Bruce Bairnsfather and his cartoons rapidly became incredibly popular with both the soldier at the front and the civilian at home. They were therefore obvious material for the postcard makers of the day, being visual images that would work well on a standard postcard of the time and popular enough to ensure steady profits. Many different cartoons would be imortalised in this format, the cost of each being only a penny and so well within reach of all in society. Indeed there are so many different cartoons to collect that even today there are specialist collectors who just focus on this one topic. This week’s postcard is one of Bairnsfather’s more popular cartoons:

The cartoon is funny, in a dark British sort of a way and this deadpan humour is something that was very resonant of life. The British soldier has always enjoyed a dark and somewhat sarcastic sense of humour and this cartoon is one that it is easy to imagine happening in real life. It is perhaps this truth to real tommys that made Bairnsfather so popular and he certainly captured the mood of the nation as war continued in a way that the sickly sweet images of the early days no longer could.