THE CHALMERS

In (or round about) January 1963, Frank was commissioned by the National Coal Board to draw a series of strips to promote solid fuel central heating. The strip-cartoon idea came from NCB’s advertising agents Ogilvy & Mather. Whether O&M provided the title or ‘The Chalmers’ was Frank’s suggestion, isn’t known.

The Chalmers are a lower-middle class family of eight. Dad is a coal miner, Mum stays at home, eldest son George is married to Stella and they have a new baby, the daughter Dawn works for an interior design company and has her own flat. Schoolboy Fred is academically bright and lives at home. There’s also a bed-ridden Granny. Frank, who loved to draw from life, used his father Robert (Pop) Hampson and neighbours as models.

A total of 25 strips were drawn, far too many for the budget available to run them. But Hampson, still a brilliant draughtsman, crammed fabulous detail into the tiny spaces. He also tried to make The Chalmers sound natural, despite the sales spiel he had to put over.

The ads, seen only in Scotland, began in the Daily Record on 13th June 1963. The last one I can find ran in the Sunday Citizen on 5th January 1964. I contacted the Advertising Archives to see if any original art had survived. They had none, nor any ‘fine’ proofs which would have shown the strips as they deserved to be seen.

N.B. The frames for each strip were originally presented in a single row but they have been split onto two rows each for web publication.