Pip, Squeak and Wilfred

Pip, Squeak and Wilfred was a long-running British newspaper strip cartoon published in the Daily Mirror from 1919 to 1956, as well as the Sunday Pictorial in the early years. It was conceived by Bertram Lamb, who took the role of Uncle Dick, signing himself (B.J.L.) in an early book, and was drawn until c.1939 by Austin Bowen Payne who always signed as A.B. Payne. It concerned the adventures of an orphaned family of animals. Pip, who assumed the father role, was a dog, while the Mother, Squeak, was a penguin. Wilfred was the young child and was a rabbit with very long ears.

Character beginnings

The origins of the characters are mentioned in the cartoon strips as Squeak being found in London Zoological Gardens after having been hatched on the South African coast years before. Pip was discovered begging by a policeman on the Embankment, and was sent to a dogs' home, where he was bought for half-a-crown. Wilfred was found in a field near to his burrow and was adopted by Pip and Squeak, who were in turn looked after by Uncle Dick and Angeline, the housemaid of their family house on the edge of London.

The WLOG fanclub

In 1927, the Pip, Squeak and Wilfred club began. It was named the Wilfredian League of Gugnuncs (WLOG) and organised many competitions and events for the thousands of members, especially at the British South Coast Seaside resorts. Gugnuncs is a combination of 2 baby-talk words used by Wilfred, who as a toddler-aged child cannot speak yet. Nunc being his version of Uncle. There was a WLOG member's badge in blue enamelled metal, featuring the long ears of Wilfred. Among the WLOG rules was one to never eat rabbit.

Cartoon films

A series of silent animated cartoons were produced in 1921 by Lancelot Speed. They were entitled "The Wonderful Adventures of Pip, Squeak & Wilfred". 25 were made & were shown from 17 February 1921 to 11 August 1921. Titles included 'Pip And Wilfred Detectives', 'Over The Edge Of The World', 'The Six-Armed Image', 'The Castaways', 'Ups And Downs', 'Popski's Early Life', 'Wilfred's Nightmare', 'Wilfred's Wonderful Adventures' and 'Trouble In The Nursery. None appears to be currently available in any format.

Annuals

An early book was Pip, Squeak & Wilfred, Their "Luvly" Adventures, issued in 1921 by Stanley Paul & Co, London. This book recapped on the earliest Daily Mirror strips, showing how they were introduced. Luvly being one of Squeak's favourite words.

Pip and Squeak Annuals appeared each year from 1922, dated as the 1923 to 1939 annuals, and a separate Wilfred's Annual as dated 1924 to 1938, featuring stories more aimed at under-10 year olds. The 1934 Pip & Squeak Annual featured a 'magic red frame' which allowed you to see hidden pictures on several pages. The 1934 Wilfred's Annual similarly featured a Pantomime cut-out insert. The final 1939 Pip & Squeak annual incorporated the Wilfred's Annual which had ended the previous year, and is the rarest of the series due to low sales and poor quality paper being used. No 1940 annual was issued.

The annuals continued the 1920s type fairyland surrealism in their pages until the last annual, by which time other more popular annuals such as Bobby Bear and Teddy Tail were more contemporary, leaving this series appearing rather dated in comparison, meaning later years of Pip and Squeak annual and especially Wilfred's annual sold in smaller quantities.

There were 3 Uncle Dick's Annuals issued from 1929 to 1931, dated as the 1930 to 1932 annuals, the first one being fully named 'Uncle Dick's Competition Annual'. These annuals were aimed more at boys, with action stories and very little Pip & Squeak content. As their title suggests, the books were in an elaborate competition format where you had to solve quizzes, paint in pictures and similar to win prizes.

A short-lived revived Pip, Squeak & Wilfred annual was issued from c.1953-1955 as the characters had been revived in the Daily Mirror a few years before. This featured the characters updated and now drawn by a new uncredited artist. A newly bow-tied Wilfred & a younger Auntie, both previously only saying the odd nonsensical word, now speak fully, losing the innocence and surreal charm of the pre-war years, to fit the 1950s better. Stanley, a young penguin, became a regular character, having been introduced in the later 1930s annuals. The annual featured stories with the characters as well as cartoon strips, as well as other non-related stories.

A small paperback comic book from the early 1920s, Adventures of Pip Squeak & Wilfred was published in the 'Merry Miniatures' series by Home Publicity of London and was just 1.5" x 3" in size.

Newspaper supplements

The Daily Mirror featured a Saturday 4-page pull-out comic supplement, starting on Saturday, October 15, 1921, which was titled The Adventures of Pip, Squeak and Wilfred : No 1 - Thrills in the Printing Works. Later editions reduced to 3 pages on 25 March 1922, then to 2 pages on 8 July 1922 until the supplement ended c1924.

The popularity of Pip, Squeak & Wilfred was immense; the 16 December 1922 edition of the Daily Mirror reports 100,000 copies of the 1923 Pip and Squeak Annual had been sold.

Pip, Squeak & Wilfred used in war medal terminology

After the First World War 1914-18, three medals were awarded to most of the British servicemen that had served from 1914 or 1915. They were the 1914 Star (commonly referred to as the Mons Star) or the 1914-15 Star; the British War Medal; and the British Victory Medal. They were irreverently referred to as Pip, Squeak, and Wilfred and are still so today.

• 

  The Mons Star
• 

  The British War Medal
• 

  British Victory Medal

RAF aircraft

After World War I the Royal Air Force named its three Blackburn Kangaroo training aircraft Pip, Squeak, and Wilfred.

Operation Wilfred

This was the name coined by Churchill, and inspired by the comic series, for the operation in 1940 during the Phoney War to mine the waters off the Norwegian coast in an attempt to restrict the supply of iron ore from Sweden to Germany. In The Gathering Storm, Churchill explains that the operation was called Operation Wilfred because it was so small.

References

• Daily Mirror Newspaper Saturday Editions 15 October 1921 - 8 September 1923
• Pip, Squeak & Wilfred, Their "Luvly" Adventures (1921) Stanley Paul & Co, London
• Pip and Squeak Annuals 1923-1939
• Wilfred's Annual 1924-1938
• Uncle Dick's (Competition) Annual 1930-1932
• Cartoons Details