In the 1960s, Finding he was being asked to illustrate what he regarded as 'very poorly written' books, Raymond Briggs decided, 'rather as a joke' initially, to put together his own. Soon after,  Father Christmas (1973) was a huge success with its radical depiction of the eponymous hero as a grumpy, down-to-earth working man. Briggs commented, "His job...is a cross between a postman, a milkman, a coalman and a sweep. It is cold, hard, lonely and dirty. No wonder he grumbles a lot."