v ir t u a lly
a c t u a l th e m a t ic
a r tis ts
a re
h is t o r ic a l
it
a p p ro a c h t o
th e
in
e s ta b lis h e s
o f th e
n e g o tia tin g
c la s s
r o le
to
th is
B r o w n e 's
th e
e v e ry
p e r io d ic a l
r e s u lt
o f in d iv id u a l
w h ic h
r e v ie w e d
o f th e
in
o n B ro w n e a n d t h e
th e
s tr ip s ,
c o m ic s
p ic t u r e
in
o th e r
g e n iu s
o f s e lf -
C h a p te r O ne.
we n e e d t o
re a d e r,
th a t
o b fu s c a te s
In
s e e th e m b o t h
o f t h e h u m o u ro u s j o u r n a l
lo c a tio n
s o m e th in g q u a l i t a t i v e l y
fo re ru n n e rs
c o m ic
to
im p o r ta n t to
w ith
p ic t u r e
't r a d it io n '
us
is
m is c e lla n e o u s
e m e rg e d ,
h is
th e w o rk s
th e s e
as a n e x t e n s i o n
To e l a b o r a t e
of
and r e tu r n s
f o r m u la e
th e
th e
s tr ip s
M o re o v e r,
a n o tio n
u n d e rs ta n d
ig n o r e s
a nd fo r m a l in f lu e n c e s
a n a ly s is ,
p e r p e tu a tin g
to
c o m ic
c o n fu s e d .
c o m b in e d w i t h
o rd e r
n o n - a c a d e m ic ,
in a d e q u a c y o f t h i s
c o n t e x t f r o m w h ic h t h e
is
th e
is
u n q u e s tio n e d a n t i - i n t e l l e c t u a l p o p u lis m .
A lth o u g h
th e
to
[1 6 ]
c y n ic a l e je c t io n
an a h i s t o r i c a l and u n in te r r o g a te d
w o rk is
'm i g h t b e e x p e c t e d o f
in
a n d a m ove t o
new .
a r g u m e n t,
" w o r ld
we m u s t l o o k
fa m o u s
tra m p s ",
at
some o f t h e
as th e y w e re
la te r
284
introduced on the front page of Chips.
C o m ic S t r i p p e d A d v e n t u r e s :
G iffo r d
s tr ip
chooses
s ty le
w o rk is
in
d eem ed t o
tre n d s
e m p h a s is e
th e
lo o k a t Y e a ts '
e a r ly
to
have been f a r
th e
In s te a d
c a n in e
o f D r.
le s s
th e y a re p e r f e c t ly
o b v io u s ly
W a ts o n a s h i s
't h e
Illu s tr a te d
C h ip s .
H o lm e s ,
th e
a q u ilin e
ended.
S p o r tin g
p ip e ,
enough,
n o te d
nose
th a t
it
In
e p is o d e s
th e
in
o f th e
b u t h e re
F a t h e r B ro w n .
c ig a r ,
w hose
i f
we
k e e p in g w i t h
th e
title .
'D ir k ,
d e te c tiv e
fa c ia l
th e
th e
D og
th e m e
in
fe a tu re s
c a s s o c k - lik e
In s te a d
s o lv e d
o f sm oke.
th e
as
s im ila r ity
G .K .
o f H o lm e s '
p e r c h e d p e r m a n e n t ly o n h i s
w a v in g z i g - z a g
The jo k e
c r im e s ,
lo w e r
w as
a nd b y w h o lly
m eans.
its
1 0 .2
[1 7 ],
fo r
s c e n t fro m
'w il y '
v illa in ,
C o m ic C u ts
in
e x a m p le ,
a p a in t in g .
c r im e s w e re n o t e v e n r e f e r r e d
c a p tu re
Y e t,
l o o k w h ic h m ade h im m o re l i k e
th in
a n a rro w ,
F ig u r e
b y c a tc h in g
Y e a ts ,
p u n n in g
same c l a s s i c
and c h in ,
w as S h i r k w ho i n e v i t a b l y
u n s c ie n tific
as h is
S h i r k ', a p a ro d y o f
c r e a tio n ,
he h a d a lo n g ,
tr a ilin g
c o m ic
a s p o o f o f S h e r lo c k
a b r o a d - b r im m e d h a t a n d a l o n g ,
la te r
lip ,
in
S h ir k 1
a s s i s t a n t h e w a s a c c o m p a n ie d b y a
Homes h a d t h e
he had a p r ie s t ly
C h e s t e r t o n 's
J a c k B.
in f lu e n tia l.
D e t e c t iv e ', a n o n - p ic t o r ia l v a r i a t io n
c o a t,
n o te d
d o m in a t i o n o f B r o w n e 's
nam e o f a p a t e n t l o c k
c o m p a n io n ,
't h e
c o m ic s .
C h u b b lo c k Homes w a s ,
th e
th e
'9 0 s b y c o m p a r is o n w i t h
c h a ra c te rs ,
in
H o lm e s , w i t h
C h u b b lo c k Homes a n d
to ,
he
In
dow n a s t o l e n
some i n s t a n c e s ,
a s e v id e n c e d b y h i s
Babez J a lf o u r ,
1895.
tra c k s
J a lf o u r 's
s e r ia lis e d
th e
e ffo rts
in
p ig
to
s e v e ra l
p a r t ic u la r b ra n d o f
285
c r im in a lit y
d e v ic e s
is
u n k n o w n a n d s e e m in g ly
o f u n lik e ly
c o in c i d e n c e
a nd u n d e te c te d e sca p e
m o re o v e r,
expense
a re v i r t u a l l y
o f s c ie n tific
c o n s is t o f l i g h t l y
'C o m ic C u ts
fe a tu re s
fo r m u la
m e r e ly
its
of
ir r e le v a n t
C o lo n y '
g e n e ra te s
an e x o tic
fo r tu ito u s
b a s ic
th e
In
In
jo k e
m ost ca se s,
th is
case,
one o f th e
th e
th e
th e y
s e ttin g
b la c k b e a r e r s .
B u t th e
a c ro s s .
It
a pun-
" b o r e - c o n s t r u c t o r " , and a k a n g a ro o
c o n c e a lin g
J a lf o u r
n e x t e p is o d e .
in
th e
e a r ly
y e t a n o th e r
1890s.
b u t m in i m a l s e t
th e
c lu e s
is
in
a sequence
o f jo k e
H om es'
b lu n d e r in g
a t pace
a g ib e
a t H o lm e s q u i e t l y
a t B a ker S tre e t b e fo re
c r i m i n a l u n d e r w o r ld a n d s o l u t i o n
th e b r i e f
th ro u g h
w o r k in g
d e s c e n t in to
b y d e d u c tio n .
He c a n
e q u a l l y b e r e a d a s a n o t h e r h u m o u ro u s m ea ns o f d e a l i n g w i t h
is s u e s
o f w h a t c o n s titu te d
a n d w h e re e x a c t l y
s o c ia l r e la t io n s .
c r im in a l w o r ld .
th e
th e
th re a t
jo k e
in
H om es,
o f p o p u la r
th e
d e te c tiv e
and h is
th re a t
h o w e v e r,
th e
s o c ia lly
is
to
an e n ig m a tic
r e s e m b la n c e
a fu rth e r
c o n fu s io n
in c lu s io n
and d e s ig n a t io n
fic tio n
And y e t,
and e ve n ,
b y la u g h in g
c r im in a l p re y ,
at
s o c i a l c o h e s io n ,
n e u t r a l g u id e
to
in
to
th e
th e
c u r r e n t n e tw o rk
little
d e te c tiv e
d e te c tiv e .
c r im in a l
H o lm e s w as t h e
He r e p r e s e n t s
is s u e s
th e
r e a d e r s to o d w i t h i n
e n ig m a tic w o r ld b e a r in g
w o r ld .
is
o th e r r e g u la r
n o t tr a n s fe rr e d
p ro p
a t th e
snake w ith
th e
g a g s , th e
and h is
o f th e
pouch in
a fe w
p lo t
to
m e th o d .
is
th e
The b a c k d r o p s ,
as b o rro w e d fr o m
C o lo n y '
c a p tu re
to
[1 8 ].
s k e tc h e d p ro p s .
'C o m ic C u ts
d e te c tiv e s
th e
1 0 .3
fo r e n s ic
C h u b b lo c k Homes i s
th ro u g h
h is
(m o re o f w h ic h b e l o w ) : h e n c e
nam e, th e
in
( F ig u r e
in
ir r e le v a n t
g u id e
th e
th e
re a l
to
to
of
th e
an
s o c ia l
e x p lo r a tio n
of
as a n t i- s o c ie t a l
an e x te n t,
n o tio n
in
th e
o f th e
C h u b b lo c k Homes s i m u l t a n e o u s l y
286
le g itim a te s
s e r io u s
it
m o re
d e te c tiv e s
fo r c e fu lly
in
h is
th a n
r o le
e a r lie r
s e r io u s
as a r e g u la r ,
and n o n -
e n tir e ly
fic tio n a l
fig u r e .
It
th is
is
d if fic u lt
c h a ra c te r.
T h e re
is
It
a c e r ta in
to
is
tru e
s it
e ffo rts .
u n e a s ily
n o t r e a lly
tre n d s
th e re
in
is
in
th e
th e
s ty le
fo r
a n d H ir a m
c r o o k s w ho c a n n o t b e
c r im in a l ty p e .
c o n tin u o u s
If
w ith
is
ru b b e ry ,
a n g u la r
a re
s e ts
and s t r ip s
h im
at
fra m e s .
tim e .
fig u r e s
la c k in g
th e
c h a ra c te rs
a r t is t 's
e d ito r ia l
in
1 0 .5
it
s ta ff
and to
and th e
la te r .
B r o w n e 's
( F ig u r e
w e re c e r t a i n l y
odd
s o c ia l o r
H om es,
as r e g u la r
c o n tin u o u s
th e y
c a rto o n
and d is c o n t in u o u s
w hat s e t
th e m a p a r t f r o m
c h a ra c te r.
and p i c t o r i a l
is
o r Y e a ts '
As w i t h
s ta tu s
th e
W h ile
as w it h
w e re
s tr ip s
fa c t
th e re
th a t
is
th e
s e q u e n c e w e re
a nd c a p tio n s
W h a t m ake s t h e s e
s tr ip s
is
a ro u n d th e
d o e s seem t h a t ,
title s
it
r e a lity .
th e s e w a y s ,
c h a r a c te r is a tio n
c r e a tio n s
[2 0 ])
r e v o lv e
in
w as t h e i r v e r b a l
th is ,
in
T h e m a tic a lly
o f s ta n d a rd
th e ir
w e re b o th
in
and a
g e n e ra l
B ro a d b e a m e r
and d e c e p tio n .
re fe re n ts
c h a ra c te rs
p re d e c e s s o rs
th e
E p h r ia m
( F ig u r e
o n ly
u n u s u a l.
H o w e v e r,
a p a r t fro m
th is
s e e n as a n y k i n d
tr ic k e r y
n o d o c u m e n t a t io n f o r
c a rto o n s ,
Boss
no d e f i n i t e
Y e a ts '
B r o w n e 's
th a t m a tte r.
B.
in to
s e t a g a in s t s p a rs e b a c k g ro u n d s ,
r e c ta n g u la r
w h ic h
in p u t
c e r ta in ly
s e q u e n c e s w h ic h
fig u r e s ,
p re d e c e s s o rs
w ith
th e ir
c a rto o n s
s ty le
B u t th e y n e v e r th e le s s
th e m e o f
fro m
fig u r e s
h is
own c r e a t i v e
n o t h i n g v e r y u n u s u a l a b o u t C h u b b lo c k H om es,
[1 9 ])
d if fe r
h is
r e g u la r ,
c a rto o n
o th e r c h a ra c te rs
1 0 .4
to
T hese
Y e a ts '
t h a t h is
d y n a m is m t o
d ir e c t io n a l c o n tin u ity
e a r lie r
assess Y e a ts '
th e
added b y
d if fe r e n t
to
th e
th e y w e re n o t
287
a n c h o re d to
c a p tio n s
th e
s it
same e x t e n t b y t h e
som ew hat u n e a s ily w it h
T h e y do n o t p e r f o r m
th r o u g h
th e
th e
th e
fic tio n a l
same a n c h o r i n g
In s te a d ,
fig u r e ,
th e
and re a d e r,
th e re fo re ,
s tr ip
ta k e n ,
Y e a t s w as a t a l e n t e d
d ir e c t io n
T h e m o re
ty p ic a l
a n o th e r e a r ly
o f th e
It
o f M e s s rs .
tr a je c to r y
o f th e
T h is
a d v e n tu re s
Illu s tr a te d
th e
C h ip s .
e a r ly
p in s
As w i t h
in
te le g r a p h
T h is
its e lf
C o m ic C u ts
p o le
to
th e
th e
c o m ic
te c h n iq u e ,
th e
'M r .
r iv a l,
th e s e
c o m ic s .
[2 1 ],
te le g r a p h y
w a ll w ith
is
in d ic a te d
d e p ic t io n ,
C o m ic C u t s ' ,
'M r .
w e re
fo r
a d o u b le m e a n in g
h is
fro m
w ith
a p p e a r in g
1 0 .6 ,
as th e
by
C h ip s '.
a re p e r f e c t ly
F ig u r e
has
a n d C h ip s
in
c o n tig u o u s
e x a m p le ,
in
th e
c a rto o n
is
an a d ju n c t to
'c o m m e r c i a l f r i e n d '
(n o d o u b t p a te n te d )
title s
th e
and c a p tio n s .
'A
th e
[2 2 ],
s o rt o f e ffo rt
and to
bond
c o m ic s .
h o w e v e r,
s tr ip
a d v e n tu re s
H om es,
th e
a p un on e l e c t r i f i e d
M r.
th a t
s tr ip
c o m ic
e d ito r ,
s tr ip
SHOCK FROM A TELEGRAPH PO LE'
title ,
th e
and n a r r a tiv e
c o m ic
w as t h e
o f th e
C h ip s '
tre n d s
o f an e n t ir e ly
c h a ra c te r,
in
C o m ic C u ts
o c c a s io n a l g u e s t a p p e a ra n c e s b y h is
M r.
fu n c t io n ,
p s e u d o - in tim a te
w as n o t ,
in
d o m in a t e .
e ffo rt.
S im u lta n e o u s ly ,
n a r r a tiv e .
t h a t we o b s e r v e d
fic tio n a l
a r tis tic
T he
ty p ic a lly
The c r e a t io n
a d e p a rtu re
c a r to o n is t.
t h a t came t o
q u e ry ,
w as o n e d i r e c t i o n
and in
T he E x t e n d e d A d v e n t u r e s
w ith
f u n c t io n ,
m e d iu m o f t h e
m a rk s
C h u b b lo c k H om es,
m ig h t h a v e
in .
a s p o o f o f a n o th e r
s e v e re d fro m
b e tw e e n e d i t o r
p ic t o r ia l
t h e y h a v e a m o re d e s c r i p t i v e
o c c a s io n a l p u n th ro w n
p r a c tic a lly
1894,
th e
t h e m e d iu m o f a sm ug e d i t o r i a l
c a rto o n s .
w ith
p o p u lis t e d i t o r i a l v o ic e .
e d ito r ia l
It
a d d re s s
r e p re s e n ts
a
288
m ove b e y o n d t h e
r o le
o f g u id e
ju v e n ile
e d ito r
to
s ta ff,
re m o v e d f r o m
c a rto o n s ,
S lo p e r h a s
liv e
in
at
a w o r ld
to
th e ir
In
code o f r e s p e c t a b ilit y ,
a t once
th is
le g itim a te d
in
m o re
th a n
th e
a
in
a r e la te d
th e ir
a u th o r
a tte m p ts
And he
is
a nd th e
t h e m s e lv e s .
These
e d ito r s
in c r e a s in g ly
an e x t e r n a lly
w ay t o
c u lt iv a te d
jo k e s
th e y
th e
B o h e m ia n
r e a l w o r ld .
w h ic h
ever
c e n tu ry .
th e
a n d C h ip s
th e
m ir th
L ik e
a n d u n d e r m in e d .
p o s itio n e d
th e m a s h e rs ,
a t o ffic e
th e ir
m anagem ent a re
T h e y m ay a c t u a l l y
a c h ie v e
th e m s e lv e s .
F ig u r e
1 0 .7 ,
fo r
C o m ic C u t s '
tra d e
[2 3 ].
sequence r e in f o r c e s
husband.
And t h i s
[2 4 ],
M rs .
ta k in g
up
in te r p la y
C u ts
S lo p e r .
t y p e m o re t h a n
w o r ld .
He i s
h a lf- e le v a te d
C o m ic C u ts
o f e n d le s s
a n o th e r
to
m anager w ith
th ro u g h o u t th e
th e h a l f - je e r e d ,
le a s t one f o o t
b eco m e s i m p l y
g u id e
e d ito r s
fic tio n a l
e tc .
o f am used i m p e r t u r b a b i l i t y
p r a c tis e d b y A l l y
th e
ro m a n c e
o ffic e
a n d s a le s m e n .
p e rs o n a
f o r h u m o u ro u s m a g a z in e
jo u r n a lis m
fa s h io n ,
p e r p e t u a l l y b o t h e r e d b y u n w a n te d
- m o s tly p o e ts
e m b o d im e n t o f t h e
fa r
to
h im s e l f as a n e l d e r l y
and la z y
n u is a n c e s
a s g u id e
In
In
is
m a n t le
o f p ic t u r e
d e s c r ib e s
o f g o lf w ith
to
C h ip s ,
a d d it io n ,
fu rth e r
some o f t h e
th e
s ta tu s
to
th e
th e
la te r
r o le
d a u g h te r T o o ts ie .
and t e x t
a b s e n t,
th e
in
o f M r.
th e
o f s u b u rb a n h e n -p e c k e d
o f S lo p e r 's
is
tr ic k s
f i n a l p ic t u r e
e m p h a s is e d i n
e ven g ra d u a te s
a n o t h e r e p is o d e ,
S l o p e r a s g u id e
r e v e a ls
C o m ic C u t s '
C o m ic C u ts
th e
s im p ly
e x a m p le ,
h o w e v e r,
s tr ip s
o f n a rra to r,
T he
ir o n ic
as M rs .
C o m ic
p ic t u r e s .
M r.
C o m ic C u ts
an e xp a n d e d w o r ld
he n o tc h e s
of
ta k e s
up th e
'le is u r e '.
up a s e r ie s
o f h e fty
r o le
In
of
h is
game
fin e s .
T he
289
p r e te n s io n s
to
le is u r e d
s u b u r b a n C o m ic C u t s '
m o re g a n g l y ,
M rs .
a r is to c r a c y
h u m ilia tio n
m a n - a b o u t - t o w n is h
in
at
th e
gam e,
th e h a n d s
C h ip s
a re
a nd th e
of
th e
fa ith fu lly
s o ft,
s lig h tly
d e s c r ib e d b y
C o m ic C u t s :
' "DEAR READERS, - My p o o r h u s b a n d w as in d u c e d b y t h a t
o d io u s w r e t c h M r . C h ip s t o j o i n a g o l f c l u b .
'Y o u 'll
b e g l a d y o u j o i n e d o u r c l u b ' , s a i d C h ip s .
' I t o n ly
c o s ts
3 a y e a r t o j o i n , a n d i t s a v e r y in e x p e n s iv e
gam e' . '
[2 5 ]
In
th e
o ffic e ,
c o m b in a t i o n
a t hom e a n d a t p l a y ,
o f s h a rp n e s s
in c r e a s in g ly
a c h ie v e m e n t i s
is
a ls o
to
to
H is
is
c o m ic s , th e s e
th a t
lik e
of
c r e a tio n s ,
fig u r e s
is
th a n a n y th in g
s till
b e fo re ,
th e
he
d o m e s tic ity .
a m o re
S lo p e r c a r to o n s
T o o t s ie 's
re c o n s tru c te d
s tr ip s
bear
o f th e
c h a ra c te rs
d ir e c t
p la n t e d
in
s e c u r it y
to
e x te n t
fa r
to
w h ic h
a d d re s s .
th e
c o m ic s .
and a ls o
to
th e
c o n tin u e s
L ik e
b u t m o re
It
a s u b u rb a n
r o le
o f th e
o f d r a w in g
th e
some d i f f e r e n c e
in
th a n
r e a d e r a nd th e
th e
c o m m e n ta ry )
Homes i n
each
The e d i t o r
h im s e lf a t p la y .
to
of
m o re s e l f - r e f e r e n t i a l
s u b u r b a n m an,
a d d re s s
it
e le m e n t s
th e
re a d e r
s o c ia l w o r ld b y d i r e c t e x h o r t a t io n .
some r e s e m b la n c e
is
and
o f h is
w ay o f l e g it im a t in g
C o m ic C u t s ,
( w ith
th e
seen in
as a g u id e
its
s o u rc e
e d ito r ia l
a re
h e n -p e c k e d
fo r m u la ic
And i n
c o m m e n ta ry o f M r s .
th is
p r e v io u s ly
m o s tly
fir m ly
a
th o u g h h e
t h e m is c e l la n e o u s
th e
c h a ra c te rs
m id d l e - a g e d ,
a c ts
c o n s titu te s
in to
th e s e
th e
in d ic a te
t e x t u a l c o m p o n e n t w as a n c h o r e d b y
Y e a ts '
is
-
is
im p r is o n m e n t .
a ll
d e v e lo p m e n ts
C o m ic C u ts
o f r e s p e c ta b ility
th o u g h
d o m e s t ic
M r.
in e p t it u d e
w o r ld
p o s itio n
b e a d m ir e d ,
be fe a re d :
The p o i n t
th e
a n d b u m b lin g
s e l f - r e f e r e n t i a l , h is
s u b u rb a n d o m e s t ic it y .
th e n ,
Such
s e lf- r e fe r e n tia lity
th e
c le a r ly
g re a te r
290
e m p h a s is
on th e
e d ito r ia l
th e
r e a s s e r tio n
th e
p a r a l l e l p ro c e s s
th e
r e a d e r s h ip
a lie n ,
a n c h o r.
o f a le g itim a te
in
th ro u g h
T he r e a d e r s
code
to
a fa r
fic tio n
th e
C o lo n y '
w as a o n e j o k e
a tte m p ts
o f some b l a c k
v e r s io n s
o f B r itis h
'n a t iv e s '
s tr ip
to
in s t it u tio n s .
on th e
of
c e r ta in
In
lite r a lly
th e
B r itis h
o u tf it s
fo r
b lo w in g
th e m s e lv e s
th a t
u n ifo r m s ,
is
c o n v e n tio n s
u s in g
up.
It
in t e r e s tin g
a re
in
as
c o n q u e s t.
o ffe n c e
to
T h is
- c le a r ly
any o f th e
f o r m u la
'C o m ic C u ts
c a lle d
a s im ila r
in
d id
la s te d
s u b s titu tin g
fo r
C h ip s '
p a n to m im e
and e v e n tu a lly
o v e r t r a c is m
scene o f t h e i r
it
is
c o m p a r a b le
Ir is h ,
case
h e ig h t o f
in
th e
in to
n a tiv e s
and
a s lu m
d is t o r tio n
to
in
th e
s lig h tly
o f c a u s in g
H a r m s w o r th
th e
fo r m a t on th e b a c k p a g e ,
and
c o n s id e r a tio n .
o ver fifte e n
1904,
codes
th a n a n y o f th e
fo r
in
th e
im p e r ia l
th e p o s s i b i l i t y
n o t e n te r
in
th o u g h w i t h
m o re g r o t e s q u e
r e p e a te d ly
its e lf
'S t o n e - A g e
th e
o f th e
th is
in
an e f f o r t
w ay t h a t i n s t i t u t i o n a l
e x te n t,
fa r
ow n
e x a m p le ,
f o r m o u n ts
a t t h i s , th e
is
fo r
s o m uch t h e
th ro u g h
re a d e rs
re c u rs
C o lo n y '
h a d n e a n d e r th a ls
c a rto o n
th e
r e p r e s e n ta tio n s
T h e ir d e p ic t io n
c a rto o n s
not
To t h i s
m o re p o l i t i c a l u n d e r t o n e s
th e m
g ir a f fe s
is
le g itim a te d
b y a m a r g in a l g ro u p .
tre n d
a rm y h a s
w e e k ly
'M IL IT A R Y NOTES FROM COMIC
to
e m u la te
ill- fa te d
re c o n s tru c t t h e ir
[2 6 ],
in
e q u a lis a tio n
b y d e s ig n a t in g
CUTS COLONY - THE EASTER MANOEUVRES'
Ir is h
th a n
C o lon ie s
'C o m ic C u ts
b a s ic
e x te n t
c r im in a l th r e a ts .
C o m ic C u ts
s tr ip
e q u a lis e d b y
g re a te r
H om es, w ho r e i n f o r c e s
d e te c tiv e
a re
title s .
y e a rs .
a la r g e
'C a s e y 's
ro o k e ry
C h ip s
r e g u la r
C o u rt'
lik e
th e
w as
291
A m e r ic a n
'H o g a n 's
a tte m p tin g
t im e
to
im ita te
m e rg e d w i t h
Ir is h m a n ,
e s s a y in g
A lle y '
[2 7 ],
c r a w lin g w it h
th e ir b e tte rs .
k id s
T he F u n n y W o n d e r , b y
a n o t h e r H a r m s w o r th v e n t u r e ,
c o m p le t e w i t h
s im ila r ly
e x e r c is e s
in
th is
The J e s t e r , h a d an
o v e r h a n g in g u p p e r l i p
a m b it io u s
m a n ic a lly
and b e a d y e y e s ,
'T h e D o in g s
o f D o o le y '
[2 8 ].
T he common s t r a n d
in v ite d
to
re v e l in
is
own s u p e r i o r i t y
g ro u p
f a ilin g
s o c ia l
o f c iv ilis e d
b e h a v io u r .
o f th e
G h oke e B i l l
th e
th e y a l l
e a r ly
c r e a tio n s
to o k up
c o m ic s .
th e v a r ia n t s
in c lu s io n
of
lo w - life
c la s s .
b u r g lin g
e ffo rts ,
to
m a s te r th e
e ffo rts
w e re a v a r i a t i o n
th e
a re
a
b a s ic s
y e t a n o th e r
re a d e rs
on Y e a ts '
th e m e o f c r i m i n a l i t y
As w i t h
th e
c o m ic
C o lo n y ',
a nd th e
s tr ip p e d
th e y
a d d r e s s in g
as t h e
r u n n in g
e d ito r ,
m a r g in a lis a tio n
th e
e d ito r
fo llo w in g
c r e a tio n s
r e in fo r c e d
C h o k e e B i l l w o u ld n a r r a t e
u n in t e n tio n a l puns
in
passage
th e
th ro u g h
a ls o ,
th e
o f th e
s to ry
a s tr in g
in
and
p o p u lis t
c r im in a l/
o f m is f ir e d
of
show s:-
MR. ED D IT T E R , - T h e m an w o t s a i d ' a t h i n g o f
i s a j o y f o r e v e r ' w as a f r a u d .
I t ' s my o p i n i o n
knew n u t t h in k a b o u t b o o ty , a n ' w e r r y l i k e l y 'e 'd
done a b u r g le i n ' i s l i f e " [2 9 ] .
T he e x a g g e r a t e d C o c k n e y
seen.
a re
a n c h o r.
'C o m ic C u ts
o f th e
"DEER
b o o ty
as 'e
never
th e s e
re a d e rs
b y c o m p a r is o n w i t h
m is e r a b ly
As s u c h ,
e d ito r ia l
th e
and A re a S n ea ke r
F ra n k H o lla n d 's
th a t
w h ic h
th e ir
m a r g in a lis e d
e x te n s io n
th e w ay i n
[3 0 ]
is
u n u su a l in
G e o ffr e y P e a rs o n c o r r e c t ly
m a n if e s ta tio n
o f th e
c ite s
th e
c o m ic s ,
th e s e b u r g la r s
la t e s t co n ce p t o f c r im in a lit y
in
as we h a v e
as a
th e
1890s:
292
'h o o lig a n is m 1 .
T he
id e a
a n o th e r a s p e c t o f th e
im p e r ia l
s ta b ility
te n d e n c y o f th e
d ir e c t ly ,
e n d in g s ,
th is .
and A re a
th e
fro m
th is
is
th e
d e g re e s w e re
th e n ,
is
d e a l w ith
to
th e
Y e a ts
as
s tr ip s ,
m o re
in
[3 2 ].
such
T he
is s u e s
th e
th e ir
e n c o u n te r s u c h fe a r s
w as
th r e a t to
its e lf
la te n t
u n d e rc u rre n t
In
a fe w d i f f e r e n t
e a r ly ,
c o n tin u o u s
c o m ic a l
o v e r tly
th e n ,
as
C hokee B i l l
d o m in a n t t e n d e n c y
p a r tic u la r ,
e d ito r ia l
a d d re s s
T he s t r i p s
a re
th e
v e rb a l
a d d re s s
th e
le a s t v e r b a lis e d
and
'C o m ic
th e
in
th e
re a d e r.
The b u r g la r s
p r o b le m
re a d e r.
in
in
e a r ly
th e
and re a d e r a t
th e
a ro u n d th e
to
b e e x c lu d e d .
w ith
of
th e
th e
bond w ith
th e ir
th e
th e
u n d o in g .
show a h ig h
im p o r t a n c e
e d ito r
e a r ly
o f a n c h o r in g b y
a ll
o f th e
o n e s w e re p r o b a b ly
T he a d v e n t u r e s
w h ic h m in im is e s
y e a rs
th e y w e re a n c h o re d b y
The Y e a ts
e ffo rts ,
v a r y in g
d e m o c r a c y p r o m is e d b y
o f a p s e u d o - in tim a te
Y e a ts
in
r e v o lu tio n
o f w ho w as
sh o w some d e g r e e
th e
w h ic h ,
m o s t c o n tin u o u s
o f e d ito r
o f th e
th e
th e w ay t h a t
a re
c r e a tio n
a n c h o r in g ,
in
in
o f th e m a l l .
c a rto o n s
e x c e p tio n
in c lu s io n
C o lo n y '
c o m p l i c i t p le a s u r e
tre n d s
in
s tr ip s
we c a n s e e a b a s i c
d if fe r e n t
C u ts
th e
and th e
to
c u rre n ts
r e g u l a r c o m ic
w ith
t e n s i o n b e tw e e n p o p u l a r
v e rb a l
to
[3 1 ]
s tr ip s .
d e v e lo p m e n t o f t h e
th e
o f th e
E m p ir e
h o w e v e r,
S n e a k e r a re u n t y p ic a l o f th e
T h e re w e re ,
th e
fe a rs
g r o w in g p a r a n o i a
u n u s u a l to
'h o o lig a n '
h e a r t o f th e
a d i f f e r e n t w ay to
c o m ic
c o m ic s .
ju v e n ile
V ic to r ia n
o f th e s e b u r g l a r s ,
it
In
la te
c o m ic s w as n o t ,
and i f
a d v e n tu re s
o f th e
of
d e g re e
th e
W it h
of
v is u a l
n a r r a tiv e .
N one o f t h e s e ,
s ta n d a rd .
h o w e v e r,
T he f o r m u la
w as
t h a t w as
to
to
b e co m e a f o r m a l o r
b e co m e a s t a n d a r d ,
t h e m a t ic
th e
293
a d v e n tu re s
o f th e s e
w e re
to
o f Tom B r o w n e 's
tre n d s .
a n a ly s e d
o f th e
in
b u r g la r s ,
C h a p te rs
in c lu d e d
re a d e r to
c o m b in e d w i t h
n o th in g
in
la r g e ly
s im u lt a n e o u s
a new k i n d
r u n n in g
th e y
a v o c a b u la r y
th e ir
th e
la n g u a g e
a n d d i a l e c t w h ic h
r u n n in g
in
th e
th ro u g h
n in e t e e n t h
ow n r i g h t .
v e rb a l n a tu re ,
d e v e lo p m e n ts
in
In
th e
w ith
th is
of
w as
te n s io n s .
e d ito r ia l
to
th e
th e
cheap
and an o r ig in a l
some r e s p e c t s ,
c lo s e ly
m u s ic h a l l .
a m ea ns f o r
c o rre s p o n d e d
h is t o r y
c e n tu ry
th e
th o u g h
o f th e
as
w as r e n d e r e d
s o c ia l
c o n tin u o u s
th e y a re
lik e
They o ffe r e d
fro m
a ll
f o r m u la ic
c o m ic s
but it
ow n s o c i a l s u p e r i o r i t y ,
T h e y w e re b o th
th e
e a r ly
The tra m p s ,
p e rs o n a e .
c o m b in e d t h e
in c o r p o r a te
o f m e d iu m ,
th ro u g h
a s o r t o f avenue o f escape
h u m o u ro u s j o u r n a l
th e ir
and s t a n d a r d is a t io n
c la s s le s s
r e a lity .
in
r e p e titio n
a n e le m e n t o f c r i m i n a l i t y ,
fu n d a m e n ta l t e n s io n
in v e n t io n
its
E i g h t a n d N in e .
a s s e rt h is
M o st im p o r ta n t ly
a d d re s s w it h
w o u ld
to
te n s io n s
in n o c u o u s b y t h e i r
th e
o f tr a m p s ,
M o re o v e r,
m a rk a t r a n s i t i o n
r e s o lu tio n
p a ir
p a r tic u la r ly
r e la te d
to
in
294
CHAPTER TEN - NOTES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
U m b e r to E c o , 'A R e a d in g o f S t e v e C a n y o n ', T w e n t i e t h C e n t u r y ,
D ecem ber 1976 ( t r a n s l a t e d b y B ru c e M e r r y ) .
A s p e c t s o f t h e e v o l u t i o n o f t h e c o m ic s t r i p i n t h e US w i l l
b e t a k e n u p i n t h e d i s c u s s i o n o f l a t e r A m e r ic a n i n f l u e n c e s
o n t h e B r i t i s h c o m ic s t r i p i n C h a p t e r T w e lv e .
D e n is G i f f o r d ( 1 9 7 6 ) V i c t o r i a n C o m ic s ; ( 1 9 7 5 ) ; H a p p y D a y s ! A
C e n t u r y o f C o m ic s ; ( 1 9 8 4 ) T he I n t e r n a t i o n a l B o o k o f C o m ic s ;
'T h e F u n n y W o n d e r s ', A r t & A r t i s t s , F e b r u a r y
1971.
D e n is G i f f o r d w a s a c o m ic s t r i p a r t i s t h i m s e l f , w o r k i n g
o n A m a lg a m a te d P r e s s ' ( H a r m s w o r t h 's c o m p a n y ) K n o c k o u t a n d
" T e l e s t r i p " i n t h e L o n d o n E v e n in g News i n t h e 1 9 5 0 s .
He h a s
w r i t t e n o v e r t w e n t y - f i v e b o o k s o n c o m ic s a n d c in e m a a n d
e d i t s t h e 'A s s o c i a t i o n o f C o m ic E n t h u s i a s t s ' b u l l e t i n , a
r o u g h l y m o n t h ly c o l l e c t i o n o f a r t i c l e s o n c o m ic s f r o m
n e w s p a p e r s , p r o f i l e s o f c o m ic s t r i p a r t i s t s a n d t h e i r w o r k ,
new s o f e x h i b i t i o n s , p r o f i l e s o f c o m ic s t r i p a r t i s t s a n d
t h e i r w o r k , a p r i c e g u id e t o t h e c u r r e n t r a n g e o f c o m ic s
on
s a l e a n d a m eans o f a d v e r t i s i n g f o r c o l l e c t o r s
andp o te n t ia l
b u y e rs .
G if f o r d (1 9 7 6 ), o p. c i t . , p . 7.
I b i d . , p .6 .
Ib id .
I b i d . , p .2 8 .
IC 2 9 8 , p . l , 1 8 9 6 .
G if f o r d (1 9 8 4 ), o p. c i t . , p . 20.
C ite d i n G i f f o r d (1 9 7 1 ), o p . c i t . , p . 5 0 .
O r ig in a lly
a t h r e e fr a m e s t r i p o n t h e i n s i d e p a g e s , Homes
p r o g r e s s e d t o th e f r o n t p a g e o f th e F u n n y W o n de r i n 1 8 9 4 .
G if f o r d (1 9 8 4 ), op. c i t . , p . 20.
C ite d i n G if f o r d ( 1 9 7 1 ), o p . c i t . , p . 5 1.
F ro m A . E . J o h n s o n
( 1 9 0 9 ) , Tom B r o w n e , R . I . .
G if f o r d (1 9 7 1 ), o p . c i t . , p . 51.
G if f o r d (1 9 7 6 ), o p . c i t . , p . 4 1.
Ib id .
FV 2 1 9 , p . 5 , 1 8 9 7 .
CC 2 5 6 , p . 5 , 1 8 9 5 .
FW 2 8 4 , p . 4 , 1 8 9 8 .
FW 2 5 9 , p . 4 , 1 8 9 8 .
CC 2 5 6 , p . 8 , 1 8 9 5 .
I n a r e l a t e d e x a m p le f r o m C h i p s , "THE NEW PHOTOGRAPHY.
MR.
CHIPS T R IE S I T " ( I C 2 9 2 , p . l , 1 8 9 6 ) , C h ip s h a s a n e w p a t e n t
c a m e ra w h ic h a l l o w s h im t o s e e i n s i d e t h e h e a d s o f h i s
s ta ff.
P ic tu r e N o. 4 i s an o p p o r tu n it y f o r an e d i t o r i a l
a t t a c k o n t h e 'p e n n y d r e a d f u l s ' .
T he c a p t i o n r e a d s " T h e n we
e x a m in e d t h e h e a d o f o u r o f f i c e - b o y ' s y o u n g e r b r o t h e r , w ho
h a s t a k e n t o r e a d i n g 'p e n n y d r e a d f u l s ' o f l a t e .
We f o u n d h e
th o u g h t o f n o th in g b u t In d ia n s and r e v o l v e r s '.
'M R . COMIC CUTS' NEW O F F IC E -D E S K ’ , CC 2 8 2 , p . l , 1 8 9 5 .
'L A BELLE P U LL. ( T u d o r S t r e e t F r e n c h ) ' , CC 3 1 3 , p p . 4 - 5 ,
1 8 9 6 ; 'M R . AND MRS. COMIC CUTS SEE A G H O S T ', CC 3 0 4 , p p . 4 - 5 ,
1896.
'T H E E D IT O R 'S ADVENTURES AND MISADVENTURES ( T o l d b y M r s .
295
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
C o m ic C u t s ) ' , CC 4 0 8 , p p . 4 - 5 , 1 8 9 8 .
CC 2 5 7 , p . 5 , 1 8 9 5 .
'H o g a n 's A l l e y ' w as a n i m p o r t a n t f o r e r u n n e r t o t h e e m e rg e n c e
o f t h e c o m ic s t r i p i n t h e US i n t h e 1 8 9 0 s .
D e v e lo p e d b y
R . F . O u t c a u l t f r o m h i s 1 8 9 6 c a r t o o n , 'T h e G r e a t D og Show i n
M 'G o o g a n A v e n u e ' i n P u l i t z e r ' s New Y o r k W o r l d , i t w a s a
l i v e l y c o m ic d e p i c t i o n o f a New Y o r k I r i s h s lu m , w i t h m uch
o f th e h um ou r c o n ta in e d i n th e d i a l e c t a l p h o n e t ic
m i s s p e l l i n g s o f b a c k g r o u n d s a le s s i g n s .
The r e g u la r jo k e
w as t h e m i s f i r e d r e c r e a t i o n i n t h e s lu m o f som e a s p e c t o f
'c i v i l i s e d ' s o c ia l o r g a n is a tio n .
'H o g a n 's A l l e y ' w as m o s t n o t a b l e f o r i t s i n t r o d u c t i o n
o f an u g ly , b a ld a n d n i g h t s h i r t e d c h i l d . The y e llo w o f th e
n i g h t s h i r t w as t h e f i r s t s u c c e s s f u l u s e b y P u l i t z e r ' s f o u r c o l o u r r o t a r y p r e s s o f a h i t h e r t o e l u s i v e c o l o u r a n d 'T h e
Y e l lo w K i d ' , a s h e w as c o n s e q u e n t l y k n o w n , b e c a m e a r e g u l a r
f e a t u r e i n t h e M 'G o o g a n A v e n u e / H o g a n 's A l l e y c a r t o o n s , a
v u l g a r l i t t l e b r a t w h o s e l i n e s w e re w r i t t e n i n B r o o k ly n e s e
b lo c k c a p it a ls on th e s h i r t i t s e l f .
When P u l i t z e r ' s r i v a l , W .R . H e a r s t . b e g a n h i s 'A m e r ic a n
h u m o r i s t ' c o m ic s u p p le m e n t t o t h e New Y o r k J o u r n a l ( O c t o b e r
1 8 9 6 ) , h a i l e d a s ' e i g h t p a g e s o f i r i d e s c e n t p o ly c h r o m o u s
e f f u l g e n c e t h a t m a ke s t h e r a in b o w l o o k l i k e a p i e c e o f l e a d
p i p e ' , h e s n a t c h e d O u t c a u l t f r o m P u l i t z e r t o d ra w a n o t h e r
v e r s i o n o f t h e ' K i d ' , t h i s t im e i n s t r i p f o r m .
P u lit z e r
b o u g h t O u t c a u l t b a c k , b u t H e a r s t o u t b i d h im .
F in a lly ,
P u l i t z e r h i r e d G e o rg e L u k s t o d ra w a r i v a l ' K i d ' .
The sa g a
u l t i m a t e l y p r o d u c e d t h e A m e r ic a n p e j o r a t i v e l a b e l f o r t h e
n a s c e n t p o p u la r p r e s s , 'y e llo w j o u r n a l i s m '.
See L e s D a n i e l l s ( 1 9 7 1 ) , C o m ix : A H i s t o r y o f C o m ic
B o o ks i n A m e r ic a , p p . 1 - 4 ; B i l l B la c k b e a r d a n d M a r t in
W i l l i a m s ( 1 9 7 7 ) , T he S m it h s o n ia n C o l l e c t i o n o f N e w s p a p e r
C o m ic s , p p . 1 3 - 1 4 ; C o u l t o n W augh ( 1 9 4 9 ) , T h e C o m ic s , p p . 1 - 1 5 ;
G e o rg e P e r r y a n d A l a n A l d r i d g e ( 1 9 7 1 ) T h e P e n g u in B o o k o f
C o m ic s , p p . 9 5 - 9 6 .
'T h e D o in g s o f D o o l e y 1 , T h e J e s t e r a n d W o n d e r 2 7 0 , p . 8 , 190 7
e tc .
CC 4 1 3 , p . l , 1 8 9 8 .
T he s u b s t i t u t e d 'w ' f o r ' v ' w as a n o l d e r a n d l a r g e l y
r e d u n d a n t d i a l e c t a l f e a t u r e a t t h i s tim e .
D ic k e n s u s e d i t
f r e q u e n t l y , b u t i t i s r a r e l y e n c o u n te re d to w a r d s th e e n d o f
th e c e n t u r y .
G e o f f r e y P e a r s o n ( 1 9 8 3 ) , H o o l ig a n : A H i s t o r y o f R e s p e c t a b le
F e a rs , p p .5 1 -1 1 6 .
P e a r s o n 's b o o k i s a s t u d y o f t h e
h i s t o r i c a l c o n t i n u i t y b e tw e e n d i s c o u r s e s o n j u v e n i l e c r im e .
T h e f i r s t r e g u l a r u s a g e o f t h e te r m ' h o o l i g a n ' i s d a t e d fr o m
th e A u g u s t B a nk H o lid a y d is t u r b a n c e s o f 1898 ( i b i d . , p . 7 5 ) .
On t h e d e v e lo p i n g c o n c e p t o f ' j u v e n i l e d e l i n q u e n c y ' i n t h e
1 8 9 0 s , s e e a l s o J o h n R. G i l l i s , 'T h e E v o l u t i o n o f J u v e n i l e
D e lin q u e n c y i n E n g la n d 1 8 9 0 - 1 9 1 4 ', P a s t a n d P r e s e n t 6 7 ,
1975.
296
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THE Q U IX O T IC TRAVELS OF WEARY W IL L Y AND T IR E D T IM :
THE IDEOLOGY OF THE TRAMP
T h e e n o rm o u s
th e
success
s h o r t e x is t e n c e
fig u r e s
at
s u r v iv a l,
o f Tom B r o w n e 's
o f th e
t h a t tim e ,
b u t b y th e
In
th e
c o m ic s t r i p p e d
num ber o f d ir e c t
1898,
a ju n io r
w ith
th e
s p in o f fs
v e r s io n
o f th e
nam es L i t t l e
D on Q u i x o t e
W a n d e r in g K n i g h t D on Q u i x o t e
S ancho h is
P a l'.
D e n is
fa v o u r ite s ,
fro m
p e n n y w e e k ly ,
o f c y c lis ts ,
to
th e
G iffo r d
on th e s e
th e
o u ts e t
T he B ig ; B u d g e t
A ir y
s ta tu s
A lf
re m a rk s
fig u r e s ,
[1 ].
h is
1898
[2 ],
T ra p p s ,
lo n g
fo r
th e
a n d T i n y T im .
fo r
C o m ic C u t s , a
'T h e
de T in to g s
and
p e rs o n a l lit e r a r y
And f o r A r th u r
(fro m
o th e r
t h a t B ro w n e a c t u a l l y
P e a r s o n 's
o n w a rd s ),
a n d B o u n c in g B i l l y ,
o f tr a m p s
tw o
and Sancho P a n za ,
o f th e
a n d T im
o f th e
and im ita tio n s .
W illy
A d v e n tu re s
based W illy
c o n tr a s t to
a d v e n tu re s
same y e a r h e g e n e r a t e d a n o t h e r v e r s i o n
s p o o f o f C e rv a n te s '
in
c a n b e ju d g e d n o t o n ly b y t h e i r
B ro w n e h i m s e l f c r e a t e d
F unny W onder i n
c r e a tio n s ,
he
r iv a l
d re w a p a i r
w ho q u i c k l y
descended
H o lm e s & C o . 's
C o lo u r e d C o m ic h a d F r o g - F a c e d F e r d in a n d
a n d W o o ll y W h is k e r e d
W a tty
t h e i r W o r l d 's
( a r tis t
B a t-E a re d B i l l
F o r D e n is
't r a d it io n a l'
fo r m u la tio n
is
unknow n)
fro m
1898,
a n d M o o c h in g M ik e
G iffo r d ,
ta rg e ts
w h ile
fro m
tr a m p s w e r e
fo r
B r itis h
a c o n fla tio n
1897
s im p ly
h u m o u r,
o f h u m o u ro u s
C o m ic h a d
( a r t i s t u n k n o w n ).
am ong t h e
a n d B r o w n e 's
tr a d itio n
w ith
p a r tic u la r
fig u r e s
297
o f lite r a r y
e x c e lle n c e ,
S u p e r fic ia lly ,
g a n g ly
fig u r e
th e re
w ith
m a g ic a l f o r m u l a
descended to
d e c lin e d
is ,
in
h o w e v e r,
1890s.
a ls o
le v e l
o f tra m p ,
1950s
h is t o r ic a lly
w h ic h
o f B r o w n e 's
tra m p s '
Sam [ 5 ] ,
fir s t
Tom T a t t e r s
OUT'
sequence c a lle d
to
s o c ia l
a
w ho o f t e n
e q u a lly
in
th is
te n s io n s
p ro d u c ts
fo rm
of
th e
o f Tom
[7 ]
[6 ]
a c tu a lly
a n d a g a in
r e g u la r p a r tn e r
[8 ],
'I n n o c e n t s
d if fe r e n c e s
is
on th e
fro m
th e
a c e r ta in
is
fro m
in
w ith
th e
g ra c e .
th is
ju s t
R iv e r '
1 0 .1 )
c a p tio n s
lo a fe r s
seen in
in
s e a rc h
o f tr a m p s .
la c k
th e
F ir s tly ,
sequence:
o f fo r e s ig h t,
as o p p o se d to
S e c o n d ly ,
and t h e ir
th e ir
th e ir
c o s tu m e s
s u g g e s t a fo rm e r g ra n d e u r le a d in g
W illie 's
to p
hat
of
s h o w e d some i m p o r t a n t
e le m e n t i n
tra m p s '
p a rty .
a d o p t e d a s a name
a s we h a v e
th re a ts ,
t y p ic a l p r e s e n ta tio n
any t h ir d
a 3 - p ic tu r e
The u s u a l
tim e ,
( F ig u r e
a n d a n im a ls ,
in
e n title d
d e s s e rts .
s e lf - d e s t r u c t iv e
on o b je c ts
in te r fe r e n c e
d ia lo g u e
th e ir
c o n s e q u e n t on th e
dependence
at
[4 ],
a s in g le
on th e R iv e r '
b e in g
th e
n u m e ro u s nam es
a p p e a re d i n
te a m .
w as as e x t r a - s o c i e t a l
and r e c e iv in g
am ong t h e
b e fo re
B r o w n e 's
tr a m p s
Lazy L a rry
some w e e k s l a t e r
C h a p te r E ig h t ,
fo o d
th e
in
w e re
'I n n o c e n t s
'TWO LAR KS'
common e n o u g h a t
a p p e a ra n c e s :
of
fa ll
th e
as th e
r e p r e s e n ta tio n
fa ilu r e
c o n s titu te
T h e ir a p p e a ra n c e
nam es w e r e
T h e nam e W e a ry W i l l i e
'WORKING I T
th e re
to
a nd w hose p o p u l a r i t y
s im p ly
c a r t o o n u n d e r n e a t h B r o w n e 's
fre e
seem s
o f a ta ll,
L a u re l and H a rd y ,
s p e c ific
a llite r a tiv e
th e
c o m b in a t i o n
im a g in a t io n .
S o lit a r y
fo r
to
[3 ],
T ra m p s w i t h
used.
one,
th ro u g h
e a r ly
th e m a s p e c i a l a p p e a l.
th e v is u a l
a s h o rt fa t
They c a n n o t be re a d
B r o w n e 's
t im e
is
r u n n in g
th e
th e
w h ic h g i v e s
is
s till
in
fa ir ly
to
and
a
good shape,
298
and h is
c o a t lo o k s
g e n t le m a n .
lik e
it
m ig h t o n c e h a v e b e e n t h e
m a rk o f a
H is m o u s ta c h e a n d b e a r d h a v e a n a b s e n t - m in d e d ,
unkem pt p r o fe s s o r ia l
h a t a n d w h ite
p r o le ta r ia n
a nd p ip e .
lo o k .
T im
s p o rts
j a c k e t p a tc h e d a t th e
o r p e a s a n t fe a tu re s
T he d i a l o g u e
"...
a n o b le
P ip !
B r id g e
Y e 'd
ta k e
s c h e m e ",
ahoy!
me f o r
is
e lb o w s ,
w ith
m ock a r i s t o c r a t i c
o'
"I
th e
gent
Q u e e n 's
-
c lo c k
say,
B o d y g u a rd ,
We m ig h t e v e n r e a d a n e le m e n t o f I r i s h
in
te r m s
o f a r tis tic
say th a t
p ic t o r ia l
o f b la c k
p ic t u r e
Y e a ts '
c o m p o s itio n
a nd w h ite
f o llo w s
G iffo r d
is
re a d s w e ll.
s o lid s
a r u le
a re
s u p e rc e d e d b y
p s e u d o - g r a n d io s e
S h a d in g
a d v e n tu re s .
s n a tc h e s
fa ir ly
In
b u t a re
F r e q u e n tly ,
fig h tin g
o ne e p is o d e ,
th ro u g h
each o th e r,
fo r
th e ir
s p e c ta to rs
own b o a t s
s e lf- in f lic te d .
is
In
its
in
b a la n c e d
fa v o u r
as e a ch
th ro u g h o u t.
o r n o n - e x is te n t
c o m p o s itio n s
th e ir
w ith
subsequent
T he y h o ld up a fa rm e r,
th e
a r r e s t r e s u lt s
as
in
'A
fo ile d
[1 0 ].
A v a r ia t io n
p o lic e
fro m
th e ir
s te a l a
[9].
c o u n te r - p r o d u c t iv e
F IR E ESCAPE ADVENTURE'
'T H E OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE B O A T -R A C E ',
up b o a ts
"y e ".
t h e y b e c o m e h ig h w a y m e n a s
th ro w n and a r r e s t e d b y
t h e i r u lt im a t e
w ith
s ta tic
"...
w o u ld n 't
m in i m i s e d
o r le s s
of
o f d ia lo g u e .
l a t e s t m o n e y - m a k in g s c h e m e .
is
is
a re n ic e ly
m o re
T h e s e e le m e n ts w e r e c a r r i e d
c a p s iz e
to
m e r c u r i a l d i a g o n a l m o v e m e n ts a n d s p a r s e
b a c k g ro u n d s
h o rs e ,
r ig h t
a n d th e s e
o f th ir d s
T im m y
"y e "
ye?"
s ty le ,
shadow
"G re a t
th e
th e
b o a te r
m o re
lu n c h e o n - b a s k e t
- a nd m ock c o u n tr y
a D ra g o o n e r i n
-
s tra w
th e
o f p e rm a n e n t f i v e
"H a v e y o u t h e
..."
a punched o u t
w h e re
th e ir
a tte m p t to
as th e y h a ve a f i g h t
In e v ita b ly
on th e
in
th e m e
th e s e
is
and
and
cases,
a v is it
set
to
d e fe a t
th e
299
e d ito r ia l
e je c te d
o ffic e s ,
th ro u g h
f r o m w h ic h
a c o lle c tiv e
th e
e ffo rt
W IL L IE AND TIR E D T IM PAY A V I S I T
h im s e lf sends
seen o u t b y
th e m t h r o u g h
th e
F ig h tin g
u n w a n te d p e s t s
fr o m
in
[1 1 ].
fro m
is
th e
H a r o ld
c a r r ie d
t h e m s e lv e s ,
In
w ith
on h ip s ,
hands
lo o k o n fro m
fic tio n a l
e n d in g
it
h a t r e v e a ls
a n E to n c o l l a r
e n s e m b le
s u g g e s ts
w h ite ,
o f a s a ilo r 's
c o s tu m e .
fis h in g
th e
W illy
an o u t-o f-s h a p e
sa w n o f f
to
th e
s h ir t,
q u e s tio n
in
has
w h ile
th e
't r a d i t io n a l '
o f who e x a c t l y
s c a rf
le ft
c o m ic
th e s e
m id d l e
has
w ith
lo s t h is
T im
m o u s ta c h e ,
on th e
w h ite
obese
a r ib b o n .
a nd d e g e n e ra te
and is
o v e rc o a t
is
now
h o o p e d s le e v e s
s u g g e s ts
a s a ilo r 's
a h a lf- s u c c e s s fu l
D e s p ite
a re
He i s
tro u s e rs ,
to p p e r,
s u g g e s ts
o th e r
y o u n g e r.
r e v e a l th e
fig u r e s
fig u r e
(w h o d r o p p e d t h e
ro u n d h a t w it h
s ty le .
of
some f u r t h e r
lik e w is e
le g
b ro th e r
tw o p a i r s
The o nce b la c k
to
th e m c h a s e d
o f m e r g in g r e a l w i t h
W illy
l o s t h is
u p p e r s le e v e s
th e
...'
an a b s u r d ly
d e rb y .
The o dd b o o t on th e
tr ip
jo k e
and lo o k s
and l i t t l e
[1 2 ],
a n d C e c i l H a r m s w o r th
head.
and b la z e r ,
T o g e th e r th e
L o r d F a u n t le r o y .
a "y ")
h a s m o re h a i r
b ra c e ,
to
th e
a b a ld in g
a s in g le
re d u c e d
th e
A lfr e d
'I n n o c e n t s
w ith
1 1 .1 )
3 show s
w ith
is
h ave ch an ge d n o t ic e a b ly .
suspended b y
L it tle
F ra m e
f i g u r e s , we c a n p e r c e i v e
m o re s p h e r i c a l ,
in
L e ic e s te r ,
a re
'WEARY W IL L Y AND TIR E D
enough,
A p a r t fro m
a n d r e p la c e d
'WEARY
and th e y
H a r m s w o r th a n d h i s
s u it a b ly
o r ig in a l
In
flo o r ,
( F ig u r e
H a r o l d H a r m s w o r th
r ig h t .
o v e r th e
a n d r e m o v in g h i s
now c l a d
b y A lfr e d
w h ile
e d ito r ia l
The f i g u r e s
a p o th e o s is .
a rm e d ,
F ra m e 9 ,
th e
d e v e lo p m e n ts
hand is
its
A n s w e rs o f f i c e
s c is s o r s .
" ie "
to
s ta ff.
th e
In
T IM HAVE A L IV E L Y T IM E AT TUDOR STREET'
in - jo k e
e v e n tu a lly
TO TUDOR S T R E E T ', Tom B ro w n e
a tra p d o o r
E d ito r
th e
a re
th e
changes,
supposed to
be is
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»Veary V i ] l i e a n rl T i r e d Tirr1 h a v e s l i v e l y
tim e a t Tudor s t r e e t ’
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. t n m £~l *#fc"
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NtJ, Ml* \tn I >>l>ka jmd** ■■flijnl ‘llui " W llk t I
I m * - Init jfeji'r* |U V too ws»J«r<u1 Ux « « d i f
WlHi.
M h .ijf Em U sp*i Eslfrofct l 0 4 . I k a e * DOW ! V tm 'j* iKa llu'n
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F i g u r e ] 3 .S
»A w i l d n i g h t ’ s a d v e n t u r e w i t h F p r i n g - h e e ] e d J a c k '
( f r o m IC 4 7 ] , p . ] . ] 8 9 9 )
■u-Ks-I
0
THE
C O M IC
A D V E N T U R E S OF T H E
W ANDERING
K N IG H T
C U T S .___________________________ J^eryJTuesdayJd.
DON Q U I X O T E
D E T IN T O G S AND
SANCHO
H IS
P A L .- N o . 3
I . •* S o * y o n d e r r e o * l« d c a j i U ? ” m u r m u r e d T io U * ; j . •* T u
ih o r « t lm t tli« io v r e , h i w » id o f fo r ty d * o lli.
w ill c o
h o o t* q u ic k ly ,
w h o k n o w « b u t w h » l lia r h e a r t m i y eo llcD
« h e n >oo d o th o b x r v o o u t g t l L o l ih o v ! "
frchi—
In
"I
d is a p p e a r in to th e m oot,
d ro ji» 1 11 g u p a th e m oke
*».
b u t s t o i r y refcso o fo r »o m u c h
tw o
A nd » i l . H t : b u t t h e m o k o » t o p p e d n o t t o fin d Ih ia o u t . Dui
v a n i s h e d in t o t h o n i g h t .
A nd ore T in to g * en d 5*ncho
I*«n&a h a d c o a s o u p t o l « k o t h o * » r , y o { '• g o * h * d v t a ia h o d ,
*r.d t i i u i ■ u i r u t ¡ o » o m p | < d t o t h e b u d .
F igure ]3 .3
•The A d v e n t u r e s o f t h e W a n d e r i n g K n i g h t Don Q u i x o t e
de T in to g s and Sancho h i s p a ] »
( f r o m .CC 4 4 2 ,
p . 3,
U8P8)
302
r
ì-
•p w U J j
Special War Number.
No. 35 N«w SsEiia.
ONE
___________
-
H A LFPEN N Y ,
.-
i— _
■■■! ! ■ „ ■
| ■■ | i
REMEMBER
—
b*
N u m b tri v f
p v ib Iia h •<! t v t r r
th o
W O U D I* . Ì d , * , , a
***•»»-
find •■ •U ln e a d v t n t u r a
W »r
♦ * -1
rie lu r« *
O r a n ti W ur a t a r i» «
*«4
o f t H r l lI U i*
» » » a w**H In t»*« ' • W ID W
C H IP *
n * » d » r « a r a u l v l M d t o A r d ir t*«*lr & o p lM In *<Jw*we>*.
^
SA TU RDAY .________________ D icimbek S3, 18S9.
EVERY
'
w ill
D ^ c H p llD ft * v t O r * * t B a H lM
III
I■
"W
| ■—
■IT I
~
MAJUBA!
A GLORIOUS CAVALRY OHARGE-BOERS TURN AND RUN!
F i g u r e HH-4
»Remember Macuba»
( f r o i r FW 3 5 , p . 3 ,
1899)
303
5 t t KO u r
»
War &to*v
M y
1
No-(Hi. V«. Icvm. (Kn Biuai.)' '[..SESifiJ] "PKICtfoNE HALFPENMg. ['•;
THE
NOBLE
ARM Y
OF
W EARY
UNW ASHED
W ANDERERS
S P 1 F F L IC A T E
j
THE
D ecem ber
BOER
mJ
'* Mow tk w i, t i i f l s j K i l l i i , " >
b t t k • th—
t . * a d k -A prc-*-J ’
•*
( M V u li, u d l[ a in 't <osv* u » ln t
W i r i m n v*r/om cm k t f v n jfdu«w M
‘•«IJvuow,” W'ut tK-r USiKmfa-iub' jib r<— »i> l u ! * lw « M
tiitim v «till M< im ij Ii Lk I#,
' ' Ti.»i U U ; » iu i h ,
,\1«,>i» it*.iii)•In“Ik
mig y wii '* t\
mn,i
f m ln lm n '
F igure ] ] . 5
»The n o b l e ar my o f w e a r y u n w a s h e d w a n d e r e r s
s p i f f l i c a t e t h e B o e r army*
( f r o m IC 4 8 6 ,
p . 3,
1899)
304
23, 1899.
ARM Y.
ifTAIH
|rfV*DlP
( N » 9 i u h .) [.„ '¿ ■ .r.'.V 1 P M C B ON E U A L F P E N H f .
HOW
P R E T O R IA
WAS
C A P T O ftB P
~BV
W EARV
W IL L Y
p g g U S")
A N D T I R E D T I M I
F ig u re 31.6
’ How P r e t o r i a was c a p t u r e d b y Weary W i l l y
a n d T i r e d Tiro»
(o v erleaf)
10, Ami U U f ori Ih* pnU optucd ibe |fitm la |*t in Ih*
fìritlih Artsy, " WoKto ! Bob*, m* boy 1 cotas aka»* is u d
wmk* jiMifMlI t l barn*,’* u id VVHIy. “ M tifh tU lctd , l'n»
« r t , ’* Mntlid Our champion p o tim i j '* «ad II yea do*'t mind
riU * k ft!l tayboya in with mo to u k « » mueLta o’ jupVU with
yon." “ W hy. w fU ln ty ." c)>ir(*d T i« . •‘IM 'mm *ü w * ü "
Ü . AihL w n in 't i l f u n whcm t:b* l k * r A rm jr, niw r
U n f h a d \ m n *|,«ol*d,
lo QjkÜ, tk * B n U i* in m .
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pî& peÀ jr.” “ A d i H i d o t a o l " h o » |« l th « ö ih * r B a « n : " d M
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306
c o n t'd .
307
still a little confusing.
Perhaps the clothes are discards or
even stolen from their social betters, consequently elevating the
pretensions of their current wearers.
The accompanying
paragraphs have actually increased in volume, giving the heroes
more space for plot exposition.
Their dialogue oscillates
between the pseudo-genteel and the downright crudity of slum
language, punctuated by an ironic narration:
"'Please sir', said
the tall slender baronet [...] 'Be ready to squash him', murmured
William.
'I'm yer squasher!' responded Tim."
This strange, drawn-out verbosity is well-exemplified by 'A
WILD NIGHT'S ADVENTURE WITH SPRING-HEELED JACK' (Figure 11.2)
[13].
'Spring-heeled Jack' was a character from the 'penny
dreadfuls'
[14] who would appear on stormy nights to seek
vengeance on evil-doers.
Tim is dressed here in his costume of
goat horns and bat-like wings to glean some amusement from
frightening the innocent.
The long, awkward sentences combine
this mannered aristocratic address with the equally roundabout
constructions of supposed Cockney, including unintentional puns
based on linguistic misunderstanding, akin to Chokee Bill's
above:
'"Willy, dear boy,
"Strike me - throw
just too wonderful
the Human Bat what
how do I strike you?" warbled Tim.
me - pinch me - bust me! but you're
for words!" smiled Willy ... "You're
we read about in the 'Wonder'."'
And the language is further embellished by oddly used verbs like
'warbled' here:
'roared', 'yelled', 'twittered',
'piped', 'shrieked',
'whistled',
'snorted' and 'whined'. It seems that the
planned effect of these verbs is the impression of manic action
308
and attendant sounds.
But the reality is that what is quite a
lively sequence is bogged down in peculiar linguistic
constructions which actually mark a new phase in the editorial
anchoring of visuals.
The pictorial sequence combines with the
captions to suck the once separate editorial populism into this
self-contained regular textual element.
This was the case with Ally Sloper, but there are important
differences in the personae of Sloper and the tramps, and in the
form of the piece, which are bound up with the changing political
climate of the '90s as opposed to the '80s.
The Ideology of the Tramp
As analysed by Bailey, Sloper is a combination of various comic
types cultivated in humourous magazines and in the music halls in
the late nineteenth century.
The tramp was more than a
behavioural category - the gents, mashers, swells etc. parading
in public places - but nor was he exactly an 'economic' category.
Tramps included members of Booth's Classes A and B - the semi­
criminal and the loafer happily festering in the urban slum, and
casual labourers reduced by circumstances, usually the
seasonality of employment, to seeking relief at the casual ward.
But despite this merging of divisions, which frustrated analysis
of the casual labour problem, tramps could be seen to constitute
a recognisable type.
Stedman Jones distinguishes between a
broader category of occasional 'vagrant' and a smaller, more
consistent 'tramp' element:-
'It is possible that one third of all vagrants in good
times, and two thirds in bad times, were not tramps,
309
but mainly unskilled men moving from job to job:
navvies, seamen returning home, Irish harvest
labourers, and unemployed agricultural labourers'
[15].
Of the professional tramps, he observes an habitual pattern
unmotivated by questions of economic security or insecurity.
Tramps preferred to winter in London because of the superior
abundance of charity sources.
April and May were spent touring
the countryside, summer by the sea, and Autumn hop-picking.
This
seasonal pattern was an affront to the dictates of the Charity
Organisation Society (C.O.S.).
It also had little to do with the
motivations of labourers in search of regular employment.
It was
a self-perpetuating pattern internalised and reproduced as an
habitual preference for 'a life of chances and surprises, and the
camaraderie of the common lodging house and the casual ward'
[16].
Stedman Jones's sources for these generalisations of
characteristics are Mayhew's London Labour... and the 1891 C.O.S.
report on The Homeless Poor of London, which mirrors Mayhew's
findings from the 1850s and '60s.
This picture of ritual
movements among the tramps co-exists with one of a general
deterioration in social conditions as identified by Booth, the
social imperialists, new liberals and Fabians.
Mayhew's tramps
survived the designation of street-folk and cadgers to 'Class A',
and the strategy of its elimination as a key to broader social
betterment.
The tramp retained a separate identity.
Like the
street-folk, he had innate cultural characteristics, he was the
quintessence of the wandering tribe who rejected the bourgeois
work ethic for freedom of movement between city and country on a
sort of 'pleasure principle' basis.
310
Over forty years later, in Down and Out in Paris and London,
George Orwell attempted to end the myth of the tramp as 1an
atavism, a throw-back to the nomadic stage of humanity1 [17], by
identifying the governing legislation of vagrancy as the root
perpetuating factor.
Stripped of any personal dignity or
motivation to work by his treatment at the casual ward, and
suffering from progressive malnutrition, the tramp has no option
but to wander aimlessly from one 'spike' to another, and in the
process uses enough energy 'to plough thousands of acres, build
miles of road, put up dozens of houses'
[18].
Orwell advocates a
sort of quasi-work colony akin to the proposals for casual
labourers in the 1890s and 1900s.
While those latter proposals
were being formulated, however, Mayhew's picture of innate
propensity to vagrancy was still common enough.
Vagrancy was not
yet viewed as a function of inadequate Poor Law legislation to
the same extent that casual labour was seen in terms of declining,
casualised industries.
Despite the 'tramp-monster' aspect to the thesis of an
innate tendency to vagrancy, there is nevertheless a certain
romance to it, which even finds its way into Orwell.
Disdain at
the fecklessness of this world, the squalor and the stink, is
combined with a fascination for its liberating aspect, its
classlessness, for it was at the attitudinal level that Orwell
perceived class distinctions and potential class conciliation.
Determined to discover the realities of working class living, a
trek which led to The Road to Wigan Pier (1937) , Orwell worked
hard at beating the prejudices of his youth, and worried a great
deal at the prejudices he expected to find levelled against
311
himself.
Initially afraid to speak lest his accent betray his
origins, after he has donned the disguise of a tramp, he quickly
realises that his ragged clothes are the mark of his status, they
equalise everyone at the same level of degradation [19].
He even
encounters an old Etonian at one lodging-house, and a remarkably
well-read 'screever' (pavement artist) with a good knowledge of
astronomy [20],
Like Egan and Mayhew in the nineteenth century
Orwell, fascinated by the colourful speech of his subjects, their
capacity for expression in a language of their own, devotes one
chapter to explanations of slang and swearwords, and attempts to
reproduce their stories in direct speech whenever possible.
This
is a melting-pot where class identities are lost by choice or
necessity.
In spite of Orwell's personal brand of emotional
socialist critique, there is still an element of romance running
through this chronicle of self-imposed destitution, which emerges
more strongly in his retrospective summary of Down and Out... in
The Road...:-
1...down there in the squalid and, as a matter of fact,
horribly boring sub-world of the tramp I had a feeling
of release, of adventure, which seems absurd when I
look back, but which was sufficiently vivid at the
time' [21].
This strange duality in Orwell's experiences was quite similar to
Mayhew’s ambivalent orientation, so that long after the problem
of the casualised economy had been formally recognised in the
political institution of social welfarism, the tramp continued to
cause difficulties of definition as an 'economic' or
'ideological' type, and had a certain romantic edge to his
312
travels.
If there is a continuity from one century to the next in
understandings of the 'problem' of vagrancy, there are
historically specific reasons why the tramp emerged as he did,
and in that particular form in the comics of the 1890s.
Ally Sloper was born before the riots of 1886 and Booth's
ensuing survey dramatically and suddenly highlighted the darker
side of the apparent démocratisation through the expansion of
leisure.
At precisely that time when social investigation was
adopting a new scientific method based on geographical and
economic divisions the tramp, who more than any other social type
represented a threat to economic security and license to physical
and behavioural freedom (of the street and of the countryside)
emerged as one of the most important figures in popular reading.
The language and the types represent a reworking or a negotiation
of political manoeuvres and changing political ideologies.
The
emergence of this 'mass' entertainment in language and type is
related to the emergence of the tramps in the comics as a
negotiated articulation of the new politics.
Harmsworth's publications - the newspapers, imperialist
boys' weeklies and comics - were characterised by economies of
scale in production which affected the rationalisation of
formulae in the textual elements.
But what we are witnessing in
the comic strips, as the central element in the comics, is their
distancing from the visible presence of Harmsworth, as his
biographers would have him, with scissors in hand improving
personal tastes, and also from the 'tradition' of humourous
313
weeklies in which the editor acts as guide to his protagonists,
fictional and non-fictional, in the nether world.
The tramp
figures parallel Leno in the halls as an abstraction from reality
yet simultaneously are pervaded by all the tensions of real class
relations.
The tramp is both a real type, and a truly 'quixotic'
figure.
The resemblance of Willie and Tim to Don Quixote and
Sancho Panza is more than Tom Browne's personal fancy.
Don
Quixote was a pathetic figure sucked into a fantastic, imaginary
world of chivalry and honour, a self-delusive but sympathetic
character unable to deal with plain meanings and ordinary speech.
Hence his eccentric, honorific language.
Willie and Tim likewise
use a language which corresponds to nothing in reality.
Unlike
Quixote, theirs is only half self-delusory, and half mocking of
the mannered respectability and pretension to grandeur in
language - the malapropisms work both ways.
In this sense they
realise what was formerly the function of the editorial captions
and titles to the cartoons.
function of editor and star.
This is similar to Sloper's dual
However, while Sloper's adventures
are usually topical, and his co-stars on the front page
recognisable, Willie and Tim are rarely to be found against
topical backdrops, apart from major sporting events like the Boat
Race.
They act, for the most part, as a guide to themselves and
the editorial offices.
They are both a commentary on the
function of the comics they inhabit (as in the 'Spring-Heeled
Jack' strip) and part of that function themselves.
Don Quixote
was free to wander through his imaginary Spain, but was
314
simultaneously ensnared by the language and behaviour of his
chivalric world.
So Willie and Tim are freed both from the codes
of dress, deference and demeanour, and the limited geographical
space of the mashers parading on public thoroughfares (in which
even Sloper is trapped), and from the limiting environment of
suburban domesticity (in which Sloper is also stuck).
Yet as a
parody of these worlds, they are rooted in it by their halfparody, half-serious language.
This point is more evident in Browne's direct spoof of
Quixote.
Figure 11.3 [22] shows Browne's Don Quixote in a
romantic bid to elope with a 'lady fayre'.
This is actually a
very good realisation of the character, with the original
Quixote's cardboard visor replaced by an equally comical fryingpan.
The theme is on a continuum with the romantically-oriented
cartoons of the early '90s, with the added twist that the hero
deceives himself with regard to both his own appearance, and that
of the object of his attentions.
historical dimension:
And the puns adopt an
''Twas but a sorry reason for so much a
fright - two pages and a sheet ...' (caption 6).
De Tintogs and
Sancho, even more than Willie and Tim, constitute a commentary on
the folly of self-aggrandisement in language and behaviour as
practitioners in that folly.
The romantic role of the tramps as simultaneously liberated
and entrapped figures was just one aspect to their functioning.
More importantly, they represented elements of Egan's colourful
but harmless lower orders of the 1820s, Mayhew's savage and
indirectly threatening tribe in the 1850s, and Booth's directly
threatening Class A, represented on the map in black, in the
315
’90s.
This development in the comics was no isolated phenomenon,
but must be seen as part of a general movement in forms of
'popular1 culture.
It can be understood broadly as the move from
a 'class' to a 'mass' entertainment [23],
The most outstanding form
in this regard, as noted in Chapter Three, was the music hall
[24].
Its development was akin to the rationalisation of the
publishing process by publishers like Harmsworth.
The changes were most evident in the historical sequence of
acts.
There is a direct line from the radical depiction of the
unrepentant chimney sweep condemned to death in the 1840s, to his
role of lovable crafty Cockney, at a considerable remove from
Mayhew's coster.
It is a process, as Bailey points out, 'from
class consciousness through emulative hedonism to domestication'
[25].
Martha Vicinus makes a similar point, drawing attention in
particular to the change from the exaltation of the pastoral myth
in the old street broadsides to the coster satirising the same
myth in the '90s while extolling the vitality of urban living
[26].
Sloper was very much a conflation of those types from the
middle period of music hall.
Despite the abundance of happy-go-
lucky Cockneys, and the innocuous potshots at pretensions to
grandeur, it would be inaccurate to say that class relations were
avoided in music hall songs.
One of the most famous comedians of
the '90s, Dan Leno, confronted the unemployment problem directly
in his persona as 'one of the unemployed':
'You've read it through in Lloyd's,
316
The so-called unemployeds.
Hard rare hard work to do the midnight march1 [27].
Leno, like Sloper, and in a comicalised version of what Mayhew's
street-folk were actually achieving, was reproducing a classic
bourgeois individualism in an almost subversive way.
individual goal was survival at all costs.
The
He himself regarded
'the world as a football, kicked about by higher powers with me
somewhere hanging on the stitching with my teeth and toe-nails'
[28].
Leno's unemployed character was not far removed from the
tramps in the comics, for as with these figures there was a
degree of invention and disguise to him which made him
unrecognisable directly as a 'real' social type.
On the language
of such music-hall types, Bailey concludes that it
'was a mongrelised form, and the formal derivative
style mingled with the pithier vernacular of the trades
and the street. Yet this was not a simple conflation
of modes but a creative mesalliance, for it sustained
the dramatic and stylistic tension between the vulgar
and the pretentious that gave much of late-Victorian
music-hall humour its point and may provide an index to
significant shifts in the sensibilities of its
audience' [29].
In order to follow through the argument that the comic
stripped tramps constituted a form of negotiation of the lower
middle class position in a new political era, we must examine now
their 'finest hour' - their participation in the Boer War.
Willy and Tim Go To War
The Boer War broke out in 1899 after a decade in which the rapid
emergence of 'jingoism', with lower middle class clerkdom at its
forefront [30], had brought social imperialist ideas to a
317
popularly accessible level.
The war therefore generated a higher
degree of expectation, hope and consequently newspaper attention
than any previous imperial struggle.
Harmsworth's Daily Mail,
which had by now established itself as the essence of a
particularly lower middle class imperialist fervour, led the race
to dominate coverage of the war.
Chamberlain's organic vision
was translated into a broadside against 'Little Englandism'
which, it claimed,
'has fallen because it supposed that the people of
England were selfish [. ..] Imperialism has won because
[...] it had been able to appeal to that instinct of
unselfishness which leads men to [...] subordinate the
petty desire for material comfort to the commands of
duty' [31].
The growth of the Empire in the 1880s and '90s was motivated
by increasing strain from German and American industrial
competition, a strain which was considerably worsened by the
'Great Depression'.
The Empire provided a ready and cheap supply
of essential raw materials like oil and cotton.
Its maintenance
and expansion were therefore vital to Britain's economic survival
[32].
At the heart of the Empire, London became the commercial and
financial centre of the world.
The consequence of London's
increasing importance was a multiplication both of the number of
clerical positions and aspirants.
However, as noted in Chapter
Six, employment for these workers was generally insecure and
wages were maintained at low levels.
It seems reasonable,
therefore, to suppose that for clerical workers involved directly
in the running of imperial trade, the evidence of their
318
collective 'jingoism1 reflected a degree of anxiety about
the threat to imperial growth from foreign powers.
That is
certainly not to read any degree of political awareness among
such workers.
Perceptions of this threat would have been
mediated in practical terms most forcefully by the rapid influx
of German clerks to London at this time [33].
Imperialist
fervour at this level, then, could be read as having an economic
basis.
These are important retrospective qualifications to the
contemporary discourse in the Daily Mail about 'unselfish'
devotion to 'duty'.
In addition, imperialism offered the
possibility of full democratic participation as 'citizens' to
those who endorsed it wholeheartedly.
It lended legitimacy to
the adoption of the 'values', behaviour and dress of one's social
superiors.
Therefore the call to unselfish service was a veneer
to the real appeal of cultural and economic elevation.
The heightened imperialism was equally evident in
Harmsworth's boys' weeklies, as noted above.
We have already
identified the obsession with manners in the comics as a
manifestation of the lower middle class aspirations to higher
status, if largely symbolic.
comics also went to war.
When the Boer War broke out, the
Of Harmsworth's titles, the Funny
Wonder and Chips were most dedicated to the war effort.
From
December 23rd 1899, the Funny Wonder ran a series of full-page
battle illustrations on the front cover, commencing with a
cavalry charge captioned 'REMEMBER MAJUBA! A GLORIOUS CAVALRY
CHARGE - BOERS TURN AND RUN!' (Figure 11.4) [34],
An easy target
319
was established in 'Hans, the Double Dutchman'
occasional strip from September 9th on.
[35], an
A pair of jokey war
correspondents, Jack Sprat and Ruddy the Tyke made their debut on
December 9th [36].
Inside, there was a series of complete war
stories, 'founded on actual facts', from December 16th.
Chips likewise ran a series of war stories.
Its principal
contribution to the war effort, however, was the enlistment of
Willy and Tim in the army.
On December 23rd, in a strip called
'THE NOBLE ARMY OF WEARY UNWASHED WANDERERS SPIFFLICATE THE BOER
ARMY'
[37] (Figure 11.5), they create their own army of tramps to
take on and defeat the Boers (with the prior promise of free
drinks and cigarettes for the volunteers, of course).
This was
not the first time that popular comic characters like this were
sent to war.
Sloper covered the Franco-Prussian war as Judy's
correspondent in 1871.
Nor was it the last.
Willie and Tim saw
the First World War from the trenches in 1914 and comics like the
Beano declared war on Hitler and Mussolini in 1939.
The heroes
of generations of boys' weeklies meanwhile dealt with the threats
of German spies.
This particular strip is interesting not really as a
humourous device, but for the tensions current through it.
The
ideology of social imperialism as it developed in the '90s was
premised on the elimination of the 'residuum' through collective
commitment to empire.
The presentation of the 'residuum'
battling with the imperial enemies therefore constitutes an
interesting gloss.
In one sense they are yet again the romantic
wanderers going where ordinarily the readers cannot go, spouting
the same mixture of archaic constructions and ironic Cockney:
320
'"Now then, skinny Willy", quoth Tim, as he inspected
the corps, "why can't you chuck a chest, and look
proud?" "Carn't, old pal!" giggled Willy; "me muwer's
sent it to the wash, and it ain't come back!"'
At the same time, however, they really are the residuum,
translated into a collection of props borrowed from their
betters, branded with an epithet that conceals the reality of the
paranoia surrounding their collective threat: 'weary unwashed'.
The absurd scenario of their battle with the Boers, culminating
in their rubbing shoulders with military brass intertwines fears
regarding the true security of the Empire, and of domestic
society.
The denigration of the Boers is a fairly
straightforward manifestation of what new Liberal J.A. Hobson
recognised as an essentially humourless psychology of jingoism
[38].
Its heightened pitch was paradoxically an index to a
deeply-rooted insecurity beneath.
Dispatching the tramps to the
Transvaal - 'the merry Out-of-work Brigade1 - is not merely
adding insult to injury in denigrating the Boers.
(This
description, indeed, shows the degree of confusion still current
at the distinction between casual labourer and tramp, conditioned
unemployment and 'innate' reluctance to work.)
It illustrates an
undercurrent scepticism at the potential success of the socialimperialist thesis on the elimination of unemployment through the
empire.
Willie and Tim are Quixote and Sancho.
The other 'weary
unwashed' are Classes A and B, indistinguishable from one
another.
The tramps in the Transvaal 'spifflicating' the enemy
are not a call to arms for the reader, but beyond the perpetual
grins that were Browne's hallmarks - Willy's broad, toothy smile
321
of manic enjoyment, Tim's wide, pursed lips sandwiched in a halfdrunken expression between nose and double chin - there are seeds
of discontent, for the real volunteers in the Boer War were, as
Price argues (see note [30]), to a large extent from the lower
middle class of clerks and shopkeepers seeking domestic security
through the empire.
And the superficially comical notion of an
'army' of the 'merry out-of-work' is actually an indication of
the degree of fearful scepticism at the promises of social
imperialism.
Willy's and Tim's adventures in the Transvaal continued into
1900, peaking on April 21st when they finally capture Pretoria
itself [39] (Figure 11.6), with Tim in disguise as President
Kruger.
This episode is longer than the others, with larger
paragraphs to accomodate the Boer efforts at pidgin English.
The
visual depiction of the Boers is interesting in that by this
stage they are virtually divested of any military props.
It is
as though they themselves have donned the garb of the tramps.
Even Kruger's greatcoat has tattered edges and patches, his
whiskers are as unkempt as Willy's, and the inverted buckets worn
by the troops as hats (frame 9) are very similar to the uniform
headgear of the classic representation of Irish farmers in Punch
and other political humourous journals.
Collectively they are
referred to as 'the dusty crew' and 'my dusty brother bungling
burghers' by the disguised Tim.
What has happened between the
earlier adventures and this one?
This episode appeared after the relief of the sieges of
Ladysmith and Mafeking, both of which were met with spontaneous
322
outbursts of jingoistic fervour in London.
While these reactions
were assertions of British military superiority, the basic lesson
of these sieges was the vulnerability of disciplined military
force at the hands of untrained farmers, thrust by circumstances
into the role of soldiers.
The pitting of tramp against 'dusty'
Boer was a combination of common enemies locked in a battle in
costumes and language which sublimated the very overt threats
that they posed to the empire, internally and externally.
Neither the language of the tramps nor the Boers corresponds to a
standard Germanic pidgin English nor an exaggerated Cockney as
cultivated by Kipling:
'"You vos squeeze mine pertoka 'orribly! Yah ooh!"
"Good aftertea, uncle", smole Willy; "just wait a shake
until we've finished our gargle, and then we'll attend
to you."1 [frame 5]
The use of the verb 'smile' and a past tense, 'smole', as
synonyms for 'speak' and 'spoke' is quite frequent in these
strips.
The intended effect was a vision of manic punsters with
fixed grins in combat with 'dusty Boers'.
On the one hand there
is a resolution of sorts of the questions regarding the
'deserving' and 'undeserving' poor generated by Booth's
'scientific' social analysis and the organic view of the new
Liberals.
In the multiple identity, the tramps focus prejudices
against both Classes A and B under a defusing comical mask.
On
the other hand, there is a resolution of the fact that the
superior organisation of farmers in guerilla groups was holding
the imperial forces at bay through the confusion of their
identity by half-animal representations as tramps as well.
323
The adventures of Weary Willy and Tired Tim in the Boer War
constituted a climax to a long process running through the comics
as a third phase in the evolution of the Victorian humourous
journal.
It was the process of negotiating the class location of
the lower middle class with respect to the hegemony of the
bourgeoisie above and to those classes below.
It was entirely
appropriate that the adventures of the major characters in the
comics should reach the war front on which the fears and hopes of
their readership were starkly apparent.
The evidence of these
adventures supports the thesis that the comics contributed to a
specifically lower middle class ’common sense' understanding of
social relations and its own relations to bourgeois hegemony in
the 1890s.
In order to support this thesis further, in Chapter Twelve
we will look at the fate of the tramps and of some of the rival
strip characters in the 1900s.
324
CHAPTER ELEVEN - NOTES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
See Denis Gifford (1984), The International Book of Comics
p.20. The series began in CC 440, p.8, 1898.
Big Budget, No. 1, p.l, June 20, 1897 etc.
Laurel and Hardy actually found themselves incomic
strip
form in Amalgamated Press' (Harmsworth's company) comic
Film Fun in the late 1920s and 30s.
1C 298, p.l, 1896.
1C 341, p.5, 1897.
1C 394, p.8 , 1898.
IC 298, p.l, 1896.
IC 302, p.4, 1896.
IC 317, p.l, 1896.
IC 307, p.l 1896; and IC 344, p.l, 1897, respectively.
IC 351, p.l, 1897.
IC 396, P-l. 1898.
IC 471, p.l, 1899.
The character first appeared in Spring-Heeled Jack, the
Terror of London (publisher unknown) and resurfaced in the
Aldine Publishing Company's Spring-Heeled Jack Library as
late as 1904. However, as E. S. Turner (1948) Boys Will Be
Boys, p.70, points out, 'the young generation was growing
up that little but more sophisticated'. By this time, he
would have seemed, as here, a comical gothic anachronism.
Gareth Stedman Jones (1971), Outcast London, p.89. His
sources for this estimate are S. and B. Webb (1929), English
Poor Law History, part II, vol. 1, p.403 and E. Hobsbawn's
chapter on 'The Tramping Artisan' in Labouring Men, (1964),
p p .34-64.
Ibid.
George Orwell (1988), Down and Out in Paris and London,
p.178.
Ibid., p.182
Ibid., p.115
Ibid., pp.142-149.
Orwell (1987), TheRoad to
Wigan Pier, p.134.
'The Adventures of theWandering Knight Don Quixote de
Tintogs and Sancho His Pal - No. 3', CC 442, p.8,1898.
Martha Vicinus's phrase, from Chapter 6 of her (1974) book
The Industrial Muse: A Study of Nineteenth Century British
Working Class Literature.
Peter Bailey (1978), Leisure and Class in Victorian England:
Rational Recreation and the Contest for Control 1830-1885,
Chapter 7, 'Rational Recreation and the Entertainment
Industry: the Case of the Victorian Music Halls'; and
'Custom, Capital and Culture in the Victorian Music Hall',
in Popular Culture and Custom in Nineteenth-Century England
(ed.) Robert Storch (1982); Vicinus (1974), op. cit. ,
Chapter 6.
Bailey (1982), op. cit., p.198
Vicinus (1974), op. cit., p.273
Cited in ibid., p.276.
Cited in ibid., p.270.
325
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
Bailey (1982), op. cit., p.201.
Although it is now impossible to fully quantify this
statement, Richard N. Price notes the disproportionate
number of clerks in the volunteer regiments, the spontaneous
patriotic demonstrations in the Stock Exchange after the
relief of Ladysmith and Mafeking (the key points in the
war) etc. - 'Society, Status and Jingoism: the Social Roots
of Lower Middle Class Patriotism, 1870-1900', in Geoffrey
Crossick (ed., 1977), The Lower Middle Class in Britain,
p.91.
Daily Mail, 6 October, 1900, p. 4. Cited in ibid., p.97.
James Sturgis,
'Britain and the New Imperialism',
in C.C.
Eldridge (ed. 1984), British Imperialism in the Nineteenth
Century, p .97.
G.L. Anderson, 'The Social Economy of Late-Victorian
Clerks', in Crossick (ed. 1977), op. cit., pp. 127-9.
FW 35, p.l, 1899.
FW 20, p.4, 1899.
FW 33, p.l, 1899.
IC486, p.l, 1899.
J.A. Hobson (1901), The Psychology of Jingoism.
IC 503, pp.l and 8, 1900.
326
CHAPTER TWELVE
TOWARDS THE MODERN COMIC STRIP: NEGLECTED JIM AND
THE HAPPY HOOLIGAN
Although Willy's and Tim's wartime adventures ended in 1900, the Boer
War itself continued into 1901.
It is generally accepted by
historians that the principal effect of the Boer War on political
theory was the gradual supercession of the social-imperialist
thesis by a version of the Liberal-imperialism espoused by the
Fabians.
That is, the prolongation of the war drew attention to
the comparative poor health of the recruits as a causal factor,
and the notion that the empire would provide a platform for
improving domestic social conditions began to be reversed, so
that the Fabian concept of 'national efficiency' at home came
increasingly to be seen as the means to imperial strength abroad.
Fabian Sidney Webb put the case thus: 'How ... can we get an
efficient army - out of the stunted, anaemic, demoralized
denizens of the slum tenements of our great cities?1 [1].
This
change of direction which at last catalysed moves towards welfare
reform after a decade of debate, was not exactly a reversal of
thought.
It was a deliberate political strategy designed to
shore up the widening cracks in the existing policy.
It was the
latest step in overt political moves to tackle the 'crisis of
liberalism'.
The shape that the Liberal government welfare reforms were
327
to take from 1906 onwards did not conform to a preconceived
pattern [2].
The need for reform was by now agreed upon by
every complexion of collectivism, and in addition to 'national
efficiency' ideas spurred by the Boer War experiences, there was
a good deal of socialist pressure, particularly on the question
of unemployment.
The first reforms were in the spheres of
welfare for children and the elderly, and were hesitatingly
enacted.
The second and most urgent issue was unemployment,
since those relief work schemes which had been enacted by local
authorities from Booth's inspiration, and the subsequent
coordinating mechanism, the Unemployed Workmen Act, had been
unqualified failures [3].
While it was claimed at the time of the first reforms that
'unemployment' was a new phenomenon - Churchill called it 'the
untrodden field of politics' in 1908 [4] - it was actually the
case that Booth had made accurate appraisals of the problem in
social structural terms from the 1880s and these were more
refined versions of Mayhew's observations in the '50s.
The
report of the Interdepartmental Committee on Physical
Deterioration in 1904 was the first government report to affirm
those findings.
The Committee shared Booth's identification of
overcrowding as a causal factor in poverty, and of particular
concern was the exposure of groups in well-paid or low-paid
regular employment to the 'residuum' at the centre of the Empire
by ties to place of employment, or inability to pay higher rent
[5].
Its advocation of labour colonies showed Booth's
influence, and even more the influence of the Fabians.
The basic
rationale of the reforms seems to owe little to these influences,
328
since their principal architect, Beveridge was concerned in the
new measures - labour exchanges and minimum wage legislation - to
prevent unemployment rather than to provide relief per se.
there is actually more continuity than discontinuity.
Yet,
His
recognition of 'the disorganisation of the labour market'
[6] as
the principal causal factor in unemployment was a further
rationalisation of the social conditioning thesis undercurrent to
Booth, the Fabians and the social-imperialists.
His distinction
between 'the efficient and the unemployable', and the proposal
for the latter of 'a complete and permanent loss of all citizen
rights including not only the franchise, but civil freedom and
fatherhood'
[7] is contiguous with the same current in these
ideologies, though significantly, the distinction is termed in
the 'new liberal' language of citizenship, individual liberty
through collective commitment.
'New Liberalism' has replaced the
social-imperialists and the Fabians as the dominant political
ideology, but there is a continuous, developmental narrative
leading towards increasing rationalisation of a form of 'social
scientific' analysis in political understanding.
How can the comics, or any form of popular reading, be
contextualised against this development?
These social and
political manoeuvres are not in any way directly reflected in
those products.
We have seen that the tensions in the matters of
employment security, demographic rearrangement in the late
nineteenth century, specifically in London, the stagnating
effects of the 'Great Depression' and the growing importance of
the Empire to economic survival against international competition
329
were refracted and negotiated in an uneven way through the
comics.
There were contradictory aspects to the miscellaneous
form of the early comics, just as there were contradictions in
the emergent collectivist ideologies which were manifested on
the one hand by the promise of a democratised, liberalised common
social plane, and on the other, by the attempt to precisely
define and geographically confine the threat to that plane:
residuum'.
'the
The comics combined a vision of uninterrupted leisure
pursuits in the cartoons (Chapter Eight) with an attempt at the
scientific understanding of criminality in the fictionalised
serials (Chapter Nine), with a paternal editor as guide.
But
each element was riddled with doubts, conveyed in the doubleedged jokes, distinctly unscientific and not always successful
detectives.
In this shape the comics were continuous with
developments in humourous periodicals throughout the century.
The development of the strip form as the focal point of the
comic can be seen to gradually collapse the editorial and other
textual functions in a standardised, formulaic structure.
The
evolution of the strip had little to do with increasing economy
of form, the introduction of new pictorial devices etc.
That
form which did become the standard was more awkward in every
aspect than other contemporary efforts (Chubblock Homes etc.)
which were not adopted, and this is because it can only be seen
to grow from the comic in its entirety, and not from a continuous
'comic strip history'.
As it developed, this standard form
maintained the contradictory aspects evident in the comics in the
early '90s in the shape of the adventures of the quixotic tramps.
The contradictions were still there, as is clearly evident in the
330
adventures of the tramps during the Boer War.
In the wake of the War, however, as a 'scientific'
understanding of the social conditioning of poverty began to
attain an institutional status, we can perceive a clear movement
away from direct engagement with the issue of innate or
conditioned poverty in the adventures of the tramps.
adventures become increasingly fantastic.
Their
In 1903 they encounter
a sea serpent [8], in 1904 they visit the 'Man in the Moon'
[9],
by 1906 they land on Mars [10] and in 1907 they reach the North
Pole [11].
Never again, in the trajectory of the Willy and Tim
strips as far as 1953, was there such a sustained interweaving of
their fictional strip narratives with real events in a way which
encompassed a complex of class and historically specific fears
and tensions.
The reason was that the tramps in the Boer War
stood at the climactic moment of a history of discourses in
humourous journals, social investigation and political thought
about the rights to inclusion in and the needs to exclude certain
fractions from full, democratic social participation.
Their
appeal was specifically to the needs of the 'lower middle class'
in the late 1890s.
It was not that the movement towards reform in the early
1900s had some kind of hugely mollifying effect on the fears of
this class about personal and collective security.
the grounds for political debate had changed.
It was that
The Boer War
exposed the problems at the heart of the Empire more starkly than
ever before.
The debate was no longer between a theory of innate
propensity to idleness and one of conditioned poverty and
331
unemployment.
It became a debate about what shape the reforms,
which in principal were agreed upon, were going to take.
Therefore, at a time when there was an increasing 'popular'
acceptance of the need for reform in this particular direction,
as evidenced by the election of the Liberal government in 1906,
the resonance of the tramp ideology, generally and for the
specific readership of the comics, lacked the force it held in
the years of the Boer War.
It is little wonder that the tramps
became increasingly fantastic figures on a fantastic landscape.
Their pertinence to the experiences, and to the 'common sense'
understanding of the experiences of the readers was significantly
reduced.
If this seems a tentative argument, we can support it
by recourse to another example of the fate of a popular comic
strip series at this time, 'The Mackabeentosh Family', and of one
character in particular,
'W e h a v e m u ch p l e a s u r e
in
'Neglected Jim'.
in t r o d u c in g
th e M a c k a b e e n to s h F a m ily
and o ffs h o o ts '
'THE MACKABEENTOSH FAMILY' were introduced in the editorial
column of Comic Cuts on December 27th 1902 as the new front-page
comic strip to commence the following week [12].
This would be
an ambitious new strip involving seven regular characters.
The
editor (no longer 'Mr. Comic Cuts') describes the family
discussion in his office, while on pages 4 and 5, the characters
are pictorially represented, with characteristic utterances in
speech balloons and a collective character sketch in the large
paragraph below.
Willy and Tim.
The Mackabeentosh Family were nothing like
The familial scenario was a mechanism for pitting
JoTf. y'know. I'm Alpy Cl>urap. Bhe'i weallr
• wMIt pvt-Mly Eh, whal1 Don’t you think
io?"
Ho pata a !«rr*oo« pigri?, «nd dimM hi*
al inee to M»».t Ittx^om d<* Momniorcncy Micia
1 PONT
FANCY, ^VINTIfc,
twrntoch. tIn* pridí* and delieIn of her fathrr,
^ c n tc - a t
Mt Mii'lnlw|('iiinili“ " Sunnj Pa," ai I »oon
THEYRt COING
fi-tind out trti lut (anntiar pi-t'nantit
ALL W IT H
TO P 'C T U Q t. u *
I il'ifl't hnnw Ihat I could honMtly tgret with
T M > V liliiH t
IN A P f t P t O Î
Alff>** opiiimn nf her beauty, but then oteryooa
ru t
in
baa Iti» own ¡iffan of wbal is meant by tfua
'COM,WÎ. C O T *
brautj-. Tlir* fair dam«#i herielf. howrret,
»rrmrd <viit* ^onwim« of hrr oirn loirlinete,
*' Wp|i, and can’t a girl hart a f»«t good
look**"* »bo ffird, "without a looliah (elio* ah
wati trlliiig hef of thrmT For good□mi' aah*
do It4quirt, and left have a little ptecol''
'■Ah, ihoi^ aie mt »efitictrnt« riactly**’ i
th<* drawlinf toico of ’Beoi-y the IIaatier. H*
*aa *ti|l Ijing bliufulty at raí* with hit *y*a
abut. " I nçttr could »land tha tlr«Ruo<B tifa.
There'« too much activity in the »ortd today
to luit m* I hat* actirity, A chap one* tried
to teach roe to ride a bicycle, but it mad*
tired to look at it I preí« lilting in aa i —
rhair, It'» more soothingf
“ Them you are/' murmured the roJc* ot
Neglpcted 4‘ibi from the cofner. No oo* rrar
k'iffered lo taarb me to rid* a bicycle, I alwav«
Iwa* the one to W neflecled, lomebo». Oo*»,
Jain’t it eold. loo!"
'Vlt’i a Cue, froily ifiornisg." nid Sunny Pa.
,r Thii weathor 1« realty ewwl imiTÍgortiiBg,
Mak« one feel glad to be elite no*, doetn't ítr*
UK MACKABEENTOSH (uSUNNY PA”)
"Tbat mar be, air,” answered another roie*,
AND AUNTIE.
which eamn from a till, fanfcy man dreued aa a
gardener. Hit name w«i P.a1ibii»l and. at a
matter ot fart, he wat a cardener—1" but lt*a a
mightr poor look-out for Ine durki, not to meolioo the polatoei,"
“ I don t aitrr with either of you," inienupted
I think yea *111 get a big surprise Uiit *e*k—
if ycmbin Dot already got ooe—when jou rom*
T H E M A CKABEENTOSH
Uto» tb« taratura and offahoota ot
F A M IL Y .
THK MACKABEENTOSH FAMILY
fa tba cohtmn* oí Do«io CvYfc. But, however
big lini furori»* may he, I mi eu-ure you ìfi
nothing ¡o Iba ibœk tour poor old Editor got.
I^L 6 t T NOBODYS
wbro ho retched h» ockeralbef late teit Thur*B C tN NECUtCTfcD
day morning lo And II already oeeupcad by tblt
tnlj nlnòdinw; lunll;, vboiv poririiti »dora
fcicceq NWAftUt
our peg« iod»7 OF T M E S T H iyi
THE
MACKABEENTOSH
FAMILY.
EDITORIAL CHAT.
F i g u r e 32 .3
’E d ito r ia :] ’ Chat »
( fr o to ÇÇ 6 5 9 ,
p . 6 , 3 902)
They »era bolding » lively eonrittalion—et
Ifut mwt oí the® were—and they took noi lb*
flligbteat not»co of jour aitontihed old Editor.
■ li*« * wonderful idei,*" uid Mr. M*rfcab#«rn*
tpeh- " I only wonder we neT*r thought oI ¡I
More. Wo anali go into Coure Cvrt erery
irefk-HrT*® oci the frool page "
to tbit,1" isJd Attml», 1 don'1! ■«fío *ith
Í II* At
ootioo it iJL I don't agree with any of you,
Üoocn« to tb»l- Aa foi th* r«t of ”
iPI loir* that word ' real! !" interrupted » drawlfog roiûej end, oa turning rotund to tee who it
came fro«, 1 obtened * length*, ml ful looking
fndmduil, smoking ■ pip* and imiling an un
utlerably peaceful «mil«. Ilf had piled (hr**
cushion* OQ the Soar, oo which to mt hti bead
tod back, and bit leg« were reeling reposeful!?
oo m
ytnuggetl and »oat eomforubla arowrhair.
He vu alluded (o «a *' Hoary lh« Httitlor" bj
lus feUihm
WOT t HiKvt: *
41Talkie« of rati,’' be continuad letily, frith
hb *yet abut, "I think Ibdt'a nothing to reat­
ini aa a*«ing other people work. Thai*» why I
.lot# an offk*. Tbt light of to many buiy peopJ*
xn&kat aae feel naett jwpoaefuf Ihau eter. Pat*
«at another cwbfon. pleaa*. Thank t o u . "
“ Tbal't always the way,” grumbled a ahircrIng Igurt ¡o the corner olí th* room. " No ooe
t i « thiaka af handing ma a cushion. No ooa
«rants bk. Ererybedy neglrdi me. No woode*
tbaj rat! ma N«gl«ct*d JfesT
Ìli« ahíraring gentlema«”-who had both banda
In hit pockets. and bit coal-collar turned
w«i on growling; end he ceriaìnlT leeoard to
here
«poten
th*
troth,
for nobody paid Iha
Jbl! fa. L..l>
■■
I
iLri. m L . . W*. ■ ■ lJ
In fad, th* only answer hit remark« brought
«at an loan* chuckle from a foung
'OUfflg OM~
vat litting oo Ihf vrlt adga of1[ a chair
chi aucking
____
an
oodrm
_______
oua can*,____
and ecrw
_ vi
ring
i t up b_
‘hn fa»
* into_
snrarthly
i tbo effort to heap bit
snrartbly cootorUona
contortion* hi
oyaglaa* la jpoMliom.
Mt ay. bal
"Saw.ha’*]" he wi
THE
M A CKABEENTOSH
F A M IL Y .
N E G L E C T E D JIM -T H E
P O O R R E L A T IV E .
Amiti«, in b*r h.gh-jxlcbfil .oic* ** ThbJwrriJ
froat ii ib* worat ihiog in th* w^eMfor chtfM&ipa,
but a thaw wOuldnH do any good to lb* cfopt
I «tab it would tain *JI tha «i»»«-" . •
'* Ab. mum/' »aid Rahbita, "tei tbink of tha
cabbagn It‘a been tb* wo«t year at a*«r vaa
tor switH^tDtl {iiililW*fH, too, for tw
mattar/"
" I don't mind what th* weathar’a Bke,'* w r
mured Henry tb* Buiilrr al*epàly. “ I oooU Da
like thin io aft wettbera. Taa golag to alaafc
now. Tb* tired-1"
•* Haw haw!** giggled AJgy Chumfc Ta» faallog quit* light-headed—I maaa light^aaiiad»
doocberknow, rnyaaH. it j» b*I ba awflty IQoy
to b* an *di(or. Eh. wbatr'
And that, drat tetterà, b bo* f made the *oquaintanee of the Mackabeeoloeb family and off*
ahooU. and now yeti know lh«Ji aa **n at I do
myaelt At to the mona] appearmncaji tha
varioui mtmbera of the fatmly, yoe will tnd
them all ^»tbar oa Wm mlddt»
JL CHUMP PRAOTUJINO PROPOSING TO BL0090M.
352
eb»il hm and Ib««.
O'
they aeeaa pfrtty «»fid*at‘«f k
■
* at I thtt^kft
youraiabi tike lo kao* ih*
ladiridnalv I bare k« tboaa
J
•Ul forth« *otioe>
. T K B MACKABBENTOSH FAMILY COMPETE ,IN A G ftftA t W A tK llii
IP W C t
TIME!
I MO ClACt
. . * S o &4jriflf }*» h u l Ik» r*o* U> h i w f l l
B g i - o h . b o w e s o » ' Urll |V.« m-1 4t*d t a r n r r w p
h* t Jm m
« u I I I l i c t « oA III» « u id m i ( | r * i i l » u / j
!» » ••
K o t%em I * A ftd e o
U d t w t b i> > o o o r « « i PQuM i
____________________________
f. P u r, u*c{V m » « « i l t d
1 » Vii H i r i K « i m J t d r ,
jJ 4 v t h m r
>* 1
F ig u re 32.2
'The M a c k a b e e n to sh f a m i l y com pete i n a g r e a t
w alking c o n te s t»
( f r o m CC 6 8 6 , p . ] ,
3 903'!
J I b f u « t n d t o f **fl vbao ntddenly he «plod a m otor r t d o r down Ik«
.....
. 1
,1
.
■ ■
- — .
.
.
.1
—
.1
Li* * ^ k
- - -
—
*
I Sbe'd loat oootrol,
UUllW*,-fri*4Jl».
» ■-
C V nb1 b a a f ' tt w m , u d n i f M poor J i n ao »»fnl borrid Utamp, and,
*m
It oaaaoaad Cl», w lli n u .ir a b+mpT bmmp Into a barm ioo peraoa'i back, wbo stood
h i ^ a t — .« o « ,.W * l
GETS A VERY NASTY JA R I
r a f to p H , to 'M K U d
s la s s g
~
t L -
-^ -1 -
-
C A R -A N D
_
...
•___ .
i » — . * -^ l > ■ '» • ■ -
.
« i
A
1 * “ Satab»atUn Umv ro4IIIliad,aJlbcarb Itau iJar,ltdallof tliw van allabllr
1 " Tbaak to*,’tha analdau airatt*4, tad KWikwl oak
W . p . l l t l i . e « u .^ r
to o l pow J l „ I . W d . uW M « 1 U f l* » t
i- T
“B A•N—.. 5
lO
D F O O T B A L L r/)MDcr>r>nv
C O M P B T 1 T IO N nv
O N pi
P A/
Qia
B X
B.)\
F i g u r e 33 . 3
Mirr t r i e s
t o s t o p a m o t o r - c a r and g e t s a v e r y n a s t y
( f r o m CC 7 1 4 , p . ] , 3P04>
334
-m -m
C Op nefced a bobby iaU t i m«L
I r k d Id! M fpifc* koi> , H i pm i kit ihftaVW
Ik* » W , b*l t t o f M ba *6*M
Tfci W *iM w B M M a ritlilW ifcfO *^ I*
K fc M tW rc o J d ^ L
.* •
•••. . '
V.
jar! '
-
'
to
THE PRIVATE DIARY OF THE MACKABEENTOSH FAMILY.—NEGLECTED JIM S GREAT IDEA I
& " C m * *»d t u r n ft nta* d m s w v i t b Ih* fciod m u
i tp t
of evt*cn**l iU
**4} h f t i * H l U f ," D it,
i i a j o u i’t n t u to bo fW Bf to f'T « lb* » I h m k I i * * t I
tWl*i ftb ttrd , l u i s t i b e in | * i b w i i |H & l * !
I ,
t- W«4I, tbewrd e r H i , * lo o k * U t a HL _ W m W * fc* to
»fcc«l ft « o f W *f Ibo tM g d e*to a* hi* M i . i W r t *Mh4r M H » i f * ^ * 7
J i« * ! il»* kt*dMrt i « r t * d m m W know.
« * W *l»%
* ***•
*• B » t . l i I l i i p p u n I h i n ¡ i i « s i dwt» m v l t « r | o n f o o t
F o r t w i t d*y K k I k M J i m opfrnod * n u s l R a t n l « « u p * « U t i U i i v B » r t i » i U * * o k c U h i p r k w , 10» 5 4 K r t n W j * ® '* | 11» U m i l f - w d i la b y J » ® b i o . J i n re d ly In q u i t * ■ b u iD C A i D i n t f t n *13, B i t U w m jiic ry t i u i i e B l t s i . f f w i did b # ( « 1 u r a * m « n ( « I D id w f b w f « t ™ > » ' O i l » *
(Another $9rf*u o f thm Maakajb+*ni0 9 h Fam&y Mmut U K » # » .}
F igure 12.4
'T h e p r i v a t e d i a r y o f t h e M a c k a b e e n t o s h f a m i l y .
N eglected J im 's g r e a t i d e a '
( f r o m CC 7 0 2 ,
p . l , ]903)
335
-
OGDEN’S "TAB" CIGARETTES ' S U T
"HOW I
CONDUCTED
apm
PARADISE W ill Tldde
Ym.
IVSHd&ebmiaS
ÆÆArrmo my iw /y M u n t t
A
No » 3
Voi. I l t . J
W EEK’S
LAUGHTER
B M ifn iu .
0X 8
BAT-EARED BILL ANO
FOR
H A L IT 17» ITT
WOOCMINQ
ORB
HALFPENNY.
W lttL f.
M IK t START
[ f i i i e a t SB, 1896.
A
ROUND.
HOW I CONDUCTED
A P E T S PARADISE.
F i g u r e 38 . 5
» B a t - e a r e d B i l l a n d M o ochin g Mike s t a r t a
c a t ’ s ire a t round*
(fror n The W o r l d ’ s C o m i c , No. 295.,
336
p . ] , 3 89 8)
R eaders ol the B.B. living at home, who have friends in the Colonies or abroad and who wish to do them a p a rtic u la rly good turn, should
send them a copy of the Colonial B.B. The postal« on the B.B. |o a newspaper wrapper is One Halfpenny to all partg of the world.
T H E A D V E N T U R E S I N A U ST R A L IA O F
H A PPY
H O O G A N A N D H I S B R O T H E R G LO O M Y GUS.
w H A T iro o o o n M O W W H ^
H a p p f u crf Hoogfta k ? Then lU tefl yxxu H e
b ¿bsotuUijr Jfe* ffloct good-natuxerf Vein^ k>
e x iA o c t.. A W a t i try leg to (Jo good, I* Is geoef a t t f < io f o r t u o ate a n d k & s a p e r p e t u a l t a c m y i n
P*C , V x ir y ia t, wbe> follow*
crcr)n rb m .
G loom y Q ua h tk c 'i brother, an d tik e t a d tan al
▼tew of
h i «mmIIy mxoAgu t o gtttfccduc*
Flip li tKi spoiled trite*
n d , devoted to H a p p f JCfcejr,.
t t a 't f t i s vm tt
F ig u re 32.6
»The A d v e n t u r e s i n A u s t r a l i a o f Happy I k e y Hoogan
a n d h i s b r o t h e r Gloomy G u s »
(from B ig B u d g et 382,
337
p p .164-165,
1903)
1
fl
!i
u
if
ii
3
=
11
1
n
1 s
< U.
5;
i*
■2E
Jj
Wilhelir> B u s c h ' s Hans a n d F r i t z ( d a t e n o t g i v e n )
- r e p r o d u c e d i n George P e r r y and A lan A ld r id g e
The P e n g u i n Book o f C o r r i c s , p p . 98
338
oq
(1971)
F i g u r e .72 . 8
»Tommy T o o t l e a n d B i l l y B o o t l e a t i t
( f r o m CC 3 1 5,
p . 5, 1 8 9 6 )
339
again'
Wo h d c r
Now 82 New S tm ta .
P K IC E
TW OPENCE.
__
_______ ________ J e m 6, m p 3 .
HAPPY IKE INTRODUCES HIS NEPHEWS TO THE BUNSEY BOYS
WC W ILL
M AKC
y o u
M CLtven
US!
1 . D rr r rrd *ra.—W’# k a r » I* » « d o w in . m r a n d G r o r fW , a n d * r 4o«tr o v r r r lia a *n b r o o a tKat
« a r)u>i» » n a lm o it mirar I« r* . N o * to b ita ia
M rra t e n m t Ik * a o d tar»» j o l * f t lik # | « m u K M
I n i p r r w fiir il In >mi r v il* V m m .
I«ook at > r a r a r # lu llr , t o t o n II >* a l.U m in d m tifp r m «li* a
v a ' i r qu it'' doo*- w ith '• m. " T h * M t n m f l i l l l i m i i ; m m j « ! ' u i d IL*, " i w l I aoi a v i* P » rd w
ta d
j o o ■ i ll f i n V m a n c r t a i a r r c r p tio a , a a d p'r ap a t h r j ■ ill f i r # j o u a M l o u t o f m r
________________________________ ___________
o f tk a if boaa ■ l i t « tkrjr'ar a a ta a '* • » .'
1 " G 1ra 'a*r m i e * w i n * r • c « p * • o • ? ',
t i . W o t o k ! N o i i H , M ■ » to lte t o t I A a d
k r t a , p l* a « * p ip a 0 «
ia « i f ip r l l i n f .
T k o r a t w o jo h * « * n
koooa m a d *
t a k « of tk a p t ' i u «ton * p m n a a io « . a n i w * a o d O e o r f a o o o ld n o t » '« d o t o m o V at d o * n » a o !
" T h in k o f th«tr pn ra liltk a d i g i t ( « • ! " aatd » f . u t t n m
1« a n tk n lto e n o w r l * ^ a n d # a t fk*i*o
r t k r \ i w l t o m t m lk * '» t w o m t * ir « f r o * * » t w ; m * K
W # kad l o b e u m i t o » k in d t o e a r r r
uo( o u r k in d a n d c o o d p U n : a o d . ia fa c t . I e « u | h t u m o f thoaa j o b a au ck a bo*k am tk a j a o t b a i I
vaakoQ t e 'd m i w i U hi* aara for a n « # lim a t o a o « r .
BUNS A R C
C o o d
r o w
B u N s e v
k i» s
ex’ «oftor
; . Iba I a d \A
u ii'M
f n « i * i # v m ih i» . • « h r nn *i«i ha« a in ta r l^ n d ■ •H i w i p o d
l a t r a i » * . m I i " t<«4 th a t » a y io m a lim r « T k a t * n r u b » - « l i r a « • K ad d » # a « i l k ' r a - i a d arwnrho*
i W f d id a 't ta k a k m -H i V> M ir t » r » i a H H - * u i l * k « d 'i»Ui *»*ht v * r r t k r » a ll. a n d * * g**t rewind iho^a
• aka* a Ir ra i. t a d l k ia t u u r r j o a lk » » > u b r x k r r a u f u l a n d r o m lu r w n f ' ** Y*«i a « k o * r o d a a »
« tk a * n t u i t n l i " u k )
“ T o o b n a i ia o « r W m I« t i r « u r li» ir*» m I I » « n » * r y « ,
i t 'd m , ik r t r m ir « n l k U i f l r r , T k » t t # h * « r d f r r l i t » |a a n . t
_____
« . TToi é o » o a fla k ! T o o 'O a a r a t guaar !
O f lo w u t a k it II f a ir l» lo o k t k a r a k r - l a f a r t , i l lonfc
feotW o a r aak aa ! V f k m tk o a e j» b a Wa-f i o m o f b la a tia c a a d p i p i M u ^ r « -« p a r a m I k » , k * WaH j » - a
• k o n l k « « tk a v a j k o v t o a p « I l k ttwvr do o k a a a d t i p na t k a n o * t * « . I k m .
Wo iW> c a « * - U r k
rr^para.1 fo r t k a fr a y . t k o - « h U f j r i a f tkaoa it ak a fl « a r a r U a a id • • » « « ■ L
\ #♦ « o r a j o n
aaa tk a e o o a r d a d a M in « t k a floor a a d a t h a r v u a d o .« * It r i f k t
cm « • . a n d aa o a l f « a n t i a « t o b o
it
TRcoui^ot
'I M
TO
, VOOLD
F IG H T
>O U
Ì
K A a d tk # a » k a a • # « a a l i i a f a * t W g a H V a i » « l d a a d a u M P H ^ a r p > l « k n a * l a a k l a 'a a t k
» k o r w l W aaoat iW d c4 tk a ta x * aa d a k »a tk a i m
o a a r d * « k u k v f 4 m t » • In w a j a a ria a !
** A a | f l « f tk a t r » r . M * t k a t f a a 'r a aa rr* lo r. w a’fa «ta d o f K ' d o * a av a# « V ia a i t k tk a ra rd aad f k r auppad It tk a a aad tk#ra^ W r «a a f m r d and f i » a ll ia t.irh a aait« I ik o > *h t c m <d
■7
k f « brlu af*«! le one o f Ik r lab n, aod I g i f t it ta c k a p t ix k I akall I r t i it 1« a ; d | Ì M day
*» d a /ir r . T k a covard« f
I « .I
F i g u r e 38 . 9
»Happy I k e i n t r o d u c e s
b i s n e p h e w s t o t h e B u n s e y Boy s
I ( f r o m The J e s t e r a n d Wonder 8 8 ,
340
p.],
3 903-}
'
PB 10S
NEGLECTED JIM
O H *
h a l t p r n h y
TUM BLES UP AGAINST T H E AM AZING LU CK O F LUCKY LUCAS.
• r >ovt!
LUCKY L U O * , . L
H R H * LWCXY
I I I u * » r c * i T e*A c*f
:M < » S A Y lH « « O r —
( 70S H IM o r HI f t , J /
rt*> U C K !!l
fcSTlffk
ru-oo
b u t
RtSCUtO
I. " B j J o n ,
l * c l r j L e e * * ! * ’ * » ld K n g S « S « i J i m .
' T i l !3*4eti
■ j i t * : , u d r o b k l a U h i t ! n o k . ,T J U td , u g o o d u M i * < * 4 , J i m o p * - « i IIm
¡in to , t o t M l U . a 6 * W V * w m a t # slt& d h M iljr, •* S o - o tto c » m | h i t o w a r n t k t i h
mtAQr u - M h f u p biJnJfcd ' t i n .
W ir i m f t a * M d lf c f u a, f e i t , " 1*11(1 L a d k j L a » .
Lo o k , o u t
THtQtS
fitA Q TOR
F i g u r e 32.110
• N e g l e c t e d »Tim t u m b l e s u p a g a i n s t t h e a m a z i n g l u c k
o f Lu cky L u c a s »
( f r o m CC 728., p . 3 , 1 9 0 4 )
343
1 A M m m o m / U J t o l a t o B l t o ante m 1
k k u lte w b a p ity ttim .
L v l ; L M M t ) « i U dd M
w i a bV i 't iti i«n( fl M
r ai It hk aa^ ,M
« t ibI m
l uI lhdI lrl f*l kMt Mt kt kh hl lt af a** | )MMw « «t
" N p - p i» c 4 « w , d /, m M l M l ' n ^ i J la , m « ■ p i b W
to W . ” W U e I g e t e e t of t o r e IK atoo* « v e ry a e a to y to V ie «
* I * r eid Leeky
•• B o v « n i t o ; M aa U * U W » "
4. Kev I*» p e l," h U L » « * y , * m m I ge t a y lM a k l a to ip f Qr-rw* f
tenttl W W i to
Jim?
J im * IU S f m l ’ k
B ell kt oa to
Md eiXl H«
He w
r—
m ifcw
i h irei «n «< iiw
r«n
i fl >
c .. I*
1« m
m u
m A
> tmo i tt ao i
u r * M m i U m t M k c r l u i M l ito ir g n K w i» mm m m it o w w M l m . M t o . i i
t t o e t o * . T to t o > t o t o *r% H Ke> I, rrwmmi t o » . •• O u I (« 4 y ee a e e p e f eafbe ar
> to — a f * « U 4 b m k j . M J h i m M t o r W u i t « .
L T t o * I to a o tto r iU a a u n x v e d witfa ( t o h o w pdpo u d a w r ho* ad c tic i f* li
e a d a ptoih ed ito p j n n L d a t M b Id le a hyptTOeiangtoeiitoraldtfto. v U c t in
■ M iln m p J T i t o l lt o y g o t « t h i n g fen g o an With. " K e e p i t I t o * e b it, — *- *
L e ck y , ** *mr t k m if it t» m * 'b brain t o m m j p a y a p tto * tofa t o w m M l ' S p U to , w
F ig u r e 12.11
•Luc ky L u c a s s a v e s N e g l e c t e d J im f r o m b e i n g
m onkeyised»
( f r o m CC 7 3 7 ,
p . 1 , 1904)
342
C O M IO
L U C K y LUCAS
AND H A P E V , flARRY A R g
o u r 8'
' •
__________
EAlflTHD A>jD frAlNED *THI3 W E E K .
£10Vwu
CJ^ruftl »
X V I ft* t i « n
* » Tn* M ff
-m (« A P C O
1
T^* t*
W l " « I d W ip p r H arry* p a in tio .g to ih a nollnft inacratnrintf Uw JhKau»
, W fld jl 8 * « - " ' ' G cab ( K
« n tk l o n ly God n l a l " « k c ttU le d t/ o c k t L & eti. " T b o
{ o & f O l m. - y W h f t w b * t w ould j « d o W itt I I I " M id H u p * . " W d L
l i t » b to r t o d * b dx c l » » tc S e i, » i d —a n d th e f t- - d id I u »j W r T • WdtL, I t l 'i h* m t£ ? :
h e H id W d h*if* I :ptnt mod * q a * rt, m l te d in. cm * b« r t n iMbrt. , i Tor^am *H .m mi&
bywrj. .FonfeiUfti
fcu-gAtling
1 Tatiey
whiitkyt"
■* -
BU LL bH C O ,
& Aitd Sa offftred to (Jn^aUo ties. "You ««, toe
bonjour hji». Fii-sturd
bU grett
»aid tba u a d A tu lc ita . " Wouldn't lout Jkfnt l a d i s
teaodo
well, mateMid Happy, with the «iz o f dUroaodi oa hit toplift. “ If
I Uk* • bit of !hU off my moath Xdon't aiod »IJngiog la * Stotny ‘ »nd “Tw lest
B«B C «n
14«
fextra
ft u
0*0
C b o rd 1 M M i f l w e l g b t ’’
& Wheal! WW 1 "6ing op!
oriojr Batth*y hado’t No. Thi
t>|* gwped Happy, "rtn foully kills
111i*** to »it «¿ndiag cww far #»«
«nit" "Hooray I"ydlm Ikirmftr,
11 Y o b
n a s t b a re ile r r a d
tbt'i *1L "OmJ iiuit
4. Bat IbordW«vwtull* m fiifld op *i 1**, tad 0*6rtnwcr coroiofly poto^d on*
wbftre " Wocujr 8*#a" >u hldlntf, "SlBf sd futk(M& Of M • oo'i oomo qatcUy t"
«hooted Use itrtnf#. Aadtbay
Hf M a E* t* m
j b<* tx*m*'«**• * TV
Qrtt b jj
^
* telMthi Mis* *Sw I M&g fa 0 * rfllago choir and
Icpdba.
W b * t K b i o ] * M id I * e b y ,
F ig u re 12.12
»Lucky L u c a s a n d H appy H a r r y a r e p a i n t e d a n d p a i n e d
t h i s week»
( f r o m CC 7 6 6 ,
p . 8 , 3 905)
543
344
the wits of very distinct social types against each other in
formulaic situations, the most characteristic being a race.
Some
of these types appear in the earlier years of Comic Cuts. Algy
Chump is the upper class twit with an absurdly high collar and
large shirt cuffs, huge beak, pointed chin and checked trousers,
spouting a stream of nonsense syllables.
The editor's
introduction (Figure 12.1) [13] shows him practising proposal to
a picture of Miss Blossom de Montmorency Mackabeentosh, a plain
girl with an equally misguided sense of fashion and of her own
beauty.
There is an aged 'Auntie1, chinless and hunched,
belligerently declaring: 'I don't altogether agree with anything
or anybody'.
Henry the Hustler is the tall idler, happy to
survive on the follies of others while blowing smoke rings and
extolling the virtues of sleep.
in some shape before.
These are figures we have seen
In addition, there is Rabbits the
Gardener, who complains perpetually about the effects of the
weather on his vegetables;
Sunny Pa, Blossom's fat, ageing
father who espouses an absurdly optimistic outlook on everything,
and is open to manipulation by the craftier members of the
'family'. And finally, there is 'Neglected Jim', a wholly
original invention.
Hunched into a permanent S-shape with hands
in pockets, a tattered black coat hanging over them, bellbottomed trousers with patches, banana-shaped shoes, an outsize
derby, red nose (from drink or from the cold?) and a thick,
droopy moustache, Jim is the dejected 'poor relative' of this
social family, cursed to complain forever of the cold, and of
being 'neglected'.
345
This strip constitutes more than the sum of various types
interacting on a neutral social plane, though this is the
impression given by some of the earlier strips.
typical example [14].
The race scenario allows one frame for
each character to work to type.
to the nearest sale.
Figure 12.2 is a
Auntie's stinginess sends her
Algy is drawn by the highest collar ever.
Jim opts for a free meal, Uncle Tonk, a new addition, for a rare
butterfly.
Henry, meanwhile, cheats in his role as judge to
collect the prize himself.
This is a very tightly structured
piece, showing an early, effective use of speech balloons, with
variation in lettering size and boldness to indicate pitch and
intensity.
The pictorial sequence stands on its own as a self-
explanatory 'set'.
And the captions have a merely descriptive
rather than expansive function.
The characters, which are
extremely well drawn - the costumes are invariable and the facial
features very expressive - establish an immediate identity
without the crutch of punning extras.
Unlike Willy and Tim, this
strip has not emerged as an awkward child of the miscellaneous
form of the comic.
This is clear from the unambiguous nature of
the characters, and from the direction that it was to take.
Of the seven characters, only one was to appear every week.
That was Neglected Jim.
Increasingly this innocent buffoon was
the victim of one of his own schemes, or faced defeat at the
hands of another 'family' member.
For example, he demonstrates a
gramophone with a record of a dog fight, is attacked by the local
dogs, and Henry the Hustler is rewarded by passers-by for the
'performance'
[15].
One of his many shortlived jobs is as a mad
dog catcher, for which he uses a gun, shoots at the first pup he
346
sees, but consistently misses, while the pup takes a shine to him
and tries to lick him in the face.
the mad dog cage himself [16].
Eventually, he is locked in
He finds another job as a plumber
but drills into Sunny Pa's gas pipe and blows up the house [17].
On this evidence, Jim would seem to bear some similarity to Willy
and Tim.
But he is quite distinct.
The word 'neglected', to
begin with, is some distance from 'weary' and 'tired1.
Its
connotations are of abandoned orphans, of a pathetic rather than
a sympathetic character on the one hand, or a despicable one on
the other.
It tends to suggest an outdated philanthropic view of
poverty or unemployment, a sort of 'bleeding heart1 approach
cultivated by the 'victim' himself.
as a 'tramp'.
And Jim's appearance is not
His clothes are of a tradesman and his position of
unemployment or his inability to hold what work he obtains are
due to his own ineptitude as a worker, as opposed to the tramps'
misfired scheming.
Jim is undoubtedly a casual labourer, not
only incapable of holding down a job, but his gloomy outlook on
life seems to generate bad luck for himself.
In Figure 12.3 [18]
he is again the innocent victim of his good intentions.
At this
stage, the rest of the family have disappeared apart from some
rare appearances.
Jim tries to stop a runaway motor-car, but in
his attempt, he bowls over a professorial gent and a policeman,
flattens a dog and is arrested.
This is Jim at his most typical
- the innocent victim of circumstance.
Yet his general lack of
gumption and miserable demeanour make him a deserving one.
In formal terms also, this is far removed from Browne’s work.
The artist, one of the Wilkinsons, uses speed lines, cloud lines
347
to indicate dust, and highlight marks for certain figures.
speech balloons give an added dimension of irony.
The
The tiny
background figure throughout misreads the situation with a string
of one-word exclamations - 'FIRE1, 'THIEVES'.
The professor,
unaware of what has happened, sees it as a realisation of his
scientific text - 'That must have been a fine piece of radium'
weak and vague reference to the newly discovered element).
(a
There
is a running gag in the small dog who gets flattened, to exclaim
'HM! Nice thing this'. And the young lady, who escapes
unscathed, ironically declares 'Lucky no one was hurt', while a
bedraggled Jim is given '100 years for driving at 80 miles an
hour!!'
The rhyming couplet captions are entirely superfluous to
an economically constructed piece.
The difference in form between the tramps and 'Neglected
Jim' is bound up with the ideological significance of the
characters.
There is a sense that Jim is actually a real,
recognisable figure, while the tramps have by this time become
mythical beasts, with no referents in reality.
Jim
a casual
labourer, dividing his time between seeking genuine employment
and money-making ruses which lack the scheming of Willy's and
Tim's efforts to undermine the system, and therefore the ability
to induce a reluctant admiration.
Figure 12.4 [19], for
example, has Jim lure the local cats to their doom, and in the
final frame set up as a butcher's stall, with a mysteriously
impressive stock of sausages, to be quickly bought up by his
patronising relations.
This unsubtle hint at the dodgy origins
of meat products was also the subject of an episode of
The World's Comic's tramps (Bat-Eared Bill and Mooching Mike)
348
from 1898 (Figure 12.5) [20],
While these characters are
conscious of what they are doing, however, Jim maintains the same
expression, the same limp S-shape throughout.
He keeps a certain
virginal innocence to criminality, seemingly half-conscious of
what he is doing.
in Jim's speech.
There is no recourse to linguistic confusion
(The captions can essentially be disregarded,
since their editorial function is simply not on a par with that
of the Willy and Tim episodes.
A weak description of what is
perfectly apparent in the frames is punctuated by an equally weak
semi-Cockney for Jim.)
Neglected Jim is a more straightforward manifestation of the
'casual labour problem' at a time when it was being directly
dealt with in politics as something that was generated by social
structural conditions, beyond the personal insights of social
investigators.
Yet while this character is indeed an active
engagement with the 'problem', he reflects an ambivalent attitude
to it.
The connotation of his epithet,
'Neglected', is of an
undue philanthropic sympathy for this class. His adventures show
him consistently causing his own downfall.
victim to his own fecklessness.
Therefore he is
In this sense he is continuous
with nineteenth century representations of poverty.
However,
unlike those representations he has not been taken from the
underworld or from the culture of the street-folk.
He is the
nearest approximation to a 'sociologically' identified type to
emerge in these early comics.
The reason why this character
appeared at this time, in contrast to Ally Sloper and the tramps,
whose social identity is more complicated, is that casual labour
349
was being accepted as a central issue in a programme of reform.
It no longer constituted a threat, alone or in tandem with the
'residuum', to the individual purse, or to the collective
organism of society.
Unlike the nihilistic rejection of normal
behaviour in a hedonistic pursuit of pleasure at the expense of
the reader, Neglected Jim offers a threat to no-one but himself.
His own worst enemy, his existence reflects a growing 'popular'
perception of casual labour at this time.
He is not at all a
direct reflection of political or nascent 'sociological'
language, but he does contribute to a kind of 'common sense'
reworking or negotiation of the new political developments.
In examining Neglected Jim as opposed to Willy and Tim,
formal considerations cannot be divorced from the thematic.
In
order, then, to further this exploration, we need to consider the
formal influences on this figure.
The 'Happy Hooligan1
While it is now impossible to prove this, it seems that the most
likely influence on 'Neglected Jim' in his later, solo career was
an American newspaper strip character by Fred Opper, an IrishAmerican down-and-out called 'Happy Hooligan'.
The 'Hooligan'
had been running in W.R. Hearst's comic strip supplement to his
New York American and Journal since 1899.
Wearing a tin can for
a hat, a green, checked and tattered jacket, baggy, patched
trousers and the classic feature of any Irish caricature, an
enormous protruding upper lip, giving him a permanently vacant
expression, the 'Hooligan' underwent regular sufferings similar
to Jim's.
It appears likely that in his original form, the
350
'Hooligan' represented an American equivalent to Jim, an
undisguised immigrant Irishman instead of a casual labourer, but
equally a victim of his own glum ineptitude [21].
The 'Happy Hooligan' strips were reprinted in Arthur
Pearson's rival Bis Budget from 1903 [22] under the new title
'Happy Ikey Hoogan'.
In the absence of documentary evidence we
cannot make direct connections, but the situational and formulaic
similarity between the reprinted 'Hooligan' and 'Neglected Jim'
strips suggests some influence from the 'Hooligan' on the latter.
Figure 12.6 [23], for example, shows Happy trying to save a black
child from falling, but he himself trips over his uncle, who is
in turn attacked by Happy's dog and joins with the cop in beating
Happy.
Opper used a lot of ironic speech balloons: the black
baby exclaims 'pore little lamb', while in the final frame, Uncle
Jake rewards cousin 'Gloomy Gus' as Happy is arrested for
attempted kidnapping.
All of these elements are to be found in
Neglected Jim's adventures, as is Opper's trademark of the
escalation of action with parallel sequences running
simultaneously.
The influence of the 'Hooligan' in this respect
marks a departure in the direction of the comic strip for, as has
been have noted above, the influence of the American comic strip
in the British comic was hitherto minimal [24],
In the previous chapter, we saw how the formal awkwardness
of the Willy and Tim strips, visually and verbally, was a
consequence of their origins in the comics' engagement with the
notions of a social organism and the need to exclude certain
fractions from it.
As an extension of this argument, it can be
351
maintained that the relative economy in Neglected Jim's
adventures was less to do with the adoption of stylistic
advances, and more with the simpler depiction of a social type
at a time when the complexity of the dialogue with the reader
concerning his/her personal and collective security was being
mollified and reshaped by the class-specific experience of
political acts.
That is, if Tom and Jerry could only have
originated in the 1820s, Ally Sloper (in his later form) in the
1880s, Willy and Tim in the 1890s, and if the form of these
figures was wrapped up with the specific historical conditions
within which they were born, likewise, Jim could only have
originated, and in that simpler, more economic shape and
narrative, in the early 1900s.
Therefore, in attempting to plot
a progression in comic strip technique from the 1900s, as with
earlier figures, we need to see this advancement in terms of the
needs of a class-specific readership at this time.
The in-depth discussion of comic strip characters from
Neglected Jim onwards is really beyond the scope of this thesis.
However, we can illustrate this point about the historical
specificity of form and theme by a brief overview of the
subsequent adventures of Neglected Jim and Happy Hooligan in the
British comic.
If Willy and Tim were to move increasingly
towards fantastic backdrops, this was likewise the fate of Jim
and the Hooligan from around 1904 onwards.
This reinforces the
argument for the specificity of Jim to the London of the early
1900s and of the Happy Hooligan to turn-of-the-century New York.
Let us look firstly at the later history of the 'Happy Hooligan'.
352
F ro m
'H a p p y H o o l i g a n '
to
'H a p p y I k e y
H oogan'
The word 'hooligan' seems to have had a peculiarly Irish
connotation in its American usage and this emerges clearly
enough in the original 'Happy Hooligan'.
There is a sense of
deliberate irony in the accidental blame heaped on this
good-natured buffoon, which adds a certain ambivalent gloss to a
reality of brutal police handling of racial groups.
In
Britain, by contrast, as we have seen, the term 'hooligan' was
associated specifically with juvenile
crime. Pearson (1983)
notes also the stress by commentators
at the time on the
'un-
British' nature of this juvenile delinquency and its vaguely
Irish-sounding form.
He observes that 'we must allow that it was
most ingenious of late Victorian England to disown the British
Hooligan by giving him an 'Irish' name'
[25].
'Happy Hooligan''s name was changed to 'Happy Ikey Hoogan'
in Big Budget, a change which gives him a roughly half-Jewish,
half-Irish identity while keeping the phonetic features of New
York Irish for his speech balloons.
'Hoogan' is close enough to
'Hogan' to be vaguely Irish and far enough away from 'Hooligan'
to be confused directly with an issue
as controversial as the
problem of 'the residuum', with which
it was connected as a
variation on the theme of urban degeneration,
There is surely an
Irish undercurrent to both the American and British usage of the
term 'hooligan', but in Britain the word was connected
particularly connected with juvenile crime.
Therefore, in
keeping with the process evident in the tramps, towards an
ambiguous representation of poverty, we would expect this kind of
353
contortion of the term and its referent.
To return to the point made in Chapter Eight regarding
representations of the Irish in the cartoons of the early '90s,
there is a certain progression from their depiction as
an externally positioned gloss on the obsessive world of manners
in the cartoons to their portrayal in these strips as an 'own
worst enemy' with no specific racial identity at all.
The
tendency in these, the very cheapest humourous weeklies is
towards the confusion of racial difference and the avoidance of
racial denigration as part of their strenuous populist
inclusivity.
The Irishman is, to begin with, a cynical
commentator on an imaginary social plane, a marginalised figure
in this role, on a par with women and children.
reinforced by the editor's address.
political threats are denied.
And this role is
In this sense, physical and
Later, in the strips, the same
threats are made ulterior, sublimated in a figure unintentionally
doomed to self-destruction by inflicting accidental violence on
himself and others.
There was a further progression in this contortion.
From
late 1901, Harmsworth's The Wonder (formerly Funny Wonder)
introduced a variation called 'Happy Ike'.
Distinctly Jewish in
appearance at first - he keeps the tin can hat, but gains a thick
beard and large lower lip - Ike was joined by another imitation
of Busch's Max und Moritz,
'The Bunsey Boys' (Georgy and Ferdy)
and even a sort of 'Yellow Kid', Algy the kidlet, all of whom
speak in a broadly approximated Cockney unenclosed by speech
balloons.
Originally quite a sly character, but who nevertheless
gets his come-uppance at the hands of the kids, Ike develops into
354
an exact replica of Happy Hooligan, complete with two lookalike
nephews ('chips of de old block'), as opposed to the original
Happy's three.
In this shape, the 'Hooligan' goes beyond even
the union of different racial types to essentially lose contact
with the real world from which he grew, as the Bunsey Boys are at
some remove from the linguistic contortions of the Katzenjammer
Kids.
(His realisation also marks the transition in the
British strips to a world populated by manic kids in perpetual
conflict as they vie for self-gratification.
The Katzenjammer
Kids finally find their niche in the British comic.)
We have moved from historical and geographical specificity,
to the tensions of London in the early '90s, to a situation where
it is the defining dimension of age rather than the union of
various social types in one character that smudges the tensions
of class and race relations.
relations has begun.
A new era of tensions in generational
(Figure 12.9) [26]
In the passage of Happy
Hooligan from specific racial type to a pastiche of racial types
we can identify a tendency parallel to the development in the
adventures of the tramps.
It is a circumvention of a direct
engagement with a resonant, widespread fear of an alien threat to
society in a figure that has no direct referent in reality.
And
there is a progression in the depiction of this figure further
away from direct reference towards an innocuous world of fantasy.
'Neglected Jim' meets 'Lucky Lucas'
Neglected Jim, likewise, underwent a significant transformation
in these years. A character called Lucky Lucas had been
355
appearing on pages 4 and 5 of Comic Cuts since September 1903.
Lucas was much more in the classic tramp mould than Jim, sporting
a broad-brimmed and patched scarecrow hat, a flowery shirt and
polkadot trousers and a tiny umbrella to provide ineffective
protection from the sun as he lazes permanently by the roadside.
He has a huge, wide mouth with thick lips, stretched permanently
into a broad grin in anticipation of the good fortune to come his
way.
His first adventure [27] shows him soaking up the sun in
front of a wall.
A motorist crashes on the far side and
somersaults over the wall, dropping his purse for Lucas to claim
after he has gone.
This was to be the formula for each of his
adventures.
In April 1904, Lucas joined forces with Jim for a new double
act.
Figure 12.10 shows Jim's consequent transformation in the
making [28],
His picture at the top shows a much straighter,
alert figure, the hat pushed back from his eyes, and his thick
black moustache bleached white.
No longer the good-natured
unemployed buffoon, Jim moves towards the ranks of the profitoriented, scheming tramps abstracted from the world of work.
He
is a much more calculating figure, and the new double-act was to
revolve around Jim's attempted but foiled money-making schemes
and Lucas' undue rewards for his innate laziness.
In subsequent episodes of Jim and Lucas they encounter an
escaped lunatic armed with an axe claiming to be Henry VIII [29].
They visit the Comic Cuts printing works, where the web-fed
machine objects to their puns and swallows Lucas.
the far end covered in a full issue of Comic Cuts,
the local kids to look at it [30],
He emerges at
and charges
By June 1904, Jim has changed
356
beyond all recognition. The strip has by now been taken over by a
new (unknown) artist (Figure 12.11 [31]).
Jim's hat has shrunk
to the size of a thimble, his hair is thicker, the moustache
smaller, and his body has finally loosened up.
The changes are
not merely visual, but are linguistic as well - the captions use
verbs like 'tootled' and 'cooed' (first caption), which signal
that Jim has
adopted a social identity akin to that of the
'world famous tramps'.
As with the tramps, however, his milieux
are increasingly 'fantastic'.
Eventually, Jim is dispensed with altogether and replaced as
Lucas' partner by none other than a 'Hooligan' lookalike
himself, this time under the title 'Happy Harry' and in much the
same visual shape.
Joined by a much fatter Lucas, now in Pilgrim
Fathers hat, a broad Elizabethan-like collar and minus the heavy
facial growth, Harry is more like Browne's Weary Willy than his
old self, while Lucas correspondingly looks closer to Tired Tim.
In their ensuing adventures they encounter a variety of lunatics
(Figure 12.12 [32]) and mad scientists [33], are frequently blown
up, by gun powder usually, or electrocuted [34],
scenarios continue.
The fantastic
They go to the moon [35], to 'Fairyland'
[36], and then on some international trips [37].
The
transformation of 'Neglected Jim' and 'Happy Hooligan' indicates
the overall trajectory of the comic strips and characters away
from recognisable social types and situations towards a range of
'fantastic' figures on a fantasy landscape.
The key is that
all of these figures have lost most of their resonance for a
class -specific readership as ideological types.
There is a
357
distortion of the original meanings both of the British strip
characters and the American imports, and this is similar to the
distortion of the tramps at the same time.
That the tramps were to endure until 1953 does not in any
way refute this thesis.
We can legitimately draw on Orwell's
writings in the 1930s in unravelling the ideology of the tramp,
just as we can draw on Tom and Jerry from the 1820s and Ally
Sloper from the 1860s to trace their ancestry without any sense of
anachronism.
What we need to be wary of is the fact that each of
these figures must be viewed in relation to historically and
qualitatively different forms of political, institutional,
intellectual and 'popular' understandings of class relations and
especially the problems of poverty, unemployment and destitution.
To draw on work from different periods is not to reinforce the
erroneous notion that the tramp was a timeless element of a
distinctly British sense of humour.
Rather, these works help us
to situate particular figures within a particular complex of
social relations at a particular time.
In this regard, Willy and
Tim can be traced very precisely to the late 1890s.
In
establishing a distinction between these figures in the '90s and
fifty years later, perhaps the most useful explanation is that
comics in the 1890s were designed for a predominantly adult
readership.
By the 1900s, they were beginning to pass into the
world of children's reading [38].
By the 1950s, the antics of
Weary Willy and Tired Tim were deemed suitable only for children.
Historically specific currency turns into the timeless currency
of cartoon slapstick - hence their enduring popularity.
At this point, it is appropriate to recap the principal
358
arguments of this thesis and to examine their implications for
our understanding of the history of the modern comic and of
the theory of popular culture.
359
CHAPTER TWELVE - NOTES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
Webb, S. 'Twentieth Century Politics: a Policy of National
Efficiency', Fabian Tract, no. 108, 1901, p.9.
See B.B. Gilbert (1966), The Evolution of National
Insurance and G.R, Searle (1971), The Quest for National
National Efficiency, both cited in G.R. Hay's (1983),
The Origins of Liberal Welfare Reforms 1906-1914, ch. 3,
'The Roots of the Reforms'.
Ibid., p .49.
Cited in ibid., p.47.
Gareth Stedman Jones (1971), Outcast London, pp.330-1.
Ibid., p .334.
W.H. Beveridge, 'The Problem
of the Unemployed',
Sociological Papers, vol. Ill (1906), p. 327. Cited in
ibid., p .335.
IC 680, p.l, 1903
IC 720, p.l, 1904
IC 836, p.l, 1906
IC 860, p.l, 1907
CC 659, p.6, 1902
Ibid.
CC 686, p.l, 1903
CC 689, p.l, 1903
CC 688, p.l, 1903
CC 709, P-l, 1903
CC 714, P.l, 1904
CC 702, p.l, 1903
The World's Comic 295, February 23, 1898.
There has been no in-depth work thus far on the early 'Happy
Hooligan' strips. All of the references I have found mention
it as a footnote to a history of the American comic strip.
It is seen, therefore, simply as an episode in the
development of comic strip narrative and not in terms of its
representation of a racial and social type.
See Coulton
Waugh (1949), The Comics, pp.36-37; Bill Blackbeard and
Martin Williams (1977), The Smithsonian Collection of
Newspaper Comics, p.17.
Big Budget (BB) was a Id. weekly with sixteen pages.
Commenced on 19th June 1897, it ran until 20th March 1909,
but became an all serial fiction boys' weekly in 1905.
BB 322, pp.164-165, 1903.
I have already remarked on the similarities between R. F.
Outcault's 'Hogan's Alley' and 'Comic Cuts Colony', Casey's
Court' and other efforts in the British comics. Whether
there was some kind of influence here is hard to gauge, but
the Irish names in 'Hogan's Alley' and 'Casey's Court'
suggest some correlation.
Beyond this, however, it is hard to perceive any direct
links. It is generally agreed that the main progenitor to
the comic strip in the US was William Busch's narrative
strip work for Fliegende Blatter from 1865 onwards. His most
famous creations were two anarchic youngsters, 'Max and
Moritz'. W. R. Hearst himself is believed to have spotted
360
25.
ro
CO
26.
27.
29.
o
ro
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
the pair on a trip to Europe in 1896, and on return to New
York had a young staff artist on the Journal, Rudolph Dirks,
produce a direct imitation for the comic supplement. Max and
Moritz became Hans and Fritz, 'The Katzenjammer Kids',
transplanted now to the US. They were cursed, as was their
enormous Mama and a later regular, the old sea-dog Captain,
with a Germanic pidgin English. Busch's narratives were
simple and uncluttered, the action proceeds from one frame
to the next without the need even for the two line captions
accompanying each picture (see Figure 12.7 - reproduced in
George Perry and Alan Aldridge (1971) , The Penguin Book of
Comics, pp.98-99). Dirks developed a similarly crisp style
with shorter, more rounded and rubbery figures. The
undiluted glee evident in their manic expressions led
eventually to their undoing each week. And he eliminated the
paragraphs to give them more directly expressive speech
balloons.
Despite these developments, neither Busch's work nor
Dirk's derivation made any impact in the British comics in
the 1890s. Busch's Max and Moritz actually appeared as an
occasional feature on the inside pages of Comic Cuts in 1896
under the new names of Tommy Tootle and Billy Bootle. Figure
12.8 shows them loading Granpopper's pipe with gunpowder.
However, Busch's perfectly clear sequence is attached to the
usual Comic Cuts brand of unsubtle subtitling. These
captions suggest that at least part of the reason why the
Busch characters became standards in the US but were a
shortlived venture in Britain was the unsuccessful attempt
to appropriate them to Mr. Comic Cuts' universe, with
himself as knowing anchor. They were not forged by the
integral miscellanity of the comics and consequently stand
out as inappropriate insertions.
Geoffrey Pearson (1983), Hooligan: A History of Respectable
Fears, p .75.
The Jester and Wonder 82, p.l, 1903.
'THE AMAZING LUCK OF LUCKY LUCAS', CC 696, pp.4-5, 1903.
CC 728, P 1, 1904.
CC 729, P 1, 1904.
CC 733, P 1, 1904.
CC 737, P 1, 1904.
CC 766, P 8, 1905; also CC 768, p. 8, 1905; CC 773, p. 8, 905,
CC 777, P 8, 1905; CC 847, p. 8, 1906.
CC 769, P 8, 1905; CC 772, p. 8, 1905; CC 882, p . 8, 1907.
CC 790, P 8, 1905; CC 792, p. 8, 1905; CC 798, p. 8, 1905,
CC 801, P 8, 1905; CC 807, p. 8, 1905.
CC 817, P 8, 1906.
CC 856 to CC 881, p. 8 throughout, 1906-1907.
CC 900 - CC 912, p .4-5, 1907.
This general transformation is evident in the more juvenile
orientation of another addition to Harmsworth's range of
titles, Puck (from 1904); also of Pearson's Big Budget at
the same time, to the extent that it ultimately became a
boys' weekly in 1904; and in 1910, the transformation of
Henderson's Comic Life into a children's comic.
CONCLUSIONS
362
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
COMICS AND CONTEMPORARY CULTURE:
POPULISM AND THE POPULAR
To begin these conclusions, let us firstly summarise the
arguments presented in this thesis.
The return to the 'first' comics was motivated primarily by
the lack of adequate critical analyses of the contemporary comic.
It was argued that the formulaic nature of the comic tends to
attract a dismissive approach in critical work.
Individual
elements are abstracted from the comic and there are generalised
arguments based on the supposed 'effects' of particular
representations. This is done without any feel for the ways in
which such representations are woven into coherent narratives, or
any consideration of the relative centrality or incidental roles
of these elements to the readers' understanding of the comic.
Such approaches to comics, coming generally from a
journalistic orientation, are indicative of a long standing
failure in British cultural studies to come to terms with
'popular' cultural products.
More than any other cultural
artefact, comics have been subjected to 'analyses' whose
methodological assumptions fit pre-conceived notions about
current and ideal social relations. They have been used
particularly as explanations for the perpetuation of gender,
class and race relations in society.
Now this is not the same
363
as, but it is surely related to the problems inherent in the
major theoretical formulations of culture.
The Arnoldist
approach held in opposition to the threat of an Americanised mass
culture the alternative of a popularly accessible high culture.
The Leavises oppositional panacea was a combination of organic
folk culture and high culture.
The culturalists judged such
products in terms of how they reflected pre-existent, integral,
class-defined cultures.
Structuralism concentrates on the intra-
textual relations within the product at the expense of a
consideration of how the reader-text relation might vary
depending on context.
Post-structuralism incorporates
psychoanalytical concepts, borrowed especially from Lacan, in
order to account more for the reader's understanding of the text,
but Lacan's concept of the 'fragmented self' eliminates the
reader as subject.
If we were to generalise these problems as a
central failing (with due regard to their differences) it would
be the basic lack of an appreciation of an active relationship
between reader and text, in which certain needs for the reader,
defined by his/her social location, are met, and with regularity
through interaction with the formulaic text.
That is, there is
no adequate connection made between 'culture industry' and 'lived
culture' .
We have identified the rigidly formulaic nature of the comic
as the barrier to analysis.
In this regard, Barker's work has
been seen to offer a potential solution to the problem.
While
adopting his argument for the 'conversational' nature of cultural
objects we have, however, rejected the argument about 'rules' for
analysis, and this rejection has been based precisely on this
364
argument for the 'conversational' role of the comics.
The
implication of that argument is that there are various
ambivalences and ambiguities current through the different
components of the comics so that they can maintain a fluid and
variable relationship with the reader.
This aspect of the
argument is supported by other studies, particularly from a
feminist standpoint, as briefly reviewed in Chapter Four.
The most fascinating work in recent years has been Ien Ang's
study of audience reactions to the television soap Dallas [1].
Based on a set of responses by letter to her own newspaper
advertisement for viewers' opinions on the programme, Ang's study
reveals a wide range of interpretations among its mostly female
viewers.
In many cases these interpretations involve a
contradiction between an internalisation of the 'mass culture'
approach to media texts and an apology for the undeniable
'pleasure' that the respondent has gleaned from the programme.
This suggests that not only is a text capable of carrying
contradictory ideologies, but that the viewer is capable of
contradictory responses.
She also shows that the particular way
in which a viewer might respond at any one time is dependent on
the context in which the text is viewed.
These studies suggest that the relationship between the
'culture industry' and the lived culture of the consumer is a
dynamic and complex one which militates against unitary
'messages' in texts; and despite the undoubted tendency in
cultural products towards formularisation, the attempt to
identify 'rules' for the analysis of particular products is to
365
deny or at least to distort the very real subjectivities and
context specificities of interpretation.
To develop this argument, we have turned to the sphere of
'leisure studies', and in particular the work of Peter Bailey as
an historian 'deconstructing the popular' [2] as it developed as
a concept in the late nineteenth century.
Bailey's emphasis on
'textual analysis' as an investigative tool for the historian,
and his realisation of the argument by case study in his analysis
of Ally Sloper's Half-Holiday have been seen as a potential
solution to these theoretical and empirical problems, for this
analysis shows how the contradictory ideologies present in a text
can be analysed in terms of class- and historical specificity.
We have tried to incorporate this analytical approach into a
framework based on the theoretical concepts of Antonio Gramsci,
and this direction has been influenced by the reappraisal and
application of these concepts by the Open University Popular
Culture team in particular.
In order to apply this framework to
a generic cultural product we have chosen the early comic as the
basis for the empirical work in this thesis since they were among
the first 'popular' cultural products of the late nineteenth
century in a sense which is comparable to the modern usage of the
term.
We have tried to identify the formal and thematic roots of
the early British comic strip as the central element in the new
'comics' of the 1890s.
We have argued that in order to
understand the emergence of the first regular recognisable 'comic
strips', in the modern sense of the term, we need to see the
miscellanity of the early comics as the third phase in a
366
progressive development towards the generation of this new kind
of pictorial narrative.
It has been our contention that these strips were primarily
verbal in nature, that they revolved around the issue of the
reader's class location, specifically in relation to the very
lowest underclass.
The reason is that this obsession with class
location, expressed through a primarily verbal medium, is the
continuous strand running through the Victorian humourous and related
periodical publishing from which the 'comics' drew.
However,
while this was the case, we have tried to show that the comic
strip marked a departure to a new kind of periodical publishing.
It introduced characters whose identity as social types was not
so easily legible as their forerunners in other types of journal.
If the most outstanding figure was the tramp, his function was
not simply to reinforce the reader's feeling of social
superiority or security.
In his adventures, which constituted a
form of conversational dialogue with the reader, he encapsulated
the complexity of that security, for undercurrent to it there was
a degree of economic and cultural insecurity.
We have linked this new departure with the new political
departure of 'collectivist' ideologies.
It contributed to the
experience of negotiating these political collectivisms in
'popular' thought, or, to use the Gramscian term, 'common sense'.
This was, moreover, a peculiarly 'lower middle class' version of
'common sense'.
Therefore, we can see the comics of the 1890s as
part of a class- and historically specific negotiation of
bourgeois hegemony in the late nineteenth century.
They are
367
related to early humourous and other types of journal in this
function, but they are also different, partly because the grounds
for that hegemony shifted significantly through the nineteenth
century.
In applying this framework, then, we have hopefully made a
convincing case for the inherent ambivalence and ambiguity in
cultural products and the validity of the framework in tracing
the complex relationships between the 'culture industry', 'lived
culture', political developments and hegemony in capitalist
society in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Populism and the 'Popular'
It is important to point out that this return to the work of
Antonio Gramsci in cultural criticism is motivated to a large
extent by contemporary political developments in Britain.
We
should therefore establish this relationship and contextualise
the understanding of the early comics within this contemporary
context.
The most enlightening application of these Gramscian
concepts over the past ten years has been Stuart Hall's analysis
of the phenomenon of Thatcherism.
Hall has incisively argued
that Thatcherism works primarily by moulding a peculiar brand of
populism which draws on ideological currents from the past, and
yet constitutes a clearly new development.
In its monetarist
onslaught on post-war welfarism and in its current deregulation
of broadcasting Thatcherism has resurrected the language of
'classical liberalism', almost caricaturally. In its promise to
restore 'lost standards' in attacking the BBC and its pledge to
368
toughen 'law and order' it has developed a distorted version of
'traditional', 'Victorian values' based on the elevated
importance of familial integrity.
This combination of a pledged
return to the free market and a strongly authoritarian direction
is complicated by a promise of limitless horizons to consumerism,
wrapped up in the language of the 'share-owning democracy' and in
policies like the sale of council houses - the 'right to buy'.
In the process, as Webster (1988) summarises, this programme has
required the 'mobilizing ... [of] ... workers against unions,
parents against teachers, viewers against broadcasters, the
people against liberalism' [3],
Yet despite these contradictory
currents Thatcherism, Hall argues, has attracted a phenomenal
range of support from 'very substantial sections of the
subordinate and dominated classes' [4].
It has caused a shift in
the basis for political confrontation, with which the language of
socialism as it is cannot cope.
It does so by extending a
particular kind of 'populist' appeal, a kind of 'regressive
modernization' which harkens back to the imperial Great Britain
of the past and forwards to a revitalised, once more 'Great'
Britain in which you can join in.
the legacy of the Falklands War.
Some of its success lies in
Its promise of better tomorrows
and 'a return to the good old days' lies paradoxically in an
insistence on belt-tightening and getting up 'on your bike'
today, but it cannot be dismissed as an imposed 'false
consciousness1. It confounds analysis by the left not least
because in one respect anyway,
369
'every now and then - Saturday mornings, perhaps, just
before the demonstration - we go to Sainsbury's and
we're just a tiny bit of a Thatcherite subject
[5].
Hall argues that in the 1980s we have witnessed the birth of
a new kind of populist politics which (though this remains to be
proven by future developments) has significantly changed the site
of political struggle.
It has translated all of these ideologies
from the past into a kind of 'common sense' language which
extends a 'popular' appeal to a broad range of class fractions.
In a country which never underwent a bourgeois transformation in
the way that the USA did, or that Germany and Japan did, it also
includes a vision of 'modernity' which stands in stark contrast
to the association of socialism and the welfare state with post­
war austerity.
Therefore, in order to understand the appeal of
Thatcherism we need to look at how it has elevated and extended
elements of an essentially petty bourgeois ideology to a
successful political programme.
It has achieved this by
combining it with 'common sense' understandings of their own
social locations among other class fractions and reshaping them
into a kind of 'popular' vision of society as it could be.
There
are internal contradictions, but that is inevitable in any
constructed notion of the 'popular'. While Thatcherism
contributes to continuing bourgeois hegemony in Britain, then, it
does so in a qualitatively different way to conservative
political programmes in the past.
The application of a framework developed in response to
contemporary concerns to a range of cultural products from the
past is not to revise inaccurately or to distort.
Rather, it
370
throws an important light on the ways in which these early comics
interacted with their readership and, vice versa, the comics
contribute to a fuller understanding of contemporary politics.
The reason is that the comics were part of the development of a
new concept for the twentieth century - the 'popular' cultural
product and audience, while Thatcherism has remoulded the
'popular' to new political ends.
As with Thatcherism, the early comics promoted an essentially
'petty bourgeois' ideology.
It is an ideology that in its late
nineteenth century and contemporary forms owes much to the appeal
of imperialism.
There is a common concern about individual
security in which equally mythical sets of 'Victorian values' are
invoked.
Both are forms of defensive reaction to Britain's
economic decline in the face of international competition and
both developed as finance capital in London gained increasing
importance while manufacturing declined.
The political
trajectories to which these ideologies are related, however, are
different.
The comics were to do with a gradual 'common sense'
acceptance of collectivist political ideology and the move
towards welfarism.
Thatcherism is a reaction to the long
establishment of welfarism.
A 'petty bourgeois' ideology is
reshaped as a truly 'popular' one, but the contradictions in this
process are different, they are determined by the different
configurations of social and power relations and the shifting
ground for bourgeois hegemony in British society.
The exploration of the particular formulation of the
'popular' has been an important strand running through this study
371
of the comics.
The Gramscian approach allows us to establish
similarities and differences in the use of this concept through
history; to make connections between 'popular' political projects
and cultural products in terms of how they transform classspecific needs into 'popular' needs and contribute to the
negotiation of relations of power and the individual's place
within them.
The capacity to make these connections through this approach
is important.
The concentration on the aspect of 'pleasure' to the
cultural text in current media criticism is a problematic
development which has been subject to oppositional criticism by
leftist critics.
Judith Williamson bemoans the loss of a central
distinction between 'reactionary' and 'revolutionary' in critical
approaches.
In her review of this general tendency she argues
that its logical outcome is a situation where no text can be
criticised without the risk of being accused of 'patronising' the
consumer, and where 'subversion' can be found in practically
every media product.
Williamson sees this as a reflection of the
demoralisation and tiredness of the left, a desperate attempt to
wrest the 'popular' from the language of the right, and a
strategy which erodes radical, searching criticism [6],
Williamson's criticisms reflect a continued reluctance on
the left to come to terms with the problem of analysing the
pleasurable aspects of the consumption of cultural products.
Yet
if Hall is right, and Thatcherism really does involve a
profound transformation of contemporary political confrontation,
despite its inherent contradictions and the fact that it is
supported by class fractions whose interests it definitely does
372
not 'represent:1, then cultural criticism must come to terms with
how 'popular' politics works to meet consumers' real needs, if in
contradictory ways, and how conepts of the 'popular' are
refracted in cultural products.
The Gramscian approach provides
a framework through which this goal can be achieved, and we can
legitimately stress the relevance of this project both to the
understanding of contemporary comics and to cultural products in
general.
373
CHAPTER THIRTEEN - NOTES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
len Ang (1985), Watching Dallas.
Bailey borrows Stuart Hall's phrase from 'Notes on
deconstructing the popular’, in Samuel, R. (ed, 1981),
People’s History and Socialist Theory.
Duncan Webster (1988), Looka Yonder 1 The Imaginary America
of Populist America, p.176.
Stuart Hall, 'Gramsci and Us', in (1988), The Hard Road to
Renewal, p.165.
Ibid.
Judith Williamson, 'The problems of being popular',
New Socialist, 43, November 1986, pp.14-15.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Section I: Primary Sources Cited
'Comics' and related humourous journals (title and year of
origin; numbers and years where quoted)
Fun 1861
Judy 1867
July 2, 1873
Funny Folks 1875
Ally Sloper's Half-Holiday 1884
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
207,
234,
269,
284,
294,
1889
1888
1889
1889
1889
Scraps 1887
Comic Cuts 1890
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
1, 1890
16, 1890
18, 1890
19, 1890
23, 1890
24, 1890
27, 1890
29, 1890
30, 1890
32, 1891
53, 1891
54, 1891
61, 1891
74, 1891
91, 1892
93, 1892
115, 1892
119, 1892
124, 1892
256, 1895
257, 1895
259, 1895
282, 1895
302, 1896
304, 1896
313, 1896
408, 1898
413, 1898
442, 1898
659, 1902
Comic Cuts
11
II
ft
fl
II
If
ft
fl
11
It
fl
II
It
ti
II
If
ff
It
tt
II
tl
tt
II
If
II
686 , 1903
No. 688, 1903
No. 689, 1903
No. 696, 1903
No. 702, 1903
No. 709, 1903
No. 714, 1904
No. 728, 1904
No. 729, 1904
No. 733, 1904
No. 737, 1904
No. 766, 1905
No. 768, 1905
No. 769, 1905
No. 772, 1905
No. 773, 1905
No 777, 1905
No. 790, 1905
No. 792, 1905
No. 798, 1905
No. 801, 1905
N o . 807, 1905
No. 817, 1906
No. 847, 1906
Nos . 856--881, 1906
Nos 900--912, 1907
.
.
.
Illustrated Chips 1890
No.
Nos
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No ,
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No .
10, 1890
16- 28, 1890-1
33- 35, 1891
37, 1891
40, 1891
49, 1891
70, 1892
100, 1892
290, 1896
292, 1896
298, 1896
302, 1896
307, 1896
312, 1896
317, 1896
341, 1897
344, 1897
351, 1897
394, 1898
396, 1898
471, 1899
486, 1899
503, 1900
680, 1903
720, 1904
836, 1906
860, 1907
376
Funny Cuts 1890
Funny Wonder 1892
"
"
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
3 (3rd.
158
184
219
259
284
20 (4th.
33
35
series)
"
"
"
"
"
series)
"
"
1894
1896
1896
1897
1898
1898
1899
1899
1899
Comic Life 1898
Jester and Wonder
II
II
No. 82, 1903
No. 270, 1907
Big Budget 1897
II
11
No.
1, 1897
No. 322, 1903
The World’s Comic 1892
II
No. 295, 1898
The Coloured Comic 1898
Journal titles (with year of origin; number or date given where
journal is quoted)
The Gorgon 1818; June 20, 1818
Republican 1819
Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle 1822
Pierce Egan's Life in London and Sporting Guide 1824
Age 1825
Satirist 1831
Figaro in London 1831
Morning Chronicle 1831
The Poor Man's Guardian 1831
Chamber's Edinburgh Journal 1831
The Penny Magazine 1832
The True Halfpenny Magazine of a Society for the Diffusion
of Useful Knowledge 1832
The Weekly Visitor, Conducted by a Society for the Diffusion
of Useful Knowledge 1832
Cleave's London Satirist and Gazette of Variety 1836
The Sketch Book by 'Bos1 1836
The Post-humurous Notes of the Pickwickian Club 1837
Memoirs of Nicholas Nickleberry (date unknown)
The Town 1837
Penny Sunday Times and People's Gazette 1840
Punch 1841
Illustrated London News 1842
377
Lloyd's Illustrated London Newspaper 1842
The Family Herald 1842
Northern Star 1838; Jan. 20 1843
Lloyd's Penny Weekly Miscellany 1843; No. 1, 1843
The London Journal 1845
Tales of Shipwrecks and Adventures at Sea 1846
The Family Journal 1846
Reynolds' Miscellany of Romance, General Interest, Science
and Art 1846
The Home Circle 1848
Sam Sly, or, The Town 1848
Paul Pry 1848
Fast Life undated
Cheap John undated
Peeping Tom undated
The Family Friend 1849
The Town (new version) 1849
The Life and Adventures of Jack Sheppard 1849
Dick Turpin's Ride to York undated
Household Words 1850
Fast Man 1850
Sunday at Home 1852
The British Workman 1853
The Wild Boys of London (date unknown)
The Bovs of London and New York (date unknown)
Charley Wag, the Boy Burglar 1860
Boys of England: A Young Gentleman's Journal of Sport,
Travel, Fun and Instruction 1866; Nov. 24 1866; Aug, 28
1868; Nov. 4 1871
The Young Englishman 1867
Sons of Britannia 1871
Tit-Bits 1882
The Cyclist (year of origin unknown)
Bicycling News 1885
Answers to Correspondents 1888; Feb. 16, 1889
English Illustrated Magazine (year of origin unknown)
Forget Me Not 1891
Marvel 1893
Union Jack 1894
Pluck 1894
The Boys' Friend 1895
Home Chat 1895
Daily Gazette 1896
Daily Mail 1896; Oct. 6, 1900
Pearson's Weekly 1900
Spring-Heeled Jack Library 1904
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Booth, C. 'Conservatism and Classification of Paupers, and
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Dicey, E. 'Journalism New and Old', Fortnightly Review,
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Edwards, H. 'The "Penny Dreadful" and the Scoundrels Who
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Kipling, R. to Norton, C.C., Nov. 30, 1902. Cited in
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Salmon, E.G. 'What the Working Classes Read1, The Nineteenth
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Webb, S. 'Twentieth Century Politics: a Policy of National
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Hobson, J.A. The Psychology of Jingoism London: Grant
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