Donald Fraser Gould McGill, (28 January 1875 – 13 October 1962) was an English graphic artist whose name has become synonymous with a whole genre of saucy

Obscenity

An obscenity is any statement or act which strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time, is a profanity, or is otherwise taboo, indecent, abhorrent, or disgusting, or is especially inauspicious...

 seaside postcards that were sold mostly in small shops in British coastal towns. The cards feature an array of attractive young women, fat old ladies, drunken middle aged men, honeymoon couples and vicars.
He has been called 'the king of the saucy postcard', and his work is still collected and appreciated for his artistic skill, its power of social observation and earthy sense of humour

British humour

British humour is a somewhat general term applied to certain comedic motifs that are often prevalent in comedic acts originating in the United Kingdom and its current or former colonies...

. Even at the height of his fame he only earned three guineas a design, but today his original artwork can fetch thousands of pounds.

Early life

McGill was born in London in 1875. He lost a foot in a school rugby

Rugby football

Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...

 accident, and, having studied at Blackheath Proprietary School

Blackheath Proprietary School

The Blackheath Proprietary School was an educational establishment founded in 1830 that was noted in the contemporary press as an extremely successful school in terms of its education but is perhaps most notable for its profound influence on the game of football, in both Association and Rugby codes...

 where his best friend was a future Bishop of Wakefield

Campbell Richard Hone

The Rt Rev Campbell Richard Hone was an eminent Anglican Bishop in the second quarter of the 20th century.He was born into an ecclesiastical family, educated at Blackheath Proprietary School and Wadham College, Oxford and ordained in 1898...

, spent most of his life in the Blackheath

Blackheath, London

Blackheath is a district of South London, England. It is named from the large open public grassland which separates it from Greenwich to the north and Lewisham to the west...

 area of south-east London (living at 5 Bennett Park, SE3 - a blue plaque

Blue plaque

A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event, serving as a historical marker....

 location).

He was a naval draughtsman until his career in postcards began accidentally in 1904 when an in-law encouraged him after seeing an illustrated get-well card he had made for a sick nephew. Within a year it was his full-time occupation. He studied art and married the daughter of the owner of Crowder's Music Hall

Greenwich Theatre

The Greenwich Theatre is a local theatre located in Croom's Hill close to the centre of Greenwich in south-east London.-Building history:The building was originally a music hall created in 1855 as part of the neighbouring Rose and Crown public house, but the Rose and Crown Music Hall was...

 in Greenwich

Greenwich

Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...

.

Artistic career

McGill spent virtually the whole of his career creating the distinctive colour washed drawings which were then reproduced as postcards. He ranked his output according to their vulgarity as mild, medium and strong, with strong being much the best sellers. His family, however was steadfastly respectable. He said of his two daughters: "They ran like stags whenever they passed a comic postcard shop".

During the First World War he produced anti German propaganda in the form of humorous post cards. His cards from this time period reflected on the war both from the opinion, as he saw it, of the men serving, as well as the realities facing the families remaining home. Cards dealing with the so-called "home front" covered issues such as war-time rationing, home service, war profiteers, spy scares, interned aliens, among other issues. Recruitment and "slackers" were other topics covered. Many cards were designed to appeal to the soldier who wished to send a card home to his sweetheart and these cards showed couples. Cards showed soldiers in training, and there were many lighthearted jokes about the Scottish soldier and his kilt. A few cards showed images of Nursing Sisters, and at least one showed three female Munition workers. Of all these cards, there were relatively few depicting a soldier in action. A number of the cards depicted men in the Navy. Of all the military themed post cards, only a few of these were serious – such as one showing a British Red Cross Medic caring for a wounded German soldier.

In 1941, author George Orwell

George Orwell

Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...

 wrote an essay on McGill's work entitled "The Art of Donald McGill

The Art of Donald McGill

"The Art of Donald McGill" is a critical essay first published in 1941 by the English author George Orwell. It discusses the genre of English saucy seaside postcards that were sold mostly in small shops in British coastal towns, and particularly the work of its prime exponent, Donald McGill...

". Orwell stated that he was not sure if McGill was a real person or simply a trade name but concluded that in spite of the vulgarity and whatever the artistic merits of the cards, he would be sorry to see them go.

Approaching 80, McGill fell afoul of several local censorship committees which culminated in a major trial held in Lincoln

Lincoln, Lincolnshire

Lincoln is a cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England.The non-metropolitan district of Lincoln has a population of 85,595; the 2001 census gave the entire area of Lincoln a population of 120,779....

 on 15 July 1954. The charge was breaking the Obscene Publications Act 1857

Obscene Publications Act 1857

The Obscene Publications Act 1857 , also known as Lord Campbell's Act or Campbell's Act, was a major piece of obscenity legislation in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...

. He was eventually found guilty and made to pay a £50 fine and £25 costs. The wider result was a devastating blow to the saucy postcard industry. Many postcards were destroyed as a result and retailers cancelled orders. Several of the smaller companies were made bankrupt as they survived on very small margins.

In the late 1950s, the level of censorship eased off and the market recovered. In 1957, McGill gave evidence before the House Select Committee set up in order to amend the 1857 Act.

Over the span of his career McGill produced an estimated 12,000 designs, of which 200 million copies are estimated to have been printed. He died in 1962 with all his designs for the 1963 season already prepared. He was buried in Streatham

Streatham

Streatham is a district in Surrey, England, located in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...

 Park Cemetery in an unmarked grave. Despite their wide circulation, McGill earned no royalties from his designs; in his will, his estate was valued at just £735.

One of his postcards (featuring a bookish man and an embarrassed pretty woman sitting under a tree, with the caption: "Do you like Kipling?" / "I don't know, you naughty boy, I've never kippled!") holds a world record for selling the most copies at over 6 million.

Museum

On 10 July 2010, Donald McGill's grandson Patrick Tumber opened the Donald McGill Postcard Museum in Ryde, Isle of Wight. In 1953, Ryde had witnessed police raids on five shops in the town and the seizure of over 5,000 postcards; the majority of them were by McGill.

In popular culture

McGill's Kipling joke is used in a 1962 episode of The Beverly Hillbillies

The Beverly Hillbillies

The Beverly Hillbillies is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for nine seasons on CBS from 1962 to 1971, starring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer, Jr....

, "Pygmalion and Elly", in a scene between Elly May Clampett (Donna Douglas

Donna Douglas

Donna Douglas is an American actress best known for her role as Elly May Clampett, in the long-running television series The Beverly Hillbillies.-Early life:...

) and Sonny Drysdale (Louis Nye

Louis Nye

Louis Nye was an American comedy actor.-Early years:He was born Louis Neistat in Hartford, Connecticut, the son of Joseph Neistat and Jennie Sherman . His sister was Rose Neistat...

).

External links

• BBC 4 - Censored at the Seaside: Donald McGill 10 postcards
• World War One propaganda cards by McGill
• BBC Radio 4 account of the 1954 trial Includes a selection of offending cards.
• George Orwell's essay on his work and also here http://orwell.ru/library/reviews/McGill/english/e_mcgill
• Images of McGill at work 1949 to 1951 at Viewimages.com - Accessed October 2007
• BBC News report from the opening of the Donald McGill Museum in Ryde