Confusion Collection

Irish Drunk Pat and his drinking logic
Tourist - " I say Pat, why do you always take beer and whiskey Mixed?" Pat - " Shure, yer Anner, if oi dhrink beer oi get full before oi m dhrunk

Drunk Stockbroker - confused by toilet roll
Drunk Stockbroker - confused by a toilet roll, which he takes to be the ticker tape! (which would have provided him with the latest market prices). Date: circa 1910s

(The Morning After of a Faun) Le Lendemain d un Faune (or, What an Afternoon ) - The Great success of the new ballet L Apres-Midi d un Faune in which the faun, failing to abduct the nymph herself

The Man Who Broke The Tube by H M Bateman, a man who does not heed the instructions on the glue. He brakes the tube, glues himself to the table, then his wife

Maps / Americas 1540
Map showing the discoveries by explorers during the first half-century after Columbus : note the confusion of India, Japan (Zipangri) and China (Cathay), & the Hesperides

Play / Feydeau / Flea in Ear
Translated as The Flea in the Ear, this farcial confusion was written by the French novelist Ernest Aimee Feydeau

Comic postcard, Two women chatting in the street Date: 20th century

Comic postcard, Chauffeur and seaside landlady Date: 20th century

Drunk young man unable to find the right (real!) keyhole
Italian comic postcard - a young man (rather worse for wear) returns home after a posh (yet boozy) night out only to be befuddled by his less-than-pleased (but pretty cunning) wife

Egyptian tomb discovery
Sectional view of a discovered shaft and tomb at Giza. It was the tomb from the Seneferu's period. It lead to confusion at it was older than Cheops

Frustrating an Attempt to Disorganise London
Sixth column strategy: Disguised as Gothic pinnacles the famous clock, Big Ben is being altered by an odd contraption, to confuse the general public. Date: 1940

Comic postcard, Men chatting in train compartment Date: 20th century

Comic postcard, Two drunkards on a train Date: 20th century

Comic postcard, air raid in the night, WW2 - Jerrys over! Date: 1940s

A cart race in an English town with an accident in the foreground with passengers thrown on the street. Handcoloured copperplate engraving designed

On this occasion there was the usual confusion, illustration by Percy Horton for Labour Weekly. 1925

Comic Postcard - Don t get pinched for following the fashions. A Policeman fails to agree with the sartorial bravery of a chap who has decided to launch out in his underwear (long johns)

Royal Air Force Douglas Boston III with rockets
Royal Air Force Douglas DB-7B Boston III with rockets. Much confusion surrounds the Havoc / Boston / A-20 names and designations. The RAF and Commonwealth designations were: Boston I & II Date: 1942

Laird LCRW-450 - not much seems to be known about this beauty. I think, understandably that confusion reigned over the Laird system of aircraft designations. Date: circa 1935

Plaque to Royal Military Police, Bayeux Museum Grounds
Before D-Day the Police had to control the assembly areas for the troops waiting to cross the Channel and afterwards, in the confusion of the landings

Confusion at Plane-Park
Car parks can be nightmares, but they are nothing to the confusion that will come when we all go to the shops in our private planes ! Date: 1927

Cartoon satirising German soldiers, WW1
Cartoon satirising German soldiers during the First World War: Goot gracious me! Here kom der 16th Royal Scots. Date: 1914-1915

Female Initiation - 3
A candidate is initiated as a Mistress : blindfolded, she is placed on the Tower of Babel, much to her confusion when the blindfold is removed. Date: 1891

Arrival of cattle at the railway terminus, Euston Square
Chaos on the platform at Euston terminus, due to the arrival of cattle for the Smithfield Cattle Club Show. Date: 1849

An inquisitive Boy poses a puzzler to his Father. " Are we made of Dust Pa?" - " Certainly" - " Well, why don t we turn to mud when we drink?" !! Date: circa 1910s

Telegram mobilising VAD 1914
This telegram, sent to Birchington late in the day on 14 October 1914, was the call to mobilise the local Voluntary Aid Detachments to set up their hospitals

Players cigarettes advertisement by H. M. Bateman
Misunderstood - Marker: " Send up some more PLAYERS please!" Advertisement for Players Navy Cut cigarettes by the great C20th cartoonist H.M

Foxhunters and hounds in pursuit of the fox. Date: 1926

Lady Arabellas Birthday Party -- Lady Arabella, mistaken for Betsy, is put into a cradle in the herdsmans cottage. Date: 1940

WW2 - Comic Postcard - Listening to Winston Churchill
Churchill: " We Shall never stop, never weary, and never give in." Old Lady to her military officer son/Grandson

Woman wearing the trousers
" What material would you like for your trousers, Sir?" " Oh! The same as my Wife s." !! A comment on a strong woman, most definitely wearing the trousers in this relationship

Completely bizarre conversation concerning identification
Completely bizarre conversation between two cabbies concerning identification - at least the participants seem to understand one another. Overheard on a Cab Rank

Two chaps unsure which end of a hairy dog is which
Fido. " Which is is ead and which is is tail, Billie?" " I dunno. Pinch im an see which end of im barks." Date: 1895

Little girl amazed at condition of her Grandfathers book
" Grandpa, didn t you tell me Aesops Fables were written thousands of yers ago?" " Yes, my dear." " My Word! But you have kept the book clean!" Date: 1901

Mistaken translation of saying difficult English surnames Overheard on an Atlantic Liner Colonel Moses R. Hankey - " Theres one thing I kaant understand about your English way of spelling names

Well, Au Reservoir, Monsieur. - Engishman abroad
A Jocular Briton (leaving French Hotel) - " Well, Au Reservoir, Monsieur." Hotel Proprietor - " Tanks!!" Date: 1896

Widow in conversation with a French Count
Mrs Willson-Blobbs (widow of a wealthy pork butcher) - " My Dear Count, when you come to England, you must come and see me at Blobbs Court

A Yorkshireman at the Folies Bergere Show, Paris, France
A Yorkshireman in Paris Mr Watson (thro Leeds) - " Whats this ere Polly Burgesses like?" Date: 1894

Humorous Pharmacy postcard
Young Boy: " Gimme three-pennorth of pills. Chemist: " Anti-bilious?" Young Boy: " No Sir - Fathers bilious!" Date: 1905

The confusion of tongues

On the cards 1918
Rationing was introduced into Britain at the end of World War One, February 1918. Conscience of the response to an effective U-boat campaign, to ensure that food shortages never occurred

General Election: Confusion Worse Confounded
Three bewildered voters read the daily newspaper posters which give rather conflicting views on the status of their preferred political parties

The General Election- The Perplexed Voter
A perplexed voter scratches his head in confusion as two candidates from opposing political parties canvas for his vote

A Ventriloquist at Christies by H. M. Bateman
Double page illustration by H. M. Bateman showing a chaotic scene at London auctioneers, Christies because of the actions of a mischievous ventriloquist

Paris Police / Entertainer
The Paris police arrest a group of gypsey street entertainers and quickly regret their action as chaos ensues

Carriage Causes Chaos
A gentlemans tandem causes chaos and confusion - and a fine display of female leg ! - when it trots along a village street, scattering livestock and upsetting a market cart

Spain Goya War C1808
I Saw This : scene of confusion amongst the Spanish population during the Peninsular War

Explosion at Holbeach
GUY FAWKES The explosion at Holbeach causes chaos

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