This cheeky cartoon appeared in the Hamilton Advertiser in December 1967. Now, I need to put it in context first.

The previous week, the Advertiser ran a story about the McGuire Twin Brothers who had left Blantyre in 1952 for Canada and had since taken up jobs as scuba divers. Their lifestyle was a far cry from the streets of Blantyre and their self employed job often had a dangerous side, getting into the water beside sharks, dangerous fish and the like. Reporters ran the story about the McGuire Brothers once having to “tangle with Octopuses”, a story which clearly caught the imagination of people back home in Lanarkshire.

The following week, a local resident drew this tongue in cheek cartoon, showing two women having a natter in a Blantyre kitchen. The cartoon was tucked away in the corner of the paper but was worthy of a smile or two. The newspaper headline she’s reading says, “Blantyre Lads tangle with Octopuses” below which appeared the following caption:

“I know how they must feel. Last Saturday night, I was at the Miners Welfare and had to do the same thing!”