Hello 1948..........

From Punch magazine; the artist is Joshua Armitage (1913-98), also known as Ionicus.

A happy 2014 to all who have looked in on my blog over the past year.

Merry Christmas 1953

An illustration by Russell Brockbank (1913-79); from Punch magazine, with whom he was art editor between 1949 and 1960.

Senior Service Satisfy

As a non-smoker, I can't say whether it does satisfy or not, but it was a very popular brand of cigarette. My mother smoked Guards until she gave up, whilst my father's tobacco of choice was Old Holborn. I was regularly sent to the local shop, three doors down, for "Half an ounce of Old Holborn and a packet of green", the green being Rizla cigarette papers. Rolling your own appeared to be very economical smoke, with very little wastage, There would always be 'dog ends' lying around our house, waiting for their last puffs. A girl I knew back in the 1970s rolled her own too, as did her mother, I recall. Heaven forbid that I should condone smoking, but I did raise a smile when I saw a girl student on a bus recently, painstakingly constructing a cigarette from the contents of a battered old pouch so as to be ready on the completion of her journey.

Many adverts for Senior Service had a nautical theme, understandable as that was also the nickname for the Royal Navy.

The two colourful adverts depicting naval scenes heading this post were painted by Harold Wylie and appeared in Punch magazines in1960/61, and that with the red background from a 1960s theatre programme. The three black & white illustrations were found in various editions of Picture Post of the early 1950s. Lastly, the photograph above was taken in 2010 of an old shop front in Margate, now a cafe, but retaining the old sign-age above the lovely curved windows. The owner did give me a funny look though! The brand was first manufactured in 1925 and is still sold today.

Rome 1960

Another cover from Punch magazine, that for 24 August 1960. Rome are hosting the Olympic Games and George Worsley Adamson (1913-2005) provided the illustration. The USSR headed the medal table with 43 golds; the GB tally was 2, leaving us at 12th in the ranking. I hear that we did a bit better this year.

The 1970s office

Two adverts from Punch magazine, 9 July 1975.

All we need now is a secretary in a short skirt..................thanks Benny.

Ronald Searle at Punch

Ronald Searle produced a lot of illustrations for Punch magazine during the 1950s/60s; here are a trio of covers from 1962 & 1963.