Graphics have, since early times, spoken with some eloquence in most political discourses, not least in Malta.

Images which shower at best ridicule, at worst contempt, on ideological opponents have, throughout the centuries, played their part in the dissemination of political propaganda.

An anonymous political postcard celebrating the crushing defeat of Gerald Strickland’s Constitutional Party in 1932. All images from the author's collection

They fall under two main categories: promotion − see how wonderful I am; or satire − see how contemptible my adversary is. This feature deals with the second grouping: parody drawings in political postcards.

Pre-World War II, cartoons ridiculing power wielders one disapproved of circulated anonymously and unofficially, mostly as real photos, printed in postcard size and often on postcard-backed cards, though I have never seen one postally used. Like all political ephemera, they enjoyed short shelf lives and mostly ended binned. That would explain their great rarity today.

A postcard dated 1922 depicting Augustus Bartolo and Gerald Strickland as the executioners of Malta.

An anti-Strickland satire postcard written in old Maltese.

The burial of the Constitutional Party with dancing werewolves as mourners.

Anonymous, amateur artists produced many of these pre-war propaganda cards. But professional, highly skilled cartoonists also chipped in.

The anti-colonial side could rely on the outstanding graphic talents of established artists like Giuseppe Calì (1846-1930), Robert Caruana Dingli (1882-1940) and Ġanni Vella (1885-1977). The Strickland imperialists at first suffered a dearth of competent graphic cartoonists, until the appearance of Alfred Gerada (1895-1968) who, in the 1930s, more or less redressed the imbalance.

A 1922 cartoon card by Ġanni Vella showing a tug-of-war between Gerald Strickland on one side, and, on the other, then prime minister Joseph Howard assisted by William Savona, the Labour leader.

An anti-Nationalist satirical card by Alfred Gerada, c. 1933, with Nerik Mizzi and Mussolini embracing.

A 1921 cartoon card by Robert Caruana Dingli satirising The Daily Malta Chronicle, an imperialist newspaper.

Robert Caruana Dingli mocks Augutus Bartolo for pocketing £30,000 compensation from the government for damages he claimed were suffered by his pro-imperialist printing press during the Sette Giugno riots.

Calì signed his political cartoons with pseudonyms like Scintilla, Fumo and Vampa (all fire-derived), while Caruana Dingli proved defiant enough to actually initial some of his scathing satires.

A 19th-century political satire by Giuseppe Calì.

Malta bludgeoned by colonial reforms, a 19th-century satirical card by Giuseppe Calì, signed Vampa.

The meaning of subjects chosen for some lampoons may today escape the viewer, as they refer to events long forgotten. Devils and angels abound, so do bodily functions, scatology, toilet humour, coffins and funerals of defeated opponents.

The more recognisable figures include leading pre-war politicians like Gerald Strickland, Augustus Bartolo, Nerik Mizzi, William Savona, Joseph Howard and Ugo Mifsud.

Strickland, vomiting poison, being shafted by Malta in an anonymous 1932 postcard.