The 103 year old politically-incorrect cartoon character that spent most of his life advertising the bracing air of Skegness and promoting it as an ideal railway holiday destination.
As this morbidly obese, pipe smoking, wellington boots and woolly jumper wearing fisherman galloped along the Skegness coastline, his gait always suggested that insanity walked alongside him in every step.
He’s called the ‘Jolly Fisherman’ because 100 years ago Britain still had a large and growing fishing industry. Nowadays of course, British sea fishermen (jolly or otherwise) are as rare a sighting as ‘The Loch Ness Monster’. Therefore one is hardly likely to see one pacing up and down any English seafront.
Nevertheless, this doesn’t stop Skegness Town Council from not only owning the original poster but from including this ‘blast from the past’ on all their 21st century publicity material. Which would be like Hastings Borough Council using a cartoon King Harold with an arrow lodged painfully deep into his eye socket to promote the ideal children’s day out on the beach.
Sadly the Kent born artist who created and illustrated the Skegness ‘Jolly Fisherman’ is no longer with us, as indeed was any cash found in his pocket when he died. In fact he was absolutely broke! Stoney Flint! Skint!
At the time of his death, and despite having created one of the most famous British railway posters and holiday destination cartoon characters of all time, he was about as far away from any sign of cash as a church mouse having just used an acetylene blow-torch to force its way into the vestry safe.
