Daily Express Rupert League membership badge (1930’s) Badge issued by the Daily Express newspaper to members of their Rupert League children’s club, founded in 1932. The badge shows an early style Rupert Bear with the club’s full name DAILY EXPRESS RUPERT LEAGUE. Rupert Bear is a cartoon character invented in 1920 by Mary Tourtel (1874-1948) and since then has published by the Daily Express newspaper who retain the copyright. Newspaper children’s clubs were very popular during the 1920s and 1930s that apparently helped boost sales. The Rupert Bear comic strips were published in response to competition from their main rivals, namely the Daily Mirror (Pip, Wilfred & Squeak cartoons and the Daily Mail (Teddy Tail). Mary continued to illustrate the Rupert Bear comic strips until her retirement in 1935 while the captions were written by her husband, Hebert Bird-Tourtel, a sub-editor at the Daily Express. After 1935, Alfred Bestall (1892-1986) took over both the illustrative artwork and writing for the Rupert Bear cartoons bringing his own distinctive style to the series. Alfred continued working on the Rupert Bear cartoons and annuals full time until his retirement in 1974. The Rupert Bear annuals started in 1936.