Humour Postcards - Three Great Proponents of the Arts

Almost as soon as pictures started appearing on postcards towards the end of the Victorian era, humour has featured extensively. In fact amongst the myriad types of postcards, the comic or humour postcard is perhaps the most widely collected. The range of them is immense. They start with the satirical - almost cynical end and finish up with those offering the richest of belly laughs. Perhaps the master of the saucy seaside postcard is Donald McGill. Born in 1875 McGill was originally a naval draughtsman until in 1904 after drawing a get-well card for a sick nephew, he was persuaded to take his artwork more seriously.

Within twelve months he was making his living from producing comic postcards. McGill was feted by George Orwell who published an essay, 'The Art of Donald McGill' - although the novelist did confess that he wasn't quite sure if McGill was an artist or a trademark! McGill's designs were always eye-catching, with bright, bold colours and his humour was always graded by vulgarity into soft, medium and strong - the more vulgar, the better his cards sold. Of course not everybody was a fan - the MacMillan purge of the 1950's seemed to spell the end for McGill's career. Poor Donald never did have it quite as good again, he died in 1962.

Tom Browne was another humour postcard artist of some repute. A contemporary of McGill, Browne was also a businessman of no little ability. He set up his own lithographic printing firm - Tom Browne & Co in Nottingham. He was also a founder member of the London Sketch Club. Perhaps Browne's best remembered humorous creations in the postcard medium were Tired Tim and Weary Willy. Sadly he died prematurely in 1910.

Another member of the London Sketch Club, Phil May produced a large number of humour postcards. Working mainly for the Tuck Company, May's life was quite a tragedy. Born in the 1860's, he was orphaned at the age of nine, and lived rough in London before finding work as a designer for a theatrical costumier. He also spent time in Australia before really cranking up his production of postcards before he too died prematurely, in 1903.

Of course this is just three of the vast number of artists who produced humour postcards. Alongside McGill and Browne, we must also consider the likes of George A. Bamber, George Belcher, Fred Buchanan, Percy V. Bradshaw, George Davey, Dudley Hardy, and many others.

Source : Ezinearticles