The Broons

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The Broons
Author(s) Dudley D. Watkins
Peter Davidson
Current status / schedule Weekly, The Sunday Post
Launch date 8 March 1936
Publisher(s) D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd
Genre(s) Humour

The Broons is a comic strip within The Sunday Post newspaper, which is published by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. It features the Broon (Brown in Standard English) family, who live in a tenement flat at 10 Glebe Street, in the fictional Scottish town of Auchentogle or Auchenshoogle, an amalgam of Dundee and Glasgow. Originally created and drawn by Dudley D. Watkins, the strip made its first appearance in the issue dated 8 March 1936.

Since its inception The Broons have had their own biennial, alternating each year with Oor Wullie. No annuals were published during 1943, 1944, 1945 and 1946 due to paper rationing in World War II.

Contents

[edit] Characters

The Family Members include:

  • Maw Broon - the mother of the 8 youngest Broons. She has to run every aspect of the household and keep Paw in line. Her first name was once used when her brother came to visit, he burst into No10 addressing her "Maggie...", looking for money for his taxi fare. The name Maggie has now been confirmed in "Maw Broon,s Cookbook" published in 2007.
  • Paw Broon - a working stiff who just tries to keep enough back for a bit of 'baccy' (tobacco) and a bet on the horses. In a flashback to his youth, Paw was seen with his immediate family before he and Maw were married. His mother, Granmaw, was seen as well as his sister Daphne and brother Joseph. As Granpaw is a widower, and Aunt Daphne and Uncle Joseph are never seen, it is probable that they are deceased. Paw has named two of his children after his siblings, his oldest daughter Daphne, and his third son Joe. With his combover hairstyle and walrus moustache, his appearance was supposedly based on A.C. "Archie" Brown, the chief editor of D.C. Thomson at the time The Broons originated.
  • Granpaw Broon - Paw's widowed father, he lives in his own house and spends most of his time sitting on a park bench with his 'cronies' (friends). Shares Paw's preoccupation with having an ample supply of tobacco. Granpaw was a slightly later addition, not appearing in the earliest strips. A first name is not given for the character, although it begins with a "J". As Maw's name is "Maggie" it is possible that Granpaw is named "Joe". In some of the earlier strips, the family had a picture of Granpaw on their wall, which could do certain actions, such as wagging its finger at the children. It was revealed in "Maw Broon's Cookbook" that his late wife was named "Jeannie", a Scottish variation of "Jean" or "Jenny" that was once very popular. Granmaw was only seen once in 1937, during a flashback of Maw and Paw's courting days.
  • Daphne Broon - The somewhat dowdy daughter who is always playing second fiddle to her beautiful sister Maggie on double dates. Every few years she has a stroke of luck when the double dates get mixed up and she gets Maggie's man, who is understandably more impressive than any of Daphne's own boyfriends. At least once a year Daphne tries to go on a diet but fails to lose any weight. She is often mocked by Hen and Joe about her diets, although their taunts are intentionally harmless. Daphne is a skilled dressmaker but has a penchant for flamboyant hats.
  • Hen (Henry) Broon - the lanky, awkward son and firstborn child of Maw and Paw. About 30 years old and an average guy who rarely gets the girl. He is often taken advantage of for his height, for example being made to act as a clothes stand to keep the washing line up. Early Broon cartoons featured Hen wearing a zoot suit. He is a Rangers supporter. Hen is aspirational, for example every couple of years or so he buys a car. Such purchases, however, always end in failure.
  • Joe Broon - a regular guy, usually noted for his strength and love of boxing. Joe is something of a ladies' man, and can sometimes be seen sharing a bitter rivalry with Hen over a beautiful woman, with Joe winning. Hen envies Joe's luck with the girls, and the twins see him as a role model Joe is also a fan of Glagow Celtic FC.Celtic_FC
  • Maggie (Margaret) Broon - the beautiful, glamorous daughter with blonde hair. She has a steady stream of beaux and is bitterly envied by the plain Daphne. In the later editions, Maggie became a model. Despite their rivalry, Daphne and Maggie share a close bond; Maggie even stands up for Daphne when she is taunted. In earlier times, was called Sadie.
  • Horace Broon - a bookish schoolboy forever trying to learn poetry by rote amidst the chaos of a do-it-yourself chimney-sweeping mishap or other domestic turmoil. He likes to think of himself as a role model to the twins, but recent times have shown him aspiring to be like Joe.
  • The Twins (one is called Eck (short for Alexander), and they are always referred to collectively, with few exceptions having Granpaw calling them: "ae' twin" and "the ither twin") - rambunctious youngsters usually adding to the chaos with a fistfight or a good game of cowboys and Indians.
  • The Bairn - The youngest of the family at four or three years of age. She is basically a smaller version of Maw, she is getting in her practice of indignant moral pronouncements and pointing out the foolishness of the male Broons. She and Granpaw are deeply close.

During the 1970s stories drawn by Tom Lavery, another character named Dave MacKay was regularly featured. Dave was Maggie's long-term boyfriend and was often implied to be engaged to her. His parents were upper-class, much to the chagrin of Paw and Maw. Maggie's character also changed during this time, becoming more posh (and, unlike the rest of the Broons, spoke English instead of Scots). When Peter Davidson took over from Lavery, the character was dropped.

[edit] Storylines

Most of the humour derives from the timeless themes of the 'generation gap', stretching the money as far as possible, and the constant struggle for each family member to live in a very small flat with 9 other Broons. In the end the family is always together through it all, getting through life with a gentle good humour as they argue amongst themselves. Another staple of the series is misunderstanding: inevitably the Bairn or the Twins mishear something Granpaw or another family member says, and the whole family act on it until the truth is revealed in the final panel. An example is where the Bairn overhears Maggie talking about her latest beau, and reports to the rest of the family that she heard Maggie say he was half-French and half-Polish. When Maggie says she's bringing him to tea, Hen runs out to buy French wine, Horace swots up on his Polish dictionary, etc. Finally they meet the fellow, who greets the family in broad Scots. It turns out he's a french-polisher - "polish" being pronounced the same as "Polish" in Scots.

[edit] The Annuals

The annuals alternated years with Oor Wullie (Standard English : Our Willie). Books pre-1965 were not dated. After that they had a copyright date with annuals normally published in Autumn. The early editions of The Broons annual are highly sought-after collectors' items, fetching in excess of four-figure sums at auction. A facsimile of the very first Broons annual was released on 25 November 2006. [1]

Details on undated annuals for recognition, with prices in shillings and (old) pence. One shilling is equal to 5p.

  • 1939. Faces of entire Broon family with their names below each picture. No tartan surround. 1/6
  • 1941. Side views of Ma and Pa Broon surrounded by small images of other Broons.
  • No annuals 1943-1945 due to war paper shortage.
  • 1947. Ma delivering tray of food to Pa who is sitting in chair. Small images of other Broons surround them.
  • 1949. All eleven members of the Broon family standing together, all dressed up. The bairn on right waving.
  • 1951. Broons seated around dinner table smiling at reader. No tartan surround. Price 3/-
  • 1953. Tartan cover. Ma and Pa Broon dancing in centre with others standing around them clapping while one plays an accordion and the twins dance. Price 4/-
  • 1955. No tartan surround. Broons standing in front of large window with Glebe Street sign below them. Price 4/-
  • 1957. Tartan cover. The Broons playing board games on table and on floor. 5/-
  • 1959. Tartan cover. The Broons at dinner table. Calendar reads Jan 25th. Price 5/-
  • 1961. Tartan cover. Broons at home with two boys on floor playing board game. Man shaving. Two women, one with mixing bowl, another with child on her lap. Price 5/-
  • 1963. Tartan cover. Broon family perched on mountain top and waving. Price 5/-

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • All the characters speak in the broad Scots vernacular, of a slightly antiquated, Dundonian style.
  • Some suppose that the 'Glebe Street' the Broons live in is actually in Glasgow. However, the dialect used (e.g. 'ken' meaning 'know') unquestionably places them in D.C. Thomson's home town of Dundee. Even so, the current writer said in a BBC Scotland documentary aired in 2005 that despite their Dundonian roots, the home town was always meant to represent Glasgow. There are some stories which suggest this to be the case. (Such as trips to the Glasgow Empire Exhibition and Garden Festival, implied to be local events, as well as a man referring to "The Broons from Glesgow" (sic) in one early strip. This is at odds with some of the scripts where you can see a No32 bus with the sign for Fintry (an area of Dundee) and mentions of the "Fifey" a small boat that was used to ferry passengers between Dundee and Fife right up to the mid 70's. Additionally, the closing strip of The Broons (and Oor Wullie) annuals depict Hogmanay celebrations, at which Watkins chose to show a decorated herring being carried by first-footers. This is a resoundingly east coast tradition, emanating from the fishing communities.[1] Given that the home of the Sunday Post is Dundee, and that Watkins lived in Broughty Ferry, the logic of Glasgow as a locale for the strips seems weaker than the claims for Dundee.
  • The Broons live in roughly the same area as Oor Wullie. They occasionally feature in Wullie's strips, and Wullie's adversary P.C. Murdoch has appeared in The Broons. Wullie and his pals can be seen ogling Maggie as she walks through the town.
  • Despite their humble background, The Broons own a 'But an' Ben', a small cottage in the countryside.
  • Watkins drew the strip from his Broughty Ferry home until his death in 1969. Peter Davidson is the current artist, succeeding Ken H. Harrison (This is actually Davidson's second stint as artist, the first being in the early 1980s), BBC Radio Scotland presenter Tom Morton is the current scriptwriter.
  • For five years after Watkins' death, D.C. Thomson recycled old strips in the newspaper and annuals, fearing no adequate replacement could be found to match Watkins' unique style. In these repeated strips, some particularly broad dialect words were replaced (e.g. 'ahent' became 'behind') and the pre-decimal coinage was updated. Watkins was eventually succeeded in the mid-1970s by Tom Lavery.
  • Broadcaster Muriel Gray appeared as herself in a strip where she met the family while mountaineering.
  • The elder male Broons have had varied military careers as the stories have progressed. In early strips Paw Broon was a veteran of the First World War and Granpa of the Boer War. During WW2 both Hen and Joe were depicted as infantry NCOs. As time has progressed, this aspect of the characters' biographies has, through necessity, changed. For example, Granpaw Broon became the age of a WW1 veteran with Paw becoming a WW2 veteran etc. This is one of the few examples of the Broon's life accurately keeping abreast with the times.
  • The Broons transferred to colour in 1992 as part of The Sunday's Post move to colour but was reverted to black and white in 1994 after popular demand.
  • A jigsaw containing 400 pieces was issued in 1943, price one shilling and ten pence halfpenny with tax. It showed the Broons at home sitting in their large living room and was fourteen inches by nineteen inches when completed.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links and References

  • That's Braw!, a fan-site dedicated to Oor Wullie and The Broons.
  1. ^ Hogmanay Traditions
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