BACK HOME NEXT

Cartoons by Thomas Henry / T.F.

His first recorded work appeared in 1904 when he was employed by Thomas Forman and Sons as an illustrator for the Nottingham Football Post. He created humorous characters to represent the teams around the East Midlands, as shown above, such as "Magpie Man" for Notts County.
The cartoons he produced weekly during the football season were his own humerous interpretations of factual situations.

Illustrated above are two cartoons produced for the "Football Post" for the season 1912/13. They are typical of his work during his career with the paper

The Punch Magazine

Tom had approximately 35 cartoons published in the Punch magazine commencing with 6 in 1913, carrying on until 1920. The originals of these cartoons were returned to Tom and he gave them away to friends and relatives.
He was probably too busy to submit further work to Punch as he was having work published in many other papers and magazines, including his illustrations for William as well as his regular work at the Nottingham Football Post.
Nearly all the Punch cartoons were taken from his observations of real life, they reflected the era but were not intended to be political. He found situations that reflected the class system of that time amusing.

This was the first Punch cartoon he had published in July 1913. The caption reads:
The Landlady (to applicant for apartments with sea view) "There now! what do you think of that for a sea view?"

To the left is illustrated the second cartoon he had published in September 1913.

The caption reads: "Suspicious wife: Now do hurry up dear we might lose sight of the luggage. I don't much care for the looks of that man"

Signed THOMAS HENRY 1913

I think that the early cartoons were amongst the most amusing he produced.

He adored the humour he observed in children at play. The 1917 Punch cartoon below was inspired by a scene he witnessed during a visit to Cotgrave, a local village. On his return home he drew this sketch featuring "Billy Smiff". He appears in various cartoons but seems to have been retired to make way for William in 1919.

"THE CELEBRITY .... Thinks Billy Smiff I'm wot remembers the time when there wasn't no war!"