Boy Street Artist who caricatures MP’s to gain pence for sweets!

This article appeared on page 8 of The Daily Mirror newspaper 1914.

Chelsea’s youthful pavement artist Master Harold Tripp, aged 10, has utilised his talent for drawing as a means of adding to his pocket money, and has become a pavement artist in his spare time. A portion of his “takings” is spent in sweets, which he always shares with his six little brothers and sisters.

One of Harold’s pavement “works” in the making

Chelsea has just produced the business artist.

In order to obtain money for sweets and other youthful necessities, Harold Tripp, a bright little boy of ten, who lives at Ulverdale Road/King’s Road, Chelsea, has begun work as a pavement artist; and is earning many pennies a day at his profession.

Schoolboy HAROLD TRIPP after purchasing sweets

The Daily Mirror yesterday found the boy at one of his “pitches” in Chelsea surrounded by a large, crowd of admirers. He was on his hands and knees on the pavement carefully drawing in white chalks the figure of a lancer on a charger galloping along full speed.

When he had finished the soldier he drew some “portraits.”

Schoolboy Screever HAROLD TRIPP surrounded by admiring school friends

“People like to see something up-to-date,” he said, as he executed two extraordinary caricatures of Mr. Lloyd George and Mr. Bonar Law.

Then, when Harold had finished his drawings he sat by the railings, took off his cap and waited with a serene smile for a flow of coins. “I love drawing soldiers and pictures of people,” he confessed, “and I thought I would try and make some money by being a pavement artist. Already people have been very kind to me, and I have earned enough to buy sweets for myself and all my friends.

“I see pictures of well-known people in the newspapers, and then I draw my caricatures. Mr. Bonar Law is very easy to draw. I also like drawing Mr. Lloyd George.”

Schoolboy Screever Harold, copying one of Mr Haselden’s cartoons

William Kerridge Haselden (1872-1953) was a self-taught cartoonist who worked for the Daily Mirror & Punch Magazine.

I don’t know whatever happened to little Harold, but I did find out that his father was Philip Tripp, whose profession was listed in the 1911 census as “Hairdresser” The family where living in Lambeth, London in 1911, but they had originally come from Portsmouth.

You can read more about child pavement artists in my related blogs!

Published in THE DAILY MIRROR newspaper, on Saturday 25^th April 1914

Researched by Philip Battle

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