'From My Window' in Teachers World

[Anita Bensoussane]

Enid Blyton goes to see the Torchlight Tattoo at Wembley this week, which was part of the British Empire Exhibition:

https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/bly ... &perid=201


There's a poster advertising the Torchlight Tattoo here, with some related posters below it:

https://tomkinsonchurcher.com/product/w ... -tattoo-2/

[Anita Bensoussane]

The Unexpected Poet is a really lovely 'From My Window' article, with Enid Blyton enjoying a rare glimpse of the poetic side of the normally terse, practical man who runs the cold-meat shop.


https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/bly ... &perid=202

[Kate Mary]

I love that column, it's one of Enid's best. I wonder when we started to use the word delicatessen instead of cold-meat shop?

[Boodi 2]

I can remember that "delicatessen" was used in the 1970s when I was young, although we also bought cold meat (mainly ham and corned beef)!!

[Anita Bensoussane]

In this week's column, Enid gets to play with a lion cub and a tiger cub at London Zoo! I'm reminded of Jimmy making friends with the tigers in Hurrah for the Circus!


https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/bly ... &perid=203

[Anita Bensoussane]

Thoughtful comments from Enid Blyton on how cinematography helps bring the past to life (we're now very close to 2025, mentioned in her column, which was a century away at the time of writing). The moving pictures referred to by Enid lacked sound and colour and couldn't be accessed in one's own home or on a mobile device while out and about, so we're even luckier now:


https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/bly ... &perid=204

[Courtenay]

Wow, yes, very thoughtful and slightly prophetic words from Enid! Of course, we take it so much for granted that just about any event, large or small, can and will be filmed — and that we can now watch it just about anywhere, at any time — that it's fascinating to read Enid's thoughts on a technology that was still very new at that time, and realise how surprising and exciting it was to see "moving pictures" of real events. I remember a number of years ago, I visited an exhibition on Queen Victoria at Kensington Palace and saw film footage of her Diamond Jubilee procession in 1897 — rather grainy and blurry, but still a remarkable piece of history.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Enid Blyton has finally got her wish to see John Gorilla at London Zoo, though the idea of the crowd throwing nuts and apples to the gorilla (which he would throw back) is something that surely wouldn't be encouraged nowadays:

https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/bly ... &perid=206


The poem 'The Little Pig's Lament' is excellent, with wonderful illustrations by L.R. Brightwell:

https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/bly ... &perid=205

[Kate Mary]

How different London Zoo was back then and I'm sure it has changed for the better, but I would have loved to have seen John Gorilla.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Enid Blyton's 'From My Window' column is enjoyably lyrical this week. I feel exactly the same when I'm out early on an autumn morning full of mist and cobwebs. The world seems hushed and magical. Enid was living in Beaufort Street in London when she wrote this article, and if she went along the street she would come to Battersea Bridge.

https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/bly ... &perid=207

[Boodi 2]

That was very appropriate as I too went for an early morning walk in the forest today and while I did not see any mist there were plenty of cobwebs.

[Anita Bensoussane]

No 'From My Window' this time, though we do have an action song ('The Railway Train'):

https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/bly ... &perid=208

[Kate Mary]

Ah! That was lovely, makes me wish I could read music. Complicated bit of choreography to go with it though.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I tried doing the actions but as I live alone I didn't have much success!

[Boodi 2]

Glad I am not the only one who cannot read music!