Bus Driver to Cabby
Phil May
28 June 1899
Punch
Bus Driver (to Cabby, who is trying to lash his horse into something like a trot). "WOT'S THE MATTER WITH 'IM, WILLUM? 'E DON'T SEEM 'ISSELF THIS MORNIN'. I BELIEVE YOU'VE BIN AN' CHANGED 'IS MILK!" [To the amusement of his smartly-dressed passengers and a loitering newspaper-boy, the driver of a horse-drawn omnibus engages in some repartee with a scruffy East End cabby. A "Bobby" at the roadside keeps a sharp look-out for trouble. The cartoon is a absolute masterpiece of movement — look at the cabby's whip — and social comment, though the joke is a bit lost on us today.]
Scanned image and text by Jacqueline Banerjee, with thanks to the Cecil Hotel, Simla.