Find the Fault

Today is party time! The oppressed and subjugated child of the Fifties was easily entertained if this is anything to go by. In an era when children were constantly reminded of their humble position in the order of things, this activity may well have come as a welcome relief. It was a parental duty to continually draw attention to the faults and defects in the child. It’s easy to see how the child would have enjoyed the opportunity to point out the faults in others. At the same time it would encourage the development of a tidy mind where everything is present and correct in its rightful place.



I have to admit that I got some pleasure from this type of game. Rupert Annuals had similar pages where the reader was invited to spot such incongruities as a policeman wearing his helmet back to front or a postman with two left feet. The street scenes always struck me as the most potent and this is a selection of some of the best. In retrospect, these images take on a dream-like aspect and describe a world where much that is familiar has been inverted. As such they form an ideal introduction to the streetscapes of Giorgio De Chirico.



It didn’t take long to discover that there are connoisseurs of this genre to be found on the web. To explore this topic further, a visit to Planet Perplex is recommended.