Jolly Surprising

I recently found an illustrated children's book from the 1940s called Jolly Families, by the 'Zoo Man' of the BBC. As I flicked through the pages, it all looked very 'jolly' indeed:

LIONS

 ELEPHANTS

HIPPOS

MONKEYS

But then I reached a page that prompted a sharp intake of breath:

NEGROES

It was a potent reminder of how values have changed.

Who was the person behind these blantantly racist images?

Ironically, they were created by a man who was a prominent anti-fascist; a Jew whose work had been banned by the Nazis. In the 1930s, Walter Trier emigrated to Britain and during the War, helped to produce anti-Nazi proganda material. He later emigrated to Canada, where some of his work is now exhibited in the Art Gallery of Ontario.

It seems odd that a man who was illustrating anti-Nazi posters was also working on this book, creating images that would now be regarded as offensive as the Third Reich posters featuring big-nosed Jews. But life is full of contradictions, isn't it.

Here is a more appealing example of Trier's work:

Plucky Girls

Was childhood ever like this:

"I've some special shopping to do, this morning, my dear," she announced, with quite a sparkle in her fine dark eyes, "It is cook's 'pantry day'. Of course she should have a kitchen maid, but young girls are so difficult to get these days."

"I vote we get hold of her this morning and ask her to be a sport. There are time when I think I'd like to be friends."

After that, Miss Merivale gave them a lesson on tying knots with lengths of rope."

"Would you believe it!" Miss Fraser began. "As I went into the needlework room, I met a strange young woman sneaking out of it and I fortunately had the presence of mind to grab her. It appears that she borrowed your frock, Nancy. She's a daughter of one of our charladies!"

"Oh Ruth, you were a sport to me this afternoon!" she exclaimed. And, "I hope Miss Baxter was impressed by your frock."

"Yes they are very tight Pam," explained Mr Katters. "I want you to think of these clothes as a second skin. You'll soon get used to them and one day, you might be jolly glad that you had them on."

Alice Havers

I've had very limited internet access recently, as my wife has been desperately trying to meet a deadline for some copy-editing work. Hopefully, she'll earn enough to pay for our next holiday in France, so I don't want to get in her way.

However, I managed to take advantage of a quiet moment to scan some images from a Victorian children's book from the 1880s:

This link contains a very brief biographical sketch about the illustrator, Alice Havers, who was a member of the Society of Lady Artists and exhibited her work at the Royal Academy.

The biographical sketch describes her pictures of children as "sentimental" and "pretty awful" and I can't say I passionately disagree, but there is something captivating about her idyllic, pastoral scenes. It isn't just the contrast these images strike with childhood today, but also the reality of the 1880s.

How many Victorian children lived like this:












Alice Mary Havers married the artist Frederick Morgan and they had three children. Sadly, she died in her 40th year, in 1890.