Colonel Blimp Colonel Blimp Colonel Blimp is a British cartoon character by cartoonist David Low, first drawn for Lord Beaverbrook's London "Evening Standard" in April 1934. Blimp is pompous, irascible, jingoistic, and stereotypically British, identifiable by his walrus moustache and the interjection "Gad, Sir!". Low claimed that he developed the character after overhearing two military men in a Turkish bath declare that cavalry officers should be entitled to wear their spurs inside tanks. The character was named after the barrage balloon, which was known as a blimp. Blimp issues proclamations from the Turkish bath, wrapped in his towel and brandishing some mundane
British Cartoon Archive British Cartoon Archive The British Cartoon Archive (BCA) is a department of the University of Kent, at Canterbury in Kent, England, and holds the national collection of political and social-comment cartoons from British newspapers and magazines. Created in 1973, the BCA collection includes 130,000 original drawings by 350 different cartoonists, plus some 90,000 cuttings, and a library of books and magazines. Its website at gives free access to its holdings, including a fully searchable catalogue of 140,000 cartoon images. The archive is located in Templeman Library, and includes a public exhibit gallery. The formation of an academic study centre dedicated