The Giles family is a fictional

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

family created by cartoonist

Carl Giles Ronald "Carl" Giles OBE (29 September 1916 – 27 August 1995), often referred to simply as Giles, was a cartoonist who worked for the British newspaper the '' Daily Express''. His cartoon style was a single topical highly detailed panel, usu ...

at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, appearing first on 5 August 1945. Much of Giles's World War II work had been cartoons featuring

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

, Benito Mussolini and the typical British

Tommy Tommy may refer to: People * Tommy (given name) * Tommy Atkins, or just Tommy, a slang term for a common soldier in the British Army Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tommy'' (1931 film), a Soviet drama film * ''Tommy'' (1975 fil ...

, but he felt the need to expand after the War, hence the family. The format was a single-panel cartoon, published daily in the '' Daily Express'' and '' Sunday Express'' newspapers from 1945 until 1991. An annual collection was published each Christmas.

Characterisation

The family belongs to the better-off British

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colo ...

and is usually seen living in a semi-detached house. The scenes in which they are depicted usually comment on a topic headlining the news of the day. The Giles family is patriotic but suspicious of authority. The ages of the family members remained the same throughout the 46-year run of the cartoon series, but their home, their hobbies and their dress reflected the changing British fashions and standard of living. The Giles family consists of the following: * Grandma, the most distinctive character of the series. Always present but rarely given a direct voice. She is the ultimate head of the family (despite what Father may think). She is seen using such things as

ski A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partia ...

s, a

motorbike A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruisin ...

, a

hang glider Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised foot-launched heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame cover ...

, a

Sinclair C5 The Sinclair C5 is a small one-person battery electric recumbent tricycle, technically an "electrically assisted pedal cycle". It was the culmination of Sir Clive Sinclair's long-running interest in electric vehicles. Although widely described ...

, and playing the

tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

. A proper

battle-axe A battle axe (also battle-axe, battle ax, or battle-ax) is an axe specifically designed for combat. Battle axes were specialized versions of utility axes. Many were suitable for use in one hand, while others were larger and were deployed two-h ...

of a woman, who is crossed at one's peril. * Father, Grandma's son. A mild and philosophical character. Still deludedly regards himself as the head of the family. He works, but it's never revealed where. He is passionate about boats, football, racing, fishing, betting, and hiding from the younger, louder family members. Would do anything for a quiet life and is often seen lounging in the garden. * Mother, Organises everyone else and cheerfully tackles endless housework and mountains of cooking for the extended Giles family. * George, Mother and Father's elder son, is an avid reader and is very rarely seen without a book in his hands. Smokes a Sherlock Holmes style pipe and wears a beret and sandals. Absent in later cartoons. He is married to the skinny bespectacled Vera who constantly suffers from a cold. They have one baby son, George Jr. * Ann, the eldest daughter, and her babies, the twins, Lawrence and Ralph. The twins' absent father is a

G.I. G.I. are initials used to describe the soldiers of the United States Army and airmen of the United States Air Force and general items of their equipment. The term G.I. has been used as an initialism of "Government Issue", "General Issue", or " ...

* Carol, blonde daughter, always seen lounging about reading magazines. * Ernie, the younger son. A smaller version of Father in looks and attitude, but with a child's cheekiness. * Bridget, the youngest daughter. Wears a

gymslip A gymslip is a sleeveless tunic with a pleated skirt most commonly seen as part of a school uniform for girls. The term "gymslip" primarily refers to the school uniform; otherwise the term pinafore dress (British English) or jumper dress (Americ ...

and has never been in any trouble because she never gets caught. * Grandma's Parrot, called Attila the Hun. * Butch the dog, a shaggy

Airedale terrier The Airedale Terrier (often shortened to "Airedale"), also called Bingley Terrier and Waterside Terrier, is a dog breed of the terrier type that originated in the valley (''dale'') of the River Aire, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. It ...

. * Second dog, a

Border collie The Border Collie is a Scottish breed of herding dog of medium size. Widely considered to be the most intelligent dog breed, they are descended from landrace sheepdogs once found all over the British Isles, but became standardised in the Ang ...

. * Natalie, a black cat. * Larry (aka "Stinker"), the mop-haired kid from next door. When not up to mischief he can be seen with a camera recording the mischief or embarrassing situations involving others. * Chalkie the schoolmaster, a humourless walking skeleton of a man. Modelled on one of Giles's own teachers. * Vera, perpetually ill.

Cultural legacy

There is a statue of Grandma in Queen Street in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

, England where she stands looking up at the newspaper office window where Carl Giles used to work. Grandma made a cameo appearance in

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

' '' Superman: True Brit'' and

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including '' Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', '' The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and '' From He ...

's '' League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier''. The appearance of Mrs. Henriot-Gulch in the comic ''

Cerebus ''Cerebus'' (; also ''Cerebus the Aardvark'') is a comic book series created by Canadian cartoonist Dave Sim, which ran from December 1977 until March 2004. The title character of the 300-issue series is an anthropomorphic aardvark who takes on ...

'' is closely based on Grandma. In the 1980s the family appeared in television cartoon advertisements for Lyons Quick Brew tea, one of which included Grandma racing around on her motorbike.

References

Sources

Carl Giles Biography
British Cartoon Archive, University of Kent. Accessed April 2008.

External links

(Not working 28.08.2012)
Giles cartoon database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giles Family British comic strips Comics characters introduced in 1945 1945 comics debuts 1991 comics endings British comics characters Fictional families Comics about married people Gag-a-day comics Gag cartoon comics Comics set in the United Kingdom Daily Express