Started in 1881, Tit-Bits was a weekly which began a revolution in British popular journalism, leading to near-imitators such as Alfred Harmsworth's Answers and exerting a longer-term influence on the cheap newspapers of the 20th century. Primarily a gathering of "human interest" snippets and other useless knowledge, it also featured short stories and even full-length fiction serials.
In the latter part of 1925 Tit-Bits magazine secured a deal with Studdy for him to contribute a new cartoon series for their publication. The week before they started, the magazine ran an article proudly announcing this new series as follows:
"Next week, Mr. George Studdy, the
famous humorous artist, brings to
"Tit-Bits" his inimitable creation, that doggy imp of mischief Bonzo,
full of the excitement of his recent excursions on the films.
Bonzo is now three years old, Mr. Studdy declares, and getting funnier and livelier every day. Each week Mr. Studdy will depict Bonzo in an entirely new adventure, each adventure being shown in a series of pictures.
This will be the first time that Bonzo has appeared in this form, and he is sure to make himself more attractive and win more admirers, among young and old, than ever.
It will come as a surprise to many readers who have known him in a variety of forms, from a children's toy to the title of a popular fox-trot, that Bonzo is so young. Hundreds of people, too, have repeatedly asked Mr. Studdy how Bonzo came into existance. He is so unique, they say, and at the same time the most loveable dog that could be imagined.
Mr. Studdy has never yet told the story of the birth of Bonzo, but to mark the occasion of the famous pup's appearence in Tit-Bits he has decided to disclose it.
"Some years ago," he says "a certain professor declared that in time to come we should all make use of mechanical contrivances, something like Robots, to do our housework, to carry us to our offices on our shopping and sports trips - in fact to do everything and take us everywhere. This idea appealed to me and I made a cartoon of it for the editor of the 'Sketch'. My Robot took the form of a queer animal with the hind legs and tail of a dog but without a head to it. You will see from the illustration below what I mean."
Bonzo is now three years old, Mr. Studdy declares, and getting funnier and livelier every day. Each week Mr. Studdy will depict Bonzo in an entirely new adventure, each adventure being shown in a series of pictures.
This will be the first time that Bonzo has appeared in this form, and he is sure to make himself more attractive and win more admirers, among young and old, than ever.
It will come as a surprise to many readers who have known him in a variety of forms, from a children's toy to the title of a popular fox-trot, that Bonzo is so young. Hundreds of people, too, have repeatedly asked Mr. Studdy how Bonzo came into existance. He is so unique, they say, and at the same time the most loveable dog that could be imagined.
Mr. Studdy has never yet told the story of the birth of Bonzo, but to mark the occasion of the famous pup's appearence in Tit-Bits he has decided to disclose it.
"Some years ago," he says "a certain professor declared that in time to come we should all make use of mechanical contrivances, something like Robots, to do our housework, to carry us to our offices on our shopping and sports trips - in fact to do everything and take us everywhere. This idea appealed to me and I made a cartoon of it for the editor of the 'Sketch'. My Robot took the form of a queer animal with the hind legs and tail of a dog but without a head to it. You will see from the illustration below what I mean."
"From that Robot dog developed
Bonzo.
I knew at once that I had found in those hind legs and stubbly tail the
germ of a really funny idea, and I went on experimenting with it until
Bonzo as he is to-day finally emerged.
"I wonder what the old lady goes shopping on now, or what she thinks of the celebrity into which her Bonzo-Robot has jumped?
"It was some time, of course, before the Bonzo that will figure in my new cartoons, and that thousands of people have seen on the films, became the regular little dog that he is now. He used to have one kind of nose one week and a new pair of legs another, but he has stopped growing now, I think. He's just about as funny as I can make him."
There is one person who supervises all Mr. Studdy's work and sees that nothing goes out to the public that is not the last word in fun. That is his little daughter, aged seven. "When she comes into the studio, looks severely at a sketch, breaks into a simple smile and says 'Oh-h-h!' I know that it is O.K."
Mr. Studdy, who contributed to Tit-Bits several years ago, in the days before his Bonzo fame, a series of excruciatingly funny cartoons, dates his interest in sketching to an accident that befell him when a boy. He hurt his foot with a pitchfork, and to amuse himself while a prisoner indoors he sketched engines, horses, dogs - all sorts of things that interest boys. He was intended for an engineering career, but as his wages on starting were eight shillings, and he was fined regularly even on eight shillings a week for being late, he decided there was no money in the profession and took to art.
He is an ardent sailor and fisherman. But nobody will believe that he ever catches anything!"
"I wonder what the old lady goes shopping on now, or what she thinks of the celebrity into which her Bonzo-Robot has jumped?
"It was some time, of course, before the Bonzo that will figure in my new cartoons, and that thousands of people have seen on the films, became the regular little dog that he is now. He used to have one kind of nose one week and a new pair of legs another, but he has stopped growing now, I think. He's just about as funny as I can make him."
There is one person who supervises all Mr. Studdy's work and sees that nothing goes out to the public that is not the last word in fun. That is his little daughter, aged seven. "When she comes into the studio, looks severely at a sketch, breaks into a simple smile and says 'Oh-h-h!' I know that it is O.K."
Mr. Studdy, who contributed to Tit-Bits several years ago, in the days before his Bonzo fame, a series of excruciatingly funny cartoons, dates his interest in sketching to an accident that befell him when a boy. He hurt his foot with a pitchfork, and to amuse himself while a prisoner indoors he sketched engines, horses, dogs - all sorts of things that interest boys. He was intended for an engineering career, but as his wages on starting were eight shillings, and he was fined regularly even on eight shillings a week for being late, he decided there was no money in the profession and took to art.
He is an ardent sailor and fisherman. But nobody will believe that he ever catches anything!"
As can be deduced from that article,
these contributions must have begun in the last quarter of 1925, as the
Bonzo films referred to were released in the most part throughout 1925,
starting in January [see Bonzo Films page].
I have tried to date and order them as best possible, but in all cases
the published date is missing. They all also would have been
titled, but again in most cases this has been cut off.
Interestingly, many of these cartoons were reissued, revised, and/or
reworked by Studdy for use in other publications such as The American
Weekly, or the Bonzo Books and Annuals. I've tried to note as
many of these as I can on the individual pages.
