They told me I should enjoy myself

McGill has drawn many cards of drinking and drunks. There are also a few about the morning after ... this is one of them.

The first version of this card was published as ES 3132. The card has not been posted so there is no date on it, however it probably dates from 1907 or 1908. (Thanks to David White for sending me this card which is an earlier version than the ones I had !)

E.S. 3132

Hutson Bros. reprinted this card as No. HB 637 which was printed in Holland. Again there is no date on it, but most McGill HB cards were published between 1908 and 1912. 

This card mentions an 'exhibition' which does help to date it more precisely. The most likely event is the Franco-British Exhibition held in London between 14th May and 31st October 1908 as a celebration of the Entente Cordiale signed in 1904 between France and Britain.

HB 637
No postmark

Another version of HB 637 exists which looks like it may have been printed specifically for Douglas on the Isle of Man but uses part of the ES version caption.

HB 637
Postmarked 1908

Another version of this card was published by Hutson Bros. but this time without a number, and a different caption. This one is postmarked 1908.

This HB version has then been copied and published by an unidentified publisher. The card has no signature but was 'Printed in Germany' which dates it as pre-1914. The caption has been changed which makes it much more generic. I have two copies of this card, one has 'Made in Germany' on the reverse and the other has a number as well as 'Printed in Germany'. I have other examples of HB cards being 'copied' by this mystery printer/publisher.

Unknown publisher, No. Series 3097
Postmarked 1914

McGill obviously liked the idea of this image and drew a variation of it in 1911 for Joseph Asher & Co. but this time it mentions the 'Coronation' instead on the 'Exhibition'. The Coronation would have been that of King George V which took place on 22nd June 1911. As can be seen this card is very similar to the other image, the basic structural elements are there but with a few details changed. 

Joseph Asher & Co., No. 701
Postmarked 1911