bonzo the dog

As I sat at the shop desk, waiting for inspiration to hit me for my Theme Of The Month article, I turned towards the book shelves and there was Bonzo the dog smiling back at me from the cover of the 1948 Bonzo Annual and it was a eureka moment.

I am, and always have been, a dog lover and at home, since I was 5 or 6 years old, we have always had at least one dog, and sometimes up to three. Bonzo always makes me smile so I decided to try and find out a little more about him and his creator George Studdy.

Bonzo, for those not familiar with him, is adorable. He doesn't appear to be a particular breed - he's small, white with a few black patches, has one black ear and one white, a short stubby tale, is a little podgy and quite puppyish. He has lovely big eyes and a most expressive face, what's not to like!

A cartoon character of a mischievous pup was created by George Studdy around 1911. Over the following years this character became known as the Studdy Dog and, from 1921, began to regularly appear in The Sketch magazine, which was published by the London Illustrated News. I had always assumed that if an artist drew a character numerous times he/she would have given their character a name or would at least choose the name but in Bonzo's case the name came from The Sketch's editor because, apparently, readers had been contacting him asking for the loveable character to be named.

Bonzo became very popular and was a hit not only in Britain but all over the world. A wide range of Bonzo merchandise was produced including models, car mascots, jigsaws, soft toys, ashtrays, perfume bottles and many, many more products. Such was his popularity that Royal Worcester and Royal Doulton produced porcelain figures of the nation's favourite dog.

As well as merchandise Bonzo also starred in advertisements for numerous products including cars, tobacco, confectionery and polish. One of the first neon signs in London's Piccadilly circus featured Bonzo - he was smoking a cigarette, something you wouldn't see today due to the restrictions on tobacco advertising. He was also a film star, appearing in 26 short films in 1924 and 1925, the first of which was called Sausage Snatching Sensation!

Left: 'Somewhere the sun is shining'

Time to find out a little about his creator - George Ernest Studdy. Born to Ernest and Constance Studdy in Devon in 1878 George was the second of three children. His preparatory education started at Clifton College, Bristol, but a pitchfork injury to his foot required numerous visits to a London hospital, so his education continued at Dulwich College whilst he stayed with his aunt between hospital visits. Unable to follow his father's footsteps into the forces he worked briefly as an apprentice engineer and a stockbroker before attending Heatherleys Art School and, briefly, Calderon's Animal School.

Having worked hard to produce a portfolio he managed to interest publishers in his drawings and he had work published in many well known publications including Boys Own, The Big Budget Comic, The Graphic and The Tatler to name but a few. George Studdy also drew for postcards and for many years produced work for Valentine Postcards of Dundee. In 1921 Bonzo started to appear as a regular feature in the Sketch Magazine and continued to appear until he was retired in 1927. After a short break from The Sketch, Studdy returned with a new character - a cat called Ooloo and sadly Bonzo only made a few brief appearances in future editions. George Studdy died in 1948, at the age of 70, after a short illness.

Despite disappearing from his regular weekly cartoon slot Bonzo was still popular and featured in a number of books. The first Bonzo Annual was produced in 1935 and was called Bonzo's Laughter Annual. Production stopped during the war but resumed and then continued for four years after Studdy's death with the illustrations for the last years being drawn by other artists.

My favourite Bonzo book, from our current stock, has to be Mr. Bonzo Comes To Town published by John Swain & Son Limited. The top half of the front cover shows Bonzo charging towards a cat, the lower half shows that the cat has stood its ground and Bonzo is sauntering away. The expressions of both Bonzo and the cat are perfect. On Bonzo's face we have excitement and then feigned disinterest and on the cat's we have a glare which says 'don't you dare'. I notice Bonzo's lead is trailing behind indicating that he has escaped from his owner!

I also love the picture inside entitled 'I had a great time' from the story about Bonzo finding the cocktail cabinet. He hadn't been invited to the party upstairs but the two pekingese dogs owned by his mistress had (their delightful names by the way were Hip Fat Foo and Wang-What-Ho) so he helped himself to a few drinks to get over his disappointment. The expression on his face would indicate that it worked!

Right: 'I had a great time'

I don't think you have to be a dog lover to enjoy Bonzo's adventures, or to be captivated by his smile - it just so happens that I am.

Additional information gleaned from bonzo.me.uk and wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonzo-the-dog

Contributed by Lorna

(Published 15th Sep 2014)