DEAR MR. PUNCH,--I want you to use your influence with that great
philanthropist, Mr. MALLABY-DEELEY. I know that he is too modest to claim
to be a benefactor of the race, but I am at least right in calling him
"Mr.," for that is how he describes himself on his shop-window, and he
would never have done that if he had not desired to avoid confusion with
the common tradesman. Well, I want you to enlist his powerful sympathy in
the cause of the struggling middle classes, to which body I belong. I refer
particularly to our crying need for dinner-jackets at reasonable prices. I
am one of those who spend their holidays at seaside hotels, where people
make a point of dressing for dinner in the hope of giving their fellow-
guests the impression that this is their daily habit in the home circle. In
view of the early advent of Spring I approached my tailor, the other day,
with inquiries as to the cost of an abbreviated dinner-suit. His prices
were as follows:--jacket £10 10s. 0d.; waistcoat £3 3s. 0d.; trousers £4
10s. 0d.; total £18 3s. 0d. I am old enough to recall the time when the
most _élite_ tailors of Savile Row charged no more than £10 10s. 0d. for a
complete evening costume, uncurtailed.
I am all for the cheap supply of "gentlemen's lounge-suits" for the
so-called working-classes to lounge in. I know of no surer antidote to the
spirit of Bolshevism. But let us not forget the claims of the middle
classes, who are the backbone of the Empire. If Mr. MALLABY-DEELEY cannot
help us in the direction I have indicated, then let Mr. KENNEDY JONES, on
behalf of the Middle Class Union, put a hyphen to his name and open a shop
for the sale of evening wear at demi-popular prices.
Yours faithfully,
SURBITONIAN.
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DEAR MR. PUNCH,--It would be a thousand pities if Mr. MALLABY-DEELEY'S
beneficent scheme should fail for lack of advertisement. Could you not
persuade your colleagues of the Press to publish from day to day the route
of his car's progress from his private residence (or the terminus from
which he debouches) to his place of business, as in the case of the new
Member for Paisley? My only fear is that the Coalition Government might be
suspected of adopting the Wee Free methods of publicity for political ends;
but this would surely be an unworthy suspicion in the case of a movement
designed for the benefit not of a party, but of mankind.
Yours faithfully,
STAGE MANAGER.
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