LONDON LAUGHS: Pantomime
Cartoon
December 1934 (drawn)
December 1934 (drawn)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This cartoon, based on the 1934 production of Dick Whittington at London's Lyceum Theatre, was drawn by the Yorkshire-born cartoonist Joe Lee who learned his skill via Percy Bradshaw’s Press Art School correspondence course. When he was unable to finance his training as an architect at the Royal College of Art, he turned to illustration instead. After producing his first cartoon for The Bystander in 1920 he developed quickly as a freelance artist and by 1921 was described by the Strand Magazine as ‘the youngest of the men of his craft who have now an established reputation’
During the mid 1930s, Lee contributed to a variety of periodicals, and created the hugely popular ‘London Laughs’ series for the Evening News (1934-66) which has been credited as the first run of non-political topical cartoons in the UK. After almost 9000 cartoons – the longest running daily cartoonist in history – he retired to Norwich in July 1966 but continued to produce political cartoons three days a week for the local Eastern Daily Press and work for comics. In 1963 he was presented with an award for Special Services to Cartooning by the Cartoonists’ Club of Great Britain.
During the mid 1930s, Lee contributed to a variety of periodicals, and created the hugely popular ‘London Laughs’ series for the Evening News (1934-66) which has been credited as the first run of non-political topical cartoons in the UK. After almost 9000 cartoons – the longest running daily cartoonist in history – he retired to Norwich in July 1966 but continued to produce political cartoons three days a week for the local Eastern Daily Press and work for comics. In 1963 he was presented with an award for Special Services to Cartooning by the Cartoonists’ Club of Great Britain.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | LONDON LAUGHS: Pantomime (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | pen and ink and brush and crayon on artist's board. |
| Brief description | Cartoon based on Dick Whittington at London's Lyceum Theatre, Christmas 1934, starring Elsie Prince. Published in the series London Laughs in the London Evening News, 17 December 1934. Pen, ink and crayon by Joseph Lee (1901-1974). |
| Physical description | Pen, brush, black ink and blue crayon cartoon on Reeves' Commercial Art Board signed LEE in black ink, showing a scene from the pantomime Dick Whittington on stage with a precocious boy and his parent sitting in a box, stage left, with a box of chocolates . The curvacious actress playing the eponymous Principal Boy role wears a low-cut bodice, tights and boots and is singing or talking, her left hand resting on the proscenium arch stage left, her right hand holding the stick of her bundle, the cat to her right ogling her. The conductor and four members of the orchestra are in the foreground, in the orchestra pit. The typed title: 'LONDON LAUGHS: Pantomime. "Y'know, Mater, it's hopelessly inaccurate historically' has been added on a separate piece of paper below the image. |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Object history | This cartoon was inspired by Dick Whittington, the Christmas pantomime starring Elsie Prince as Dick, and Dick Henderson as the cat and the cook, at London's Lyceum Theatre, Christmas 1934. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Literary reference | Dick Whittington |
| Summary | This cartoon, based on the 1934 production of Dick Whittington at London's Lyceum Theatre, was drawn by the Yorkshire-born cartoonist Joe Lee who learned his skill via Percy Bradshaw’s Press Art School correspondence course. When he was unable to finance his training as an architect at the Royal College of Art, he turned to illustration instead. After producing his first cartoon for The Bystander in 1920 he developed quickly as a freelance artist and by 1921 was described by the Strand Magazine as ‘the youngest of the men of his craft who have now an established reputation’ During the mid 1930s, Lee contributed to a variety of periodicals, and created the hugely popular ‘London Laughs’ series for the Evening News (1934-66) which has been credited as the first run of non-political topical cartoons in the UK. After almost 9000 cartoons – the longest running daily cartoonist in history – he retired to Norwich in July 1966 but continued to produce political cartoons three days a week for the local Eastern Daily Press and work for comics. In 1963 he was presented with an award for Special Services to Cartooning by the Cartoonists’ Club of Great Britain. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.120-2007 |
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| Record created | May 30, 2007 |
| Record URL |
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