Classic Cartoons: Kenneth Bird
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.KENNETH BIRD'S deftly drawn Ministry of Information hieroglyph "careless talk costs lives" admonished passers-by from every wall in wartime Britain. That and his prolific output of war jokes has made his distinctly meagre drawing style one of the visual references by which we imagine that period.
This is quite an achievement for a cartoonist who didn't believe in the primacy of the image. "It is really better to have a good idea with a bad drawing," he said, "than a bad idea with a good drawing." As art editor of Punch from 1937 and editor from 1949 to 1953 (the only cartoonist to be given the job) Bird championed that creed.
A former Royal Engineer, who took the pseudonym Fougasse from the name of a First World War anti-personnel mine, Bird died in 1965.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments