Sidney Grapes

Sidney Samuel Grapes (6 June 1887[1] – 28 April 1958)[2] was a British comedian, the owner of a bicycle shop and later a garage in Potter Heigham, a village in northeast Norfolk.

In the years before the Second World War, he acquired a reputation as an amateur Norfolk dialect comedian, performing at social functions in many parts of the county and on the radio. However, he is most famous for The Boy John Letters. The letters appeared in the Eastern Daily Press, the regional newspaper, at irregular intervals. Grapes would simply write them when he felt like it - and they were always signed "The Boy John". They reported the events in the Boy John's village, and, in addition to the Boy John - a farm worker - they featured as their main characters his Aunt Agatha, Granfar, and old Mrs. W, their neighbour.

Most of the letters ended with a PS containing one of Aunt Agatha's aphorisms, which became famous throughout the county, such as "Aunt Agatha she say: all husbands are alike, only they have different faces so you can tell 'em apart".

See also

Others artists working in the Norfolk humorous tradition include Sid Kipper, the Nimmo Twins, Keith Skipper and the Singing Postman.

References
  1. 1939 England and Wales Register
  2. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966, 1973-1995
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