The charming children of Lilian Hocknell

Mother magazine cover of child with toys by Lilian Hocknell from November 1936

Lilian Hocknell was the artist who drew this cover for the November 1936 cover of Mother. She was renowned for her drawings of babies and children and by this time Britain was coming out of the Great Depression of the late 1920s and early 1930s, so the family is laden with presents and Christmas shopping. The cherubic little girl is clutching a red balloon as well as the teddy. The lettering ” ‘S TOY FAIR” can be seen on the balloon – Hamley’s? Harrod’s?

Notice they’re all wearing gloves; with gauntlets for the older sister.

Hocknell could certainly draw cute tots. An exhibition of her work, ‘Drawings of Children’ was held at the Sporting Gallery, London, in 1926 and she was prolific in producing adverts for Chilprufe kids’ clothing. This issue of Mother ran a Chilprufe advert, below. The V&A holds examples of Hocknell‘s work and Nottingham University notes that The Strand magazine, March 1938, ran an article by John Lothian entitled ‘Here’s fun! The Delightful Childhood Studies of Lilian Hocknell’. She drew a Clacton-On-Sea railway poster for LNER and her drawings have been sold at Bonhams. The clothing might have been proof from chills, but the proofreading left something to be desired, with the C left out of manufacturing.

Lillian Hocknell advertising illustration for Chilprufe children’s and baby clothing. From Mother magazine 1936 – note the ‘manufaturing’ spelling error

The address for the Mother was Martlett House, Martlett Court, in London’s Covent Garden. The same address was used later for the Odhams magazines Woman (1938), Picturegoer (1939) and Everywoman (1940).

WATCH OUT for my book on British Magazine Design from the V&A

Tags: Lilian Hocknell