1-150-630 - The Cartoon Collector/Heritage-Images

'Fire and Smoke', 1871. A Mephistophelean French communist points the way with his petrol bomb as he urges the British workman to fight with him in the cause. This relates to the short-lived, but bloody rule of the Commune in France after the end of the war with Prussia. The devilish appearance of the Frenchman is in direct contrast to the clean and sober appearance of his British counterpart. Surrounded by his family, with a plump and sober wife, he enjoys the comforts of his home and the pleasure of a clay pipe after his hours at work. That he is hard working is apparent from the size of the joint that his wife is storing away in the larder and the clean, well-fed appearance of his healthy children. This is the epitome of the British working-class ideal. From Punch, or the London Charivari, July 8, 1871.