Merry and Bright. London: Fleetway House [Amalgamated Press]. No. 274. 15 January 1916.
The title of this comic (commencing 1910) was probably borrowed from the popular Edwardian song “My Motter”, sung in the musical comedy The Arcadians (1909), a line of which runs, “I’ve got a motter: always be merry and bright”. In 1916, Merry and Bright had a series of front-page comic strips presenting the idiosyncratic antics of popular music hall comedians of the day, most of them drawn by Alex Akerbladh, including Little Tich (Harry Relph, complete with wooden “big boots”), George Robey (“the Prime Minister of mirth”), and Harry Tate (“He’s a nice chap – I don’t think!”). Little Tich starred intermittently in this comic from 1916 to 1922. See also D17–D19.
