I was still a few years off being born, and many reading this would be the same.

But that was the year Paul "Smithy" Smith contributed his first weekly cartoon to the Western Advocate and, 50 years on, he's still doing just that.

That's around 2500 cartoons from Smithy - and counting.

The Smithy cartoon is one of the real features of our newspaper and we're very lucky to have him.

A cartoon is an editorial in pictures, an opinion piece without words.

Done well, a cartoon can amuse, challenge, anger and delight - and Smithy has the ability to evoke all those emotions.

The newspaper industry has gone through many changes in the past 50 years and there are more changes to come.

So it's nice to celebrate one of the constants over that time and, hopefully, one that will remain a constant for many years yet.

Congratulations, Smithy, and thank for your contribution.