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. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

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, usuall ...

at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

and the typical British

Tommy Tommy may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tommy (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Tommy Atkins, or just Tommy, a slang term for a common soldier in the British Army * Tommy Giacomelli (born 1974), Brazilian fo ...

, 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 The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

'' and ''

Sunday Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet ...

'' 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 is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

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 Skis are runners, attached to the user's feet, designed to glide over snow. Typically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partially secured heel. For climbing slopes, ski skins c ...

s, a

motorbike A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle steered by a handlebar from a saddle-style seat. Motorcycle designs var ...

, a

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

, a

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

, and playing the

tuba The tuba (; ) is the largest and lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece (brass), mouthpiece. It first appeared in th ...

. A proper

battle-axe A battle axe (also battle-axe, battle ax, or battle-ax) is an axe (tool), axe specifically designed for combat. Battle axes were designed differently to utility axes, with blades more akin to cleavers than to wood axes. Many were suitable for u ...

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. is an informal term that refers to "a soldier in the United States armed forces, especially the army". It is most deeply associated with World War II, but continues to see use. It was originally an initialism used in U.S. Army paperwork f ...

* 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 (Ameri ...

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 British list of dog breeds, breed of herding dog of the collie type of medium size. It originates in the region of the Anglo-Scottish border, and descends from the traditional Sheep dog, sheepdogs once found all over the ...

. * 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 status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

, 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 (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

' '' 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 (comic book), ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman: The Killing Joke' ...

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