Empire buying begins at home: John Bull gets a makeover in this cartoon promoting British farmed goods

The iconic John Bull figure makes an engaging turn as a hunky farmer in this 1920s animated short. The recently established Empire Marketing Board saw animation as useful tool to promote the value of British farmed goods to the nation's economy. The popular nursery rhyme about Jack's house is adapted to give a neat structure to a seemingly simple tale that hides a complex reality of tariff reform and protectionism.