Name/Title
On second thought, Fotheringay’s suggestion that it's a jolly good idea if we also embarrass... Political cartoon for the Vancouver SunEntry/Object ID
2001.02.10Description
Drawing
UCBC publication header:
August 18, 1958 - Certain citizens of an interior B.C. Community (periodically) express dissent in an "unorthodox" manner.
Full title lower centre:
“...on second thought, Fotheringay’s suggestion that it's a jolly good idea if we also embarrass the government, has been discarded as undignified...”
This 1958 cartoon shows a crowded gathering of elderly gentlemen members in formal dress seated in a wood-paneled reading lounge at the "VICTORIA CONSERVATIVE CLUB" [Union Club of B.C.]. The members, many dozing in large upholstered armchairs, are depicted as wealthy look-alike men with substantial walrus moustaches. One man with a newspaper is commenting on the headline (FREEDOMITE DOUKS THREATEN TO EMBARRASS GOVT.) Several men are in various states of getting redressed to the right rear of the room. Cannon balls are perched on the right corner of the fireplace mantle (now on the McGregor Lounge Fireplace mantle).
Founded in 1879, The Union Club of British Columbia is a landmark institution in the heart of downtown Victoria., B.C., considered the foremost business, social and cultural club in the city. It is now located in its third venue on Gordon Street at Humboldt. In 2017, the building was declared a National Historic Site by the Government of Canada.Artwork Details
Medium
Pen and ink on paperSubject Place
Region
Pacific NorthwestContinent
North AmericaContext
This image refers to B.C. events/politics of the day, specifically the Freedomite Doukhobors in Interior B.C., who preferred to protest in an unorthodox manner - in the nude. This form of protest is being rejected by the Club members. The Freedomite (or Sons of Freedom) movement, a breakaway faction of the Doukhobors, a Spiritual Christianity Group of Russian origin, first appeared in 1902 in Saskatchewan and later in B.C. They opposed land ownership, public schools, the use of work animals, etc. Various conflicts, as well as arson campaigns including some fatalities, resulted in controversial provincial and federal government actions at the time. In February 2023, the Government of B.C. formally apologized for the past actions of the government and offered financial compensation for community programs and education.
"This image is taken from the following publication: Susan Mayse, The Union Club of British Columbia - Our First 125 Years (Victoria: The Union Club of British Columbia, 2004); 92.Made/Created
Artist Information
Artist
Leonard (Len) Matheson Norris, OBE, RCA (1913-1997)Role
ArtistArtist
Vancouver SunRole
PublisherDate made
Aug 19, 1958Time Period
20th CenturyNotes
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
London-born, Leonard (Len) Matheson Norris was a popular and longtime editorial cartoonist for "The Vancouver Sun" newspaper. He came to Canada with his family when he was 13, growing up in Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay), Ontario. He moved to Toronto during the Great Depression, where he found work in ad agencies. He soldiered in the Canadian army during World War II, and he later became the art director for "Canadian Homes and Gardens" magazine.
Pierre Berton, a nationally renowned historian and then-owner of "Maclean's" magazine credited Norris with "single-handedly changing newspaper cartooning in Canada," and introduced Norris into newspaper cartooning for "The Vancouver Sun" in 1950. Norris was won a National Newspaper Award for Top Canadian Cartoonist in 1952, and his work was so popular that 27 collections of his cartoons were published. Norris continued to draw for "The Vancouver Sun" in the editorial section for 38 years producing an estimated 8,000 cartoons. He officially retired in 1979, but kept producing until he finally hung up his pen in 1988, at age 75.
Norris' cartoons skewered the idiosyncrasies and flaws of British Columbia politics and social mores of the day with a sharp wit, clever satire, ironic dialogue and directed caricatures. Norris cartoons remain popular today even though much of the original context is gone. Norris received an honorary doctorate from the University of Windsor. In 1996 the Simon Fraser University Library became home to 1,660 Len Norris original drawings. Over time, it is planned that their collection will be digitized and the Editorial Cartoons Collection Online will showcase the chronicling of the province's history by B.C's finest editorial cartoonists including Len Norris.
PUBLISHER BIOGRAPHY
"The Vancouver Sun" (The Sun), is a daily broadsheet newspaper first published in British Columbia in 1912. The paper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. "The Sun", now combined with "The Province" newspaper, still has the largest newsroom of any newspaper in western Canada.Inscription/Signature/Marks
Type
InscriptionLocation
Lower right: NORRIS THE VANCOUVER SUN ©
Text of newspaper headline in image: FREEDOMITE DOUKS THREATEN TO EMBARRASS GOVT.Acquisition
Acquisition Method
Legacy collection - detail unknownRelationships
Related Entries
Notes
By Leonard (Len) Matheson Norris:
2001.02.09 Political cartoon “To quell widespread fears of our being the hub of similar militant ambitions…”
2001.02.10 Political cartoon “..on second thought, Fotheringay’s suggestion that it's a jolly good idea if we also embarrass...”
![Doukhobor group in Russia before emigrating to Canada, [189-]. Photograph by unknown photographer: From Royal BC Museum and Archives (D-01139)](https://d8e7jbdw4fu0e.cloudfront.net/5457/36fbb230-bbdf-11ee-8c11-ff1aa6005878-vUVFDzo.lg@2x.jpg)