here's the latest edition, just arrived!
Another cram-packed magazine, full of uncollected stories. The cover shows an illustration from '
It Had Its Funny Side!' - a charming uncollected story illustrated by Alice Bush. I love her illustrations - much more detailed than Eileen Sopers efforts for 'Billycock Hill' - its surprising we haven't heard more of Ms Bush. The story is a typical 'lesson teaching' story in which children at school work out how to teach a boy, Maurice, that it's always good to give things back when you borrow them!
Next up - the
Editorial which Enid dedicates entirely to the real-life story of 'the Love-Apple league' - the growing band of children who are picking flowers and having them sent to hospitals so that ill children can enjoy them. Apparently it started in Guernsey - where tomatoes are the main crop - also known as 'love-apples' which is where the name of the League comes from. The first two children sent bunches of primroses to the children's hospital in Birmingham. Apart from anything else, this scheme speaks loudly of different times and different attitudes. Can you imagine children picking primroses and taking them to the local airport and just handing them to a plane passenger to deliver? It speaks of a very much simpler age.
After 'It Had Its Funny Side', we get an uncollected Mr Twiddle story -
Mr Twiddle's Old Hat a story very much in the tradition of every other Twiddle story, and very amusing. I love the simple way of life the Twiddle stories depict. In this one, Mr Twiddle thinks Mrs Twiddle has given away his old gardening hat to the 'Rag-a'Bone' man. I come from an era where the Rag-a-Bone Man had ceased to exist, and its hard to imagine being able to hand over a hat and get a pot plant in exchange these days! I also remember my mom telling me how as children she and her sister would sometimes get baby chicks from the Rag and Bone Man - or goldfish - but they often didn't live very long.
Next we have some adverts. Like the last issue, there are noticeably more adverts in this issue - it must be to do with the fact that Christmas is only a few months off! And here's me thinking this 'three months of Christmas' malarkey is a modern convention! There are adverts for two books - neither by Enid Blyton - '
Jill's Riding Club' by Ruby Ferguson, and '
The Green poodles' by Charlotte Baker.
This is followed by the usual
'Puzzle Page' with prizes for club members. The Famous Five puzzle is quite entertaining -
B follows A
L follows K
Night follows Day
What follows May?
Next, in the continuing saga
Noddy Went Too Fast! Noddy is very much better - sitting up in bed and playing dominoes with Tessie Bear and doing jigsaws with Miss Fluffy Cat, as well as being given jellies by Mr Wobbly Man!
Five Go To Billycock Hill follows - with chapter 10 -
Butterfly Farm Again. We all know this story very well - although I must admit, looking at it from fortnight to fortnight, it doesn't really seem very gripping - not like earlier Famous Five series, anyway. I've always enjoyed Billycock Hill as a book - but as a series it seems lacking.
next we have adverts for the legendary
'Famous Five Jumper'. How I would have loved one of these as a child! They were available in yellow or grey, and were 100% wool. Zip front was 27 shillings and 9 pence, polo neck was 23 shillings and 3 pence - both had two sizes available for an extra two shillings for the bigger size (30 to 32 inch chest).
Next, an advert warning us to look out for Noddy stories on the backs of Ricicles packets.
'Ask mother to buy kellogg's SUGAR RICICLES, Noddy's own sugar-sweet breakfast!' Enough to put Anita off Ricicles for life, I guess.
Our Letter Page is full of interesting letters as always - not least the first one about making a kite out of father's old parachute. So - that's well worth remembering, should you ever come across your father's old parachute in the shed - just make sure he's not intending to use it again first.
One letter-writer, Susan Herrin, of Shiplake, Oxon, tells us that she has collected Enid Blyton's Magazine since the first issue and has them all. Hmmm...I wonder if they survived? Maybe she sold them on eBay!
The next story is another uncollected one, called '
They BOTH Wanted Acorns!' - an entertaining tale about a boy collecting acorns for his uncles pigs, and the gnome he meets who is collecting the little acorn cups to make pipes for old brownies to smoke. What I found interesting about this story is that the little man demonstrates by making a hole in the acorn cup and stem, filling it with tobacco, and smoking it. He even offers the main character, Derek, a puff of it - which Derek takes, despite explaining that he's really too young to smoke. Would such a scene be allowed to exist these days? talking to a strange man in the woods and smoking unknown substances in an acorn pipe?!
Next - some more adverts - for the Famous Five cardboard jigsaws from BesTime, and also the press out Noddy Village, which we saw in the last issue. Also a couple of games by Philmar Ltd - 'Flip the Cones' - a game I had a version of as a child - and also 'Magnetic Fishing' - another favourite!
Lastly, Enid provides us with
'Some'Things To look For' - the Willow-herb, which has long seed cases to blow into the air like dandelion seeds, and also listen out for the song of the robin, who will soon be the only bird left to sing its song, when summer visitors have gone (apparently!). Also - look out for baby robins, who have yet to grow their red breast.
In
Our News-sheet Enid tells her readers how happy she was to see so many of them at her autograph sessions at Derry and Tom's Store and also at the School-boy's Exhibition at Olympia. Its interesting to note just how many children she saw there - many with all four EB Club badges on display. She said she signed many books and shook many hands, but still had to apologise that the queues were so long that she wasn't able to sign everyone's book before the store closed and she had to leave! Hard to imagine this sort of popularity these days, for anyone, let alone a children's author.
And so that's another bumper issue done and dusted! I love looking through them each fortnight - and hope you do too!
