- Japhet and Happy
, James Francis Horrabin (1884-1962) who was a British journalist, cartoonist and cartographer, and he was elected Labour Member of Parliament for Peterborough from 1929-1931. He wrote Political books as well as the 'Dot and Carrie' strip for the Star that ran from 1922 to 1964. The Noah Family names are based on religious names, but the cartoon strips have no religious theme.
Characters
The main "Noah Family" characters initially were Japhet, a boy, his brothers Shem & Ham, their parents Mr & Mrs Noah. Selina and Matilda were their cousins who lived with them together with Fido the dog. They all lived in a house on Ararat Avenue in London.
An early-introduced character was an elderly gentleman, Mr Cheery. His adopted son, Tim Tosset featured in the earlier strips but had left by the time Happy was introduced in c1926-27. Happy was a small fat bear that never spoke, unlike other cartoon animals. The human Noah Family characters were styled like wooden puppets without elbow or knee joints. Their styling changed in the early years from very stick-like to the more familiar rounded figures. Later additions included Oswald the tortoise who had a liking for hiding. Jerry was their odd-job handyman who was an ex-sailor & dressed similarly. Adelaide was an Ostrich, Archibald (Archie) was a donkey and Gerald was a goat. Their garden later had a Golobosh Tree brought from a trip visiting the Panjandrum.
The cartoon strips included a whimsical take on everyday life including appearing in a Circus and visiting an imaginary African country 'Andamalumbo' where they met "His Highness the Grand Panjandrum of Andamalumbo, Lord of the Golden Umbrella, Eater of the Purple Goloboshes, and wearer of the Top Hat" (as quoted from the 1933 Annual). The Panjandrum could speak no English, but an invented phrase he used as "Welcome" was "Wamblety Oola". In later stories The Panjandrum and his friend Bom would visit the Noah's in England. Also see
Panjandrum for a later use of thisSamuel Foote invented word, probably influenced by its popularised pre-War usage in the 'Japhet and Happy' strips.The Arkubs
As with other annuals, such as
Teddy Tail with the Teddy Tail League,Pip, Squeak and Wilfred with the WLOG andBobby Bear with the Bobby Bear Club, Japhet and Happy also had a club in the mid 1930s, The Arkubs. The club had a badge, with Happy and AK on it. There were secret codes, hand signs and rules for "The Grand United Order of Arkubs". To join the Arkubs, if you were under 15, you had to collect 12 'Happy' Badges from the 'News Chronicle' and send off three pence. You could also get a 'Japhet and Happy' breakfast set of a cup, saucer, plate and egg cup by enrolling 6 new members.Annuals
The first book published containing their stories was the 1920 Cassell & Co "Some Adventures of the Noah Family including Japhet". Later annuals followed with non-annual type titles in 1926 "About Japhet & The Rest Of The Noah Family"; 1927 "Japhet & Co. Including Happy"; 1928 "Japhet & The Arkubs"; 1929 "Japhet & The Arkubs At Sea"; 1930 "Japhet & Co. On Arkub Island". 1931 & 1932 had the Japhet & Happy Book and the yearly dated "Japhet and Happy Annual" appeared from 1933 to 1940 featured newspaper reprints and added stories. They reappeared after the war from 1946 to circa 1951 again as undated annuals. For book collectors, the annuals 1926 to 1934 were of a smaller size than the later ones.
References
* Some Adventures Of The Noah Family Including Japhet, 1920, "Cassell & Co."
* About Japhet & The Rest Of The Noah Family, 1926, "Fleetgate Publications"
* Japhet & Co. Including Happy, 1927, "Fleetgate Publications"
* Japhet & The Arkubs, 1928, "Daily News Publications"
* Japhet & The Arkubs At Sea, 1929, "Daily News Publications"
* Japhet & Co. On Arkub Island, 1930 "Daily News Publications"
* Japhet & Happy Book 1931-1932, "News Chronicle Publications"
* Japhet & Happy Annual 1933-1940, "News Chronicle Publications"
* [http://www.fulltable.com/VTS/aoi/h/hor/h.htm J.R. Horrabin]
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