Giles family

The Giles family is a fictional British family created by cartoonist Carl Giles at the end of World War II, appearing first on 5 August 1945.[1] Much of Giles's World War II work had been cartoons featuring Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and the typical British Tommy, but he felt the need to expand after the War, hence the family. The format was a single-panel cartoon, published daily in the Daily Express and Sunday Express newspapers from 1945 until 1991. An annual collection was published each Christmas.

Contents

Characters and story

The family belongs to the better-off British working class and is usually seen living in a semi-detached house. The scenes in which they are depicted usually comment on a topic headlining the news of the day. The Giles family is patriotic but suspicious of authority. The ages of the family members remained the same throughout the 46-year run of the cartoon series, but their home, their hobbies and their dress reflected the changing British fashions and standard of living.

The Giles family consists of the following:

Cultural legacy

There is a statue of the Giles family in Queen Street in Ipswich, England. Grandma made a cameo appearance in DC Comics' Superman: True Brit. The appearance of Mrs. Henriot-Gulch in the comic Cerebus is closely based on Grandma. The family appeared in TV cartoon ads for tea, one of which included Grandma racing around on her motorbike.

References

  1. ^ Blain, Max (2006-03-03). "Cartoon collection scoops originals from the hilarious world of Giles: Laughter Box". Canterbury Adscene (UK local newspaper). pp. 6–7. 
  2. ^ Giles, Carl (1981). Giles Cartoon Annual. 35th. Daily Express Publications. ISBN 0-85079-115-4. 

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