Donald McGill Postcard Artist | The Donald McGill Museum The Donald McGill Museum Donald McGill Postcard Artist £30.00 Donald McGill is the greatest and most famous British comic postcard artist of all time. During an artistic career lasting over sixty years he produced over 12,000 postcard designs. They sold in their millions, became an essential part of the British seaside holiday and made a major contribution to British popular culture. Add to cart Product Description In this meticulously researched book, surprisingly the first full-scale biography of such an important illustrator, Bernard Crossley tells the story of his extraordinary life. At the age of thirty two he gave up a secure job to embark on the extremely insecure and at that time novel occupation of postcard artist. After retiring at sixty five, he returned to work at the age of seventy and at the age of seventy six he took over the running of his publishing company in addition to designing postcards, continuing to work right up until his death at the age of eighty seven. The book also explains how a man from a very straight-laced and highly respectable Victorian background virtually created and came to be associated with the saucy seaside postcard.

It describes his skirmishes with the censors and the law, culminating in a show trial in 1954, and the disapproval which he also suffered from his own family. The author shows however that this association with the saucy does a great disservice to his work which featured an extremely wide variety of subjects, of which the risqué was but a small part, and which illustrated and documented many different aspects of British society during the first half of the twentieth century. In addition there are chapters on the nature of the man, his working methods and his continuing influence as well as an evaluation of his remarkable achievement. Copiously illustrated and including many full-colour reproductions of postcards from all periods of his career, the book paints for the first time a detailed and fascinating portrait of a major illustrator of the twentieth century whilst also presenting a wide-ranging selection of his work to enjoy. Book Details: Hardback, Gilt embossed buckram cover with over 40 colour pages of illustrations on high quality silk paper ; 152 pages of text on high quality laid paper. Full colour illustrated laminated dust jacket. Scarce 1st edition limited to just 1000 copies. Printed and bound in the United Kingdom.

Size A4. Written by: BERNARD CROSSLEY Format: Hardback, with dust jacket Donald McGill is the greatest and most famous British comic postcard artist of all time. During a career lasting over sixty years he produced over 12000 postcard designs. They sold in their millions, became an essential part of the British seaside holiday and made a major contribution to British popular culture. However the man himself has remained largely unknown. In this meticulously researched book, surprisingly the first full-scale biography of such an important illustrator, Bernard Crossley tells the story of his extraordinary life. At the age of thirty two he gave up a secure job to embark on the extremely insecure and at that time novel occupation of postcard artist. After retiring at sixty five, he returned to work at the age of seventy and at the age of seventy six he took over the running of his publishing company in addition to designing postcards, continuing to work right up until his death at the age of eighty seven. The book also explains how a man from a very straight-laced and highly respectable Victorian background virtually created and came to be associated with the saucy seaside postcard.

It describes his skirmishes with the censors and the law, culminating in a show trial in 1954, and the disapproval which he also suffered from his own family. The author shows however that this association with the saucy does a great disservice to his work which featured an extremely wide variety of subjects, of which the risqué was but a small part, and which illustrated and documented many different aspects of British society during the first half of the twentieth century. In addition there are chapters on the nature of the man, his working methods and his continuing influence as well as an evaluation of his remarkable achievement. Copiously illustrated and including many full-colour reproductions of postcards from all periods of his career, the book paints for the first time a detailed and fascinating portrait of a major illustrator of the twentieth century whilst also presenting a wide-ranging selection of his work to enjoy.

Some notable assessments of Donald McGill and his work: “by far the best of contemporary postcard artists… McGill is a clever draughtsman with a real caricaturist’s touch” George Orwell“the most popular, hence most eminent English painter of the century… Mr McGill is the creator of the English comic postcard.” Lord Kinross“The King of Comic Postcards…the Picasso of the pier, the Munnings of Margate” Dennis Potter“his name belongs alongside … Edward Lear, Lewis Carroll and Spike Milligan” Bob Monkhouse“a true artist, and his work has passed into our visual language with his name indelibly stamped on it” Bernard Levin“my cards have become accepted as an essential part of a British seaside holiday – like beer or winkles.” Donald McGill Bernard Crossley, a retired university administrator, is a collector of and an authority on the work of Donald McGill. Items from his collection formed the basis of the McGill exhibition mounted by the Cartoon Art Trust in London in 2004 and he was consultant to and took part in the first major television programme on McGill which was broadcast on BBC4 in 2005.

He has also appeared in two more recent BBC television programmes, The Picture Postcard World of Nigel Walmsley in 2011 and Antiques Uncovered in 2012, which both featured the work of McGill. Born and brought up near to the Potteries, he now lives in Kent. Additional Information DONALD MCGILL - original artwork for sale | Chris Beetles Contact Us DONALD MCGILL (1875-1962) Dubbed the ‘Picasso of the Pier’ by the writer, Dennis Potter, Donald McGill devoted his working life, from 1904, to designing comic cards for the postcard industry. Donald McGill was born in read more... Dubbed the ‘Picasso of the Pier’ by the writer, Dennis Potter, Donald McGill devoted his working life, from 1904, to designing comic cards for the postcard industry. Donald McGill was born in Regent’s Park, London, on 28 January 1875, the son of a stationer.

He grew up in Blackheath, and was educated at Stratheden House and Blackheath Proprietary School, where, at the age of 17, he received a serious injury in a rugby match, which eventually resulted in the amputation of his left foot. He studied at Blackheath School of Art, but left after a year because ‘he did not like the syllabus’, and instead joined the correspondence course run by John Hassall’s New School of Art. His first published work appeared in The Joker. Working in the office of Maudsleys, a firm of naval architects, between 1893 and 1896, McGill then entered an apprenticeship with Thames Ironworks, Shipbuilding and Engineering Company. While remaining with the company until 1907, he also began to produce postcard designs, from 1904, for the Pictorial Postcard Company. Those designs were often inspired by jokes that he heard at music halls, including the Parthenon Theatre of Varieties, Greenwich, which had been owned by his father-in- law, Alfred Hurley.

He worked full time as a postcard artist from 1908, and two years later began to sell designs to Joseph Ascher, a German immigrant entrepreneur. When Ascher was interned as an enemy alien at the outbreak of the First World War, McGill moved to the Inter-Art Company, and worked as a staff member for the next 17 years, producing an average of nine cards a week. He resigned in 1931, in response to the company’s ‘clean-up’ campaign after which ‘they would not let me draw people with red noses, women in bathing costumes with cleavage’, and again worked as a freelance artist. In the same year, he and his family moved to 5 Bennett Park, Blackheath (an event that is now marked by a blue plaque). In 1934, Ascher returned to England, as a refugee from Nazi Germany, and set up the firm of D Constance Ltd in Ivy Lane, Paternoster Row, near St Paul’s Cathedral. Two years later, it began to employ McGill and introduced a ‘New McGill Comics’ series.

However, in 1939, the struggling nature of the postcard industry encouraged him to retire to Guildford, Surrey. Through most of the Second World War, he worked as a clerk for the Ministry of Labour, beginning to draw for Ascher again from 1944. He was possibly encouraged in this by George Orwell’s now famous essay, published in Horizon in 1941, which stated that ‘McGill is a clever draughtsman with a real caricaturist’s touch in the drawing of faces’ and that his postcards are ‘so completely typical’. Before Ascher died in 1951, he had made McGill a nominal director of D Constance Ltd, and gave him a flat at 36 Christchurch Road, Streatham Hill (the company having moved to the same street at the outbreak of war). Following Ascher’s death, McGill and Ernest Maidment attempted to manage the company together, and deal with financial complications and issues of censorship. McGill himself died a decade later at St James’s Hospital, Balham, on 13 October 1962. In 2006, Chris Beetles Gallery mounted the sell-out exhibition, ‘Donald McGill.

The Michael Winner Collection’. It was accompanied by a very popular illustrated catalogue. Donald McGill obscene seaside postcards banned 50 years ago go on sale for 1st time | Daily Mail Online comments Saucy seaside postcards which were banned from resorts around the UK more than 50 years ago have gone on sale for the first time since they were censored. Five of the 'obscene' comic cards by prolific artist Donald McGill can now be bought - 56 years after the designs were destroyed because of their bawdy humour. McGill, who was dubbed the King Of The Seaside Postcard, designed saucy classics from 1904 until 1962. His images featured fat old ladies, drunken middle-aged men, honeymooning couples and prudish vicars. Salty humour: One of the five McGill postcards that was banned in 1954 He produced 12,000 designs over his prolific career and more than 200million of his cards were sold. But in 1954, during a morality campaign at seaside resorts across the UK, he was charged with publishing obscene images and 21 of his cards were banned.

Now a museum in Ryde on the Isle of Wight, which houses the largest collection of McGill's work in the world, has re-printed five of the banned cards for the first time in nearly six decades. 'It is very exciting to be able to sell these banned cards once again,' said James Bissell-Thomas, owner of the Donald McGill Postcard Museum. 'Donald McGill's artwork is a requisite part of our heritage. Subtle? Fans of McGill say his humour passes the test of time 'The 56-year gap serves us well for launching his work into the public eye once more and a whole new generation can appreciate his cunning eye once again.' McGill began his career by accident when, in 1904 at the age of 30, he sent a cartoon to a hospitalised nephew showing a man up to his neck in a frozen pond. The caption read 'Hope you get out!' and was forwarded to a publisher who commissioned his work. He quickly became an expert in the art of the postcard double entendre and his variations on a theme were ingenious, humorous and often downright rude.

Bawdy: McGill's postcards were always loaded with innuendo In 1941 he was singled out by George Orwell as 'the most prolific and by far the best of contemporary postcard artists'. But in 1953 he faced obscenity charges over his cards following an orchestrated clean-up around the country. An Isle of Wight vicar complained to his local paper and the police raided five seaside shops, confiscating more than 5,000 cards. Too much: Like the four other cards shown here, censors found this postcard too suggestive for public display Other raids took place across the UK and thousands of McGill's cards were ordered to be destroyed under the 1857 Obscene Publications Act. The following year a show trial was held in Lincoln where the artist, then aged 79, was persuaded to plead guilty on four cards which were immediately banned. McGill and his publishers also agreed not to republish another 17 cards once existing stocks had been sold. Suggestive: McGill's characters didn't have to be in a state of undress for the censors to get offended The ruling cost McGill thousands of pounds in lost revenue.

The postcard industry died out in Britain around 40 years ago as more people began to holiday abroad. The last McGill cards were printed in the 1970s. Although the ban on McGill's cards has never been revoked, the museum believes it is highly unlikely their publication would be challenged today. Prolific: Artist Donald McGill designed 12,000 postcards during a career spanning almost 60 years 'The majority of these "obscene" cards were actually really quite innocent and it seemed to be a bit of a witch hunt,' said Mr James. 'Many of the images had been on display in the 1930s and 1940s and they were suddenly seen as a threat to society. It has to be the worst example of a nanny state curtailing the lives of the public. 'It's fantastic that McGill's cards can now be bought and sent by holidaymakers once again.' The banned cards form part of a collection of 50 of McGill's designs that the museum has now re-published as greetings cards.

Mr James added: 'We are also republishing other cards by McGill which were not banned as they are not only clever and very funny but clearly pass the test of time.' At the height of his fame McGill earned only three guineas a design, but today his postcards are highly sought after with his original artwork going for up to £1,700 in auction and up to £2,500 in London Galleries. Last year the Tate displayed some of McGill's artwork, which would have pleased the artist as he always felt that he should have done more with his talent. The Donald McGill Museum � In 1894, British publishers were given permission by the Royal Mail to manufacture and distribute picture postcards which could be sent through the mail. Early postcards were pictures of famous landmarks, scenic views, photographs, lighthouses, animals or drawings of celebrities and so on. With steam locomotives providing fast and affordable travel the seaside became a popular tourist destination. The steam locomotives generated its own souvenir industry. The picture postcard was, and is, an essential staple of this industry.

In the early 1930's cartoon style saucy postcards became widespread and at the peak of their popularity the sale of saucy postcards reached a massive 16 million a year. They were often tacky in nature making use of innuendo and traditionally featured stereotypical characters such as priests, large ladies and put-upon husbands in the same vein as the Carry On films. In the early 1950's, the newly elected Conservative government were concerned at the apparent deterioration of morals in Britain and decided on a crackdown on these postcards. The main target on their hit list was the renowned postcard artist Donald McGill. In the more liberal 1960's the saucy postcard was revived and became to be considered, by some, as an art form. The demise of the saucy postcard occurred during the 1970's and 1980's, the quality of the artwork and humor started to deteriorate with changing attitudes towards the cards content. Despite the decline in popularity of postcards that are overtly saucy, postcards continue to be a significant economic and cultural aspect of British seaside tourism.

Sold by newsagents and street vendors as well as by specialist souvenir shops. Modern seaside postcards often feature multiple depiction's of the resort in unusually favourable weather conditions. These continuously draw tourist to the seaside. The use of saturated colour and a general departure from realism have made the postcards of the later twentieth century become collected and desired by undiscriminating taste. Original postcards are now highly sought after and rare examples can command very high prices at auction. Donald created over 12,000 postcards from 1904 till his death in 1962. You will find that Donald's Cards will depict anything and everyone, his watchful eye never missed a humorous situation as he witnessed the years as they rolled through the 20th century. His artwork covers: Two World Wars; Suffragettes; Lovers; Matrimony; Motoring; Evolution etc. etc. At the museum, the ceiling has adhered to it over 2,500 of Donald's designs in chronological order, and amongst this mass of two dimensional items, you will find several cards which we have made three dimensional.

The museum also focuses on the trials and tribulations that Donald experienced in the 1950's, as he was prosecuted under the 1857 Obscenity Act for producing some cards deemed unsuitable for the public to see. It was Donald's use of the Double Entendre or Double Meaning that the courts disapproved of, despite being a tradition of the music halls and comics of the day. It is also interesting to note that a lot of the disapproved cards Donald had made, he had made earlier versions of in the 1920's and 1930's without any complaint. The museum has 1000's of cards on display and also interactive displays are in evidence. A large collection of original artwork will also be on display including very early work from 1907-1914. The beautiful thing about the Double Entendre is that it is designed to pass over the head of those who cannot see the alternative meaning, consequently Donald's cards appear to depict perfectly innocent situations, and also the text that accompanies them is equally innocent and often is a known phrase, however there are hidden meanings to be found if you already know what is being alluded to.

Digger: Please give us your background James and how you got involved with McGill. James: I moved my Globe-making business ( ) to the Isle of Wight from London. Having enjoyed saucy postcards in my youth, I purchased a scrapped ship's funnel, 9ft diameter and 23 ft high. It was my intention to re-erect this in Ryde on the esplanade and to cut a 4 foot door into it and, after doing this, there would still be 23 feet of linear wall space for a Saucy Seaside Postcard Museum. In my research for this venture, I came across McGill time and time again. He is the one, crowned in his own lifetime the 'King of The Seaside Postcard." It soon dawned on me that it should perhaps be a Museum solely on him. Being protected by copyright, I then approached the company who owned the McGill Copyright. When I spoke to them, they informed me that they had gone into liquidation. On talking to the administrators, I soon found out that the previous company also owned 3 pallets of memorabilia as their intention was to open a museum themselves.

Within a year, I had purchased the copyright and the 3 pallets consisting or rare original artworks, printing plates, documents and over 120,000 ex-stock postcards in mint condition. All of this would use far more space than the funnel, so I decided to use the front end of my Globe Works, which was destined to become a Globe Museum. Digger: And also please tell us something about the great Donald McGill's life and work. James: Donald was born in 1875, and in 1904 started making illustrations for the then thriving postcard industry - it was the email of the day. With up to 7 postal services, you could send a card and receive a reply the same day! He soon became full-time employed in this industry, and due to his art training was rightly regarded as one of the best in his field, in addition to this, he worked in this industry all his life so his personal output was prolific - well over 12,000 cards! Digger: Can you please tell us more about The Donald McGill Museum, how it started and developed into what it is today?

James: Upgrading the location from funnel to Grade II listed building took me longer than I would have liked. I was over 12 month overdue. However, I hope this can be seen in the effort made. We have over 2,500 postcards adhered to the ceiling in chronological order, interactive displays, video footage, an in depth look into the trials and tribulations Donald suffered when prosecuted in 1954 at an age of 79 years. We also have postcards grouped in their various categories: Two World Wars, Drunks, Vicars etc. etc.. Many postcards ended up being banned Digger: Please tell us more about what we can see and what is on offer at the museum. James: Interestingly enough, within the museum we have placed 5 fake items. This is to keep McGill collectors on their toes. It might seem odd that we have undertaken such a thing, but the V&A has a fakes gallery, and we will always inform visitors of the fakes if they cannot find them. There is also a reason why we selected the item to be affiliated with McGill so that the documentation provided with the fake will allude more about McGill and his life.

Digger: What are the holy grails of McGill collecting for your clients and also for you? James: The Adult Nursery Tales. This is a very rare unpublished book from 1910, and immerses you straight into the murky side of Edwardian life. The 17 superb illustrations depict all manner of subjects: Theft, Disability, Disease, Infidelity etc. This rare item when it came up for sale in 1990 at Christies. The surviving McGill descendants and McGill collectors did not know of its existence. The under-bidder at the Christies sale values the 17 large illustrations as being worth �1,000- 3,000 each giving them a value of �20,000 - �50,0000. Digger: You have amassed a great and impressive collection at the museum. How have you managed to do this? James: The 3 pallets helped but in addition to this we have made significant purchases including a recent self portrait which the museum recently purchased for �1500. This self- portrait first started life in an autograph book, but while others simply left their signature, Donald, as usual, gave so much more.

Digger: These days things are far from the relatively innocent times of McGill. What are your thoughts on that? James: Yes the permissive society is well and truly here. Donald was prosecuted in 1954 under the 1857 Obscene Publications Act. The essence of this act was if imagery or text or the combination of both would pervert the mind of a minor and bring them to adulthood sooner than should be. However, Donald rightfully used the Double Entendre and used innocent images and equally innocent text. It was only if your mind was mature/corrupt or perverse that you could see a possible second meaning. Consequently, he should not have been brought to trial and actually went to trial with every intention of defending his cards. But he was knobbled by his own defence lawyer who clearly agreed with the prosecution, and persuaded Donald to accept a guilty plea - he was 79 years of age and in my view had what today is known as a senior moment. As well as his saucy postcards, McGill was a social commentator and political satirist - these postcards would have had him added to a Nazi blacklist Digger: Why do you think nostalgia is generally so popular with so many people these days?

James: Life in the present will always be hard for most of the population. When one looks back, one focuses on the more positive things, and it will always appeal due to there being a token of past times. Digger: And what are your personal favourites from the collection? James: In the Donald McGill (Saucy Seaside) Postcard Museum, out of all of the 1000�s of postcards, numerous original artworks, bizarre artefacts sourced to entertain and amuse, the item I would choose as my favourite would, without question, be the large black and white photograph of Donald which covers the entire wall at the end of the Museum. Prior to my selecting it for the museum, it had hitherto been unpublished, which is in itself surprising because the ones that I have seen from the same session were (in my opinion) far inferior with regard to capturing Donald�s essence. The Picture Library states it was taken in 1954. I can only presume that the reason that Picture Post were photographing Donald at this particular time was because Donald had made the news due to being prosecuted under the 1857 Obscene Publications Act in Lincoln Quarter Session at this time.

The year before, it would appear that the waning do-gooders and possibly the church orchestrated a witch-hunt against the comic postcard industry, as they clearly did not approve of some of the cards. Their complaints to the police, or their local press, which was enough to instigate the police to act. The result was thousands of cards being seized in resorts around the country from Penzance to Grimsby � in Ryde alone 5 shops were raided and of the 5,132 seized, 2,870 were destroyed under an order of destruction while the same cards continued to be sold in other towns on the Isle of Wight! McGill's postcards were in the great British tradition of pantomime and Carry On movies It is, therefore, no surprise that Donald looks so solemn. The world is now on his shoulders, and, knowing him, this was the last thing he expected.

He is now 79 years old, he lost his wife 2 years earlier to cancer, and he is now living rent free in one of his boss's flat (his boss Joseph Asher had invested his postcard wealth into buying rundown large houses and converting them into flats.) Donald is living on the first floor of 36 Christchurch Rd Streatham (AKA St. Reatham). The house was reported at the time as being structurally unsound and overcrowded, with coal being heaped outside tenant's doors in the hall and corridors. He is photographed at his desk in the bay window, and other photos reveal a large Persian carpet and Victorian furniture, which was possibly actually purchased by Donald when Victoria reigned! The result of the Lincoln Trial was disastrous for Donald. Despite going to trial with notes to defend a not guilty plea, the prosecution, because in the morning sessions two other postcard companies got off lightly, for this reason they changed the Jury (possibly because the jury had injured their sides laughing too much at the supposed "obscene" cards when shown as evidence). The sight of the new jury, and the prosecution lawyers knobbling Donald�s defence lawyer meant that a guilty plea was agreed upon.

This, it is estimated, cost the company the equivalent in today�s money of �100,000 from lost revenue of the 21 banned cards (4 immediately and 17 after existing stocks were exhausted) and the loss of their later revenue and also the shopkeepers who would no longer buy in future through fear of prosecution. For me to wish to use the image in the museum was a task in its own right. Our funds were limited and we have had no funding or benefactor to assist us in our aim to make a shrine for this man�s life�s work. As a large image costs more to secure the rights on, I decided to make a collage, so the rights would be cheaper to attain. By surrounding Donald with some of his original artworks (including one of the four banned above the door on the right) and to ensure that they would not detract by being there, I ensured that the frames were repainted and the mounts were reprinted with the photographic data that they were covering. The result is a semi-transparent illusion which, in my opinion, does not diminish the gravity of the original photo. I am sorry that you cannot see the whole image.

Unlike institutional museums and galleries throughout the land who have unlimited space - I do not. However if you do come to visit you will be able to see it in all its glory. Digger: Who are your 'typical' customers, where are your customers coming from and what customer feedback/comments do you get? James: We get all sorts, but mostly the older generation who remember the cards. We often hear loud laughter emanating from the museum and most are pleased with their visit, we did however have one customer who tired to get his 40 year son into the museum as a child, he complained when he left having spent over 30 minutes in the museum, he later wrote asking for his money back, the address was from a 2 Million pound house in the suburbs of Kew, London. His reasons for a refund were so comical ( he thought the whole museum was just the reception area!) that I asked if I could come and photograph him and place the correspondence on our website - but sadly he declined. Digger: What are the best and most enjoyable aspects of running The Donald McGill Museum?

James: I think it is the pleasure in spreading the word about Donald, there is so much more to him than just Saucy Postcards! He is now getting the recognition he deserves. It is quite amazing that today you can buy utter rubbish by the likes of Hirst for hundreds of thousands of pounds (Hirst has a factory producing so called "artworks" which even he not contributed towards the items construction) but an original McGill artwork is sill only worth about �1000. Digger: What are your plans for The Donald McGill Museum in the future? James: We would like to expand but we are always juggling - any wealth patrons out there about to pay too much tax and would like to sponsor us??!!!!! Digger: Well, having had a tour around the museum James I have to tell you I'm impressed, with the humour and creativity of Donald McGill and also with what you've achieved here. The Donald McGill Museum surely is a great and fitting tribute to the man but equally a wonderful place to visit for those who enjoy a good old-fashioned laugh.

Our museum pays homage to Donald McGill, who spent his life creating comic artworks for the then thriving postcard industry We are located at 15 Union Street, Ryde Isle of Wight PO33 2DU. Donald McGill | The Donald McGill Museum The Donald McGill Museum Donald McGill If you decide visit this museum, we are sure you will discover that Donald McGill was one of the nation’s finest artists. But what kind of a man was he? (January 28th 1875 – October 13th 1962) A serious student and outwardly a conventional family man, Donald was at the same time a skilled artist and renowned humorist, working in what some would consider to be, the vulgar world of comic cards. Donald has been described by various people who met him as looking like a solicitor, a judge, a church warden (one of Donald’s old school friends was the Bishop of Wakefield) – and is said to have had ‘the air of a retired naval commander’. During an interview, he described himself as being ‘rather Victorian in outlook’.

Always dressed impeccably, even at the drawing board, the terms ‘spry’ and ‘dapper’ were applied to him when he was still working in his 80s. He was proud of his ancestry – some members of the McGill clan had achieved positions of importance in the church, in military service, and in public office. He was himself not afraid to have ‘unpopular’ views – he was an atheist, he is said to have supported the suffragettes, and his politics were Liberal. Donald McGill was well educated, and had a wide variety of interests throughout his life, including medicine, biology, astronomy, anthropology and cricket. It is clear that, in addition to his artistic abilities, he was an able student with a keen interest in academic subjects and this had been recognised at an early age when he was nominated as a ‘scholar’ by a shareholder in the Blackheath Proprietary School. In the opinion of his younger daughter, he should have become a teacher ‘because he always explained things so well – but he was mad about sport’. Unfortunately, this passion for sport and a tendency not to ‘make a fuss’ led to him having his left foot amputated after a rugby injury at school.

Although in pain, he never complained and walked without limping, so many people were unaware that he had an artificial foot. He was born in the middle of the ‘respectable’ Victorian era, and his father died when he was 8. He and his three brothers and three sisters were brought up by his mother in an upper middle class area. One of her grand-daughters remember her as being ‘very sweet and very smart’ and having very definite views! When, in 1900, Donald married Florence Hurley, one of the daughters of the owner and manager of a music hall, albeit one of the more ‘respectable’ ones, one wonders whether his mother would have considered it a ‘suitable’ match. Donald and Florence went on to have a long and happy marriage which produced two daughters, and Florence’s background was to be a big asset in Donald’s work. He loved the world of the music hall and many of his ideas came from it and from the people who frequented it. Donald was diligent about everything he did, including his role as a father, and ensured that both his daughters received a good education.

As children, they learned to be quiet around the house when their father was ‘thinking’ (coming up with ideas and writing captions), but once the artwork had begun and Donald was painting, they were allowed into the front room where he worked, and he liked them to read to him. He would make them laugh by pulling the faces of the various characters he was working on. However, they were embarrassed by the postcards themselves and, in McGill’s words, ‘would run like stags whenever they passed a comic postcard shop’. Sensitive to his daughters’ finer feelings, Donald McGill would often be a bit secretive about what he did for a living. It would be unfair to say that Donald McGill had no head for business – his academic abilities would suggest that he would have been more than capable of dealing with the intricacies of running a company. Perhaps it was just that this ‘courtly Victorian gentleman’ was more interested in other areas, and preferred to leave the cut and thrust of the business world to those whose temperaments were more suited to it.

The obvious care and attention to detail that went into his designs, particularly during the earlier part of his career, suggests that he enjoyed using his artistic talents to earn a living, and he does not appear to have expected any payment or royalties over and above the flat rate paid per design that was the norm for the postcard designers of the time. Even when the popularity of his designs grew rapidly in the 1930s and 40s, he was still being paid per design, the copyright of which would then belong to the publisher. It was the publisher who would then have been the one to reap the financial rewards from the thousands of postcards that were produced from each one. As was usual at the time, Donald worked on a freelance basis. The postcard industry allowed him to draw caracitures, which he loved to do, and it appears that happy working relationships were important to him. The first company he designed for was the Pictorial Postcard Company, owned by Max Honnest-Reddlich. After four years however, the company was taken over by the Hutson brothers, but Donald McGill did not like their drinking and womanising habits nor their tendency to produce a lower standard of postcard.

As soon as it could be arranged, he only worked for them when obliged to do so by the terms of his original contract. One of the customers of the Pictorial Postcard Company, a gentleman of German-Jewish extraction by the name of Joseph Ascher, was in agreement with Donald regarding the Hutson brothers’ behaviour. Donald began to design for Ascher and they made a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ whereby Donald would produce a certain number of designs per week. This arrangement suited both of them very well, and Donald probably would have continued to work for Ascher indefinitely had it not been for the fact that, in 1914, he was interned on the Isle of Man in as an ‘enemy alien’. Donald subsequently designed postcards for Robert McCrumb who owned and ran the Inter Art Company with his wife, and this proved to be a long and happy association, lasting for 17 years. However, censorship issues made McCrumb increasingly cautious and this frustrated Donald – ‘there was a clean-up and they would not let me draw people with red noses, women in bathing costumes with cleavage, it was so ridiculous I resigned’. Donald then continued to work for various companies, still on a freelance basis.

After his internment on the Isle of Man, Joseph Ascher had returned to Germany, but with the rise of the Nazi party he found himself in increasing danger. Donald and his son-in-law helped Ascher to gain entry back into England and, in 1936, Ascher started ‘D. Constance Ltd.’. It was with Ascher that Donald was to have his longest working relationship, once again on the basis of a ‘gentleman’s agreement’. There was no doubt that Joseph Ascher was a good businessman, often managing to get orders in advance for the following season, and often for cards that had not yet even been printed (he would take Donald’s artwork with him to show to prospective buyers). He employed a few ‘travellers’, but promoted the ‘New McGill Series’ himself and gained 80% of the sales. He recognised that Donald was a talented artist and used the ‘Donald McGill’ name to promote these designs – and as the artist was as loyal and reliable as Donald, Ascher did very nicely for himself in the process.

There is no doubt that Ascher brought McGill’s artistic talents to the attention of the public and that perhaps, without him, Donald would not have been so well-known, but the recognition he received was not matched by any significant increase in earnings. In fact, Ascher informed Donald that D. Constance Ltd. was struggling just before the war, when sales of his postcards appear to have been booming. In 1939, with paper in increasingly short supply and the postcard industry struggling, Donald decided to retire with his wife to Guildford. However, after only one year he was finding it difficult to make ends meet and took a temporary job as a clerk for the Ministry of Labour. In 1944 he started drawing again, producing designs for D. Constance Ltd. Despite their long association, Donald McGill appears not to have questioned Joseph Ascher’s business practises, partly, maybe, because Ascher had a brash and pushy side to his character – various comments show that he was either very much liked or disliked. It is certain that he could have been a difficult man to deal with, particularly if money matters were raised. He did pass one share each of D. Constance Ltd.

to Maidment and McGill, but these so-called ‘gifts’ were purely illusory. Each share transfer had a note on the back stating that the recipient remained ‘a mere nominee’ of the transferor, and had no material interest in the Company. This was done after Ascher’s second wife died – she had willed her shares to Ascher – in order to comply with company law. The headed notepaper used by Ascher in the late 1940s-early 50s did not include his own name, but read ‘D. Constance Ltd. Directors: Donald McGill. E. Maidment’. They were each given a bonus of £500 for the year 1950. In April of that year, Joseph Ascher started investing in property, buying houses and converting them into ‘flatlets’, and his attention, and that of his accountant, was increasingly diverted away from D. Constance Ltd. He employed Ernest Maidment to collect rents from his tenants, and Donald McGill was given a flat to live in rent-free in one of his properties (36 Christchurch Road), a paid telephone, and his tax, such as it was, taken care of.

In documents found after Ascher’s death, it appears that 36 Christchurch Road may have been bomb damaged, and was damp and in a bad state of repair. Also, like other properties owned by Ascher, it was overcrowded and in need of complete redecoration. At the time of Ascher’s death in 1951, the accounts of the company were found to be almost three years in arrears, and in a terrible mess, particularly as Ascher liked to deal in cash and would ‘divert’ funds from D. Constance Ltd. to his new ventures and personal interests. Donald McGill certainly would not have approved of Ascher’s ‘unorthodox’ business practices. Being an intelligent man, he must have suspected that things were not quite right – it could be that he decided to turn a blind eye and to concentrate instead on his work as an artist rather than risk upsetting whatever working relationship he had with Ascher. It was very unfortunate that the affairs of D. Constance Ltd. had been left in such a mess, and that this coincided with the comic card industry becoming increasingly disrupted by the chaos brought about by the varying opinions of postcard Censoring Committees.

This resulted in the ‘show’ trial at Lincoln just 3 years later. At the age of 76, Donald McGill joined Ernest Maidment in managing D. Constance Ltd. and trying to sort out the problems left behind by Ascher. Shortly afterwards, Donald’s wife became very ill, and he agreed to a cut in salary while he took time off to care for her. She died the following year. In order to try and establish some clear guidelines for censorship and restore some sort of order to the postcard industry, Donald and Ernest Maidment offered their assistance in the setting up of a Censorship Committee, providing copies of all the cards published by D. Constance Ltd. together with the judgements made on them by the self-regulating Isle of Man Censoring Committee. When he was summoned to appear at the 1954 Lincoln trial, it is known that Donald was apprehensive; he was completely prepared to defend his designs against the accusation that they were ‘obscene’, but concerned that the trial might bring to light the extent to which he had been being ‘taken advantage of’ by his employer.

He wrote ‘it would be very damaging to my credit and prestige if it now appeared that I had been for many years a sort of underpaid hack or sweated labour. It would also be unpleasant if this got about among my friends and acquaintances – and the tradespeople’. Together with Ernest Maidment, Donald McGill continued to manage D. Constance Ltd., still designing cards and involving himself in censorship issues. He was later asked to give evidence before the House Select Committee in order to amend the 1857 Obscene Publications Act, which he did, as he felt that a national system of censorship could not work due to the vagaries of individual interpretation. The subsequent amendment of the Act meant that censorship was relaxed and novels such as ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ were made available to the general public for the first time. After his death in 1962, McGill’s designs were still published and sold by D. Constance Ltd. but were gradually phased out and replaced by more modern designs. Production of them eventually came to a halt in 1968.

Donald’s original artworks, for which he had been paid a few pounds each during his lifetime, now sell for thousands of pounds at leading auction houses such as Sotheby’s. Towards the end of his life, the number of designs Donald McGill produced declined, due to his age and ill health. When he died, aged 87, Donald left behind 200 unfinished sketches and postcard designs for the following season. He was an atheist and is buried in an unmarked grave within a private family plot in Streatham Cemetery. In his later years, he was interviewed on television and admitted ‘I’m not proud of myself, I always wanted to do something better. I’m really a serious minded man underneath – I would have liked to have done sporting caricatures like Tom Webster or even oil paintings, if I’d had my way’ Is this museum suitable for children? Answer: While most of the cards Donald produced are jovial comic cards, there are a small percentage which use the art of the Double Entendre or Hidden Meaning.

The beautiful thing about the Double Entendre is that it is designed to pass over the head of those who cannot see the alternative meaning, consequently Donald's cards appear to depict perfectly innocent situations, and also the text that accompanies them is equally innocent and often is a known phrase, however there are hidden meanings to be found if you already know to what is being alluded. Consequently, we believe children will find nothing offensive in this museum. There are interactive displays will amuse them and they can clamber into the 1954 Constance delivery van or spot the 3 dimensional items amongst the postcards on the ceiling. Also if they are shorter than the entrance turn-styles we will only ask a penny for the entrance admission.

Opening Times Rarely seen postcards show how Britain's king of saucy seaside humour McGill turned his hand to the First World War effort | Daily Mail Online Next Rarely seen postcards show how Britain's king of saucy seaside humour McGill turned his hand to the First World War effort Donald McGill was better known for saucy seaside humour but turned his hand to the war at outbreak of hostilities Produced more than 1,500 different images for patriotic postcards to bolster the war effort Many of the cards featured sentimental poems and would have been sent from soldiers to their loved ones The Cartoon Museum - Never Again! World War I in Cartoon and Comic Art Never Again! World War I in Cartoon and Comic Art 11 Jun - 19 Oct 2014 Late opening: 17 Oct 2014, until 20.00. Some of the most powerful and memorable images from the First World War are by cartoonists.

From the earliest days of the war, British cartoonists such as Alfred Leete, Bruce Bairnsfather, William Heath Robinson and Donald McGill were at the forefront of propaganda battles aimed at bolstering the war effort, ridiculing the enemy and sustaining the nation through the four long years of conflict. Alfred Leete’s famous recruiting cover for London Opinion featuring Lord Kitchener was never an official poster but remains one of the abiding images of the Great War and inspired numerous other designs. For many Bruce Bairnsfather’s grumbling but steadfast soldier ‘Old Bill’ became the face of the long-suffering Tommy in the trenches. Criticised in parliament as ‘vulgar caricatures of our heroes’, Bairnsfather’s down-to-earth drawings were loved by the men at the front. They were reproduced on plates and cards and inspired stage shows and films. The exhibition includes Bairnsfather’s ‘Well, if you knows of a better ’ole, go to it’, widely regarded as the most famous cartoon of the war. Postcards of Bert Thomas’s ‘’Arf a ‘Mo’ Kaiser’, showing a cheeky Tommy pausing to light his cigarette, raised £200,000 for the soldiers’ tobacco fund.

The cartoons by the Dutch artist Louis Raemaekers were exhibited three times in London, reproduced around the world and widely credited with helping persuade the Americans to enter the war. Never Again! World War I in Cartoon and Comic Art brings together over 300 images, ranging from political and joke cartoons from newspapers and magazines to colourful comic postcards by the likes of Donald McGill and Douglas Tempest on a huge range of subjects, including life in the trenches, popular songs, food shortages and air raids. There are also children’s comics such as Picture Fun and Comic Life, cigarette cards and maps. Also on display are rare German and French postcards, and trench publications produced by serving soldiers, many of which featured cartoons, which have been extensively researched by Professor Jane Chapman from the University of Lincoln, who has contributed to the exhibition. Many cartoons feature national symbols such as John Bull, the Russian Bear and the French Cockerel. Leaders such as Kitchener and the Kaiser who often appeared with his son in Haselden’s ‘Big and Little Willie’ ? were also popular subjects. There are ‘hate cartoons’ by Edmund J. Sullivan which demonise the Germans, but others by Heath Robinson and Haselden that acknowledge the humanity shared by both sides.

The impact of modern warfare, air raids and women’s war work all appear as subjects, as do conscription and conscientious objectors. The exhibition also features some more recent material such as Ralph Steadman’s reworking of Leete’s famous Kitchener design; Charley’s War, the classic 1980s comic strip by Pat Mills and Joe Colquhoun, which depicts the horrors of trench warfare; and drawings from the ‘Horrible Histories’ book The Frightful First World War by Terry Deary and Martin Brown. Artists in the exhibition include H. M. Bateman, Bruce Bairnsfather, Martin Brown, Oscar Cesare, Will Dyson, George Halkett, W.K. Haselden, William Heath Robinson, David Low, Donald McGill, Bernard Partridge, E.T. Reed, Edmund J. Sullivan, Ralph Steadman, Douglas Tempest, F. H. Townsend, Bert Thomas and Tom Webster. The exhibition is supported by the AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council) and the University of Lincoln.

Question: The illustrator Donald McGill is most famous for which type of 'art' work?
Answer: Seaside postcards