Man Humour for Father’s Day

How do you seduce a most attractive ‘beaut’ in a one-piece bathing suit? And how do you lure a mermaid on to the beach at Margate? For the answers, take up our two-for-one Father’s Day offer and follow the page references.

Amuse the man in your house with a bit of retro. humour. The ‘beaut’ in a one-piece bathing suit is The Siren in a shamelessly punning set of verses by Harry Graham (1874-1936), master of the ruthless rhyme. The gentleman trying to attract a mermaid at Margate springs from the fertile imagination of his contemporary Heath Robinson (1872-1944). Both Graham and Robinson will raise a chortle or a full-blooded guffaw from any unreconstructed male.

Gifts for Father’s Day

Father’s Day 2018 falls on Sunday 17th June. This week only, if you order a copy of Very Heath Robinson by Adam Hart-Davis, we’ll send you a complimentary copy of When Grandmama Fell Off The Boat by Harry Graham. The first book has more than 350 illustrations by the man Philip Pullman christens the Grand High Celestial Mechanic of Absurdity. It has a whole section on the Finer Points of Courtship and Romance, including how to win back your wife’s heart on St Valentine’s Day, how to conduct secret liaisons and how to attract mermaids. The picture of the merman comes from page 69 of Very Heath Robinson.

The second book we offer you for Father’s Day is the official anthology of Harry Graham’s humorous verse authorized by his daughter Virginia and illustrated with delightful period drawings by Fish, Fougasse and Ridgewell. Here is a taste:

‘One evening, as I doffed my socks,
I noticed here upon the rocks
A maiden with peroxide locks
Who sat and watched me stripping.
She wore a wore a one-piece bathing-suit
And was a most attractive “beaut”,
And when she said: “Hullo, old fruit!”
I felt that I was slipping.
And when she giggled rather sweetly
I knew that I had fall’n completely!’

This is from page 30 of When Grandmama Fell Off The Boat by Harry Graham.

Two books for the price of one
Order Very Heath Robinson at £40.00 here and we’ll send you a free copy of When Grandmama Fell Off The Boat worth £9.95. Postage and packing are on us. Please order by Thursday 14th June to be sure of receiving your books in time for Father’s Day, which is on Sunday 17th June.