60 Years Ago This Week - Enid Blyton's Magazine 1957 -

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Rob Houghton
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60 Years Ago This Week - Enid Blyton's Magazine 1957 -

Post by Rob Houghton »

So here we are in a new year and a new thread. It's 1957 and we have a new Enid Blyton magazine, which just popped through the letterbox!

Image

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/maga ... ?magid=901

What a great cover to start the new year - but unfortunately my copy doesn't have a cover, and is also missing the first two pages, containing Enid's New Year editorial - so just for this week, I'm unable to write about that - but the rest of the year is complete after this issue!

The cover depicts the Mr Pink-Whistle story, which is the first thing in the magazine after the Editorial. When Mr Pink-Whistle Met The Twins is a charming story, in the Pink-Whistle tradition - and it can be read in 'Mr Pink-Whistle's Big Book' - which is pretty hard to come by, so maybe many will not have read it. Its an interesting dtory, as it features many other Blyton characters, and most of them appear in the 'Noddy In Toyland' pantomime - Mr Bong the Wizard, Moonface, Silky, Saucepan Man, Big Ears but strangely not Noddy - who is 'taking the Noah's ark animals to a party...' ;-)

Next we have the Puzzle Page and a mind-numbing puzzle to start the year - the Sunbeams puzzle - for someone like me, who gets easily confused, it took me a while to sort it out, lol! -

Eight and four are twelve they say,
Suppose you now take nine away,
Multiply the rest by seven,
And from this number take eleven.
Then add three times double two.
The answer should be clear to you.


Next we have a short story called George Has A Bit of Fun - an uncollected story, which Tony has kindly added to The Cave - read it by following the link above. Its a great story, and reminded me somewhat of The Secret Seven, because it involves snowmen and a clever trick to stop the bully from kicking snowmen to pieces. Its an entertaining story, but it seemed rather long for such a simple piece...maybe Enid was filling in space. ;-) Its got great illustrations by Marjorie L Davies. I particularly like the two corner illustrations, printed in black and white and blue and green.

Following on, we have a full page advert for Enid Blyton's book of her famous pantomime Noddy In Toyland - a book I have and find fascinating...especially some of the songs, which feature the words 'I'm Golly, I'm Woggie, I'm Nigger - we all have the very same figure...' Certainly not something that would appear in a pantomime these days! Its a well produced book, and if you're a fan of Noddy then I highly recommend it, as it has some glorious double-page colour plates.

Next - Noddy Went Too Fast which seems to be going on and on and on! Big Ears takes Noddy back to his toadstool house to rest and tells him off for daring to get out of bed without asking permission! Noddy gets waited on by Tessie Bear though, and that cheers him up no end! ;-)

Next is chapter 17 of Five Go To Billycock Hill - where Mrs Janes tells her tale of how she got her black eye - and how her son regularly hits her. I'd forgotten this part of the story - and it reminded me that not all Enid's stories are warm and cosy!

A full page advert for Cadbury's caught my eye next - advertising for 1,000 Cadbury Tasters wanted - to eat and report on chocolates every month - official chocolate tasters are important people ; from their reports cadbury can judge which flavours are the most popular It then sets out how YOU can become a Cadbury taster, by filling in a form to tell which made up flavour chocolate you'd like best - either 1. Loganberry, 2. Gooseberry or 3. Blackcurrant, and then suggesting a name for the new product.

Not sure how doing all this would prove you were a qualified Chocolate Taster, but I bet it got a few children applying even so! ;-)

Next - Some Things To Look For - even in January you can find the Common Chickweed with its small oval leaves. If you break the stem you will find a very thin green tough thread inside. Also, watch out for sparrows - the cocks are growing their black bibs ready for spring.

Secret Seven Mystery follows - chapter 7 - Tom Has Some News. I always loved this story as a child - it was probably in my top five Secret Seven titles - but its one of those books that holds few surprises after you've read it once. Its still great though - I'm probably one of the few people who rates the Secret Seven series quite highly!

In this issue, which starts the year, we have a new feature called In My Garden in which Enid gives us tips for the garden between January 1st and 14th. She writes - January is an important month in the garden because it is now that you begin to prepare your plot for future planting. Dig over your garden as deeply as you can ; break down teh soil with the rake and throw away any large stones and rubbish. Visit your local seed shops and try to get some catalogues - it is great fun planning your garden on days when it is too wet to go out.

The last short story in this issue is a slightly strange one, definitely aimed at younger children, I think - Happy New Year!. Like the other short story, this one is uncollected, and can be read in The Cave. Its a bit of a daft story in my opinion, based entirely around the fact that the little girl, Meg, who is four, has never heard the expression 'Happy New Year' and thinks people are wishing her a 'Happy New Ear'. Surely a four year old wouldn't be so silly?! Its a bit of a one-joke story, and I found it quite tiresome. I'm not surprised it hasn't been reprinted anywhere! ;-)

Unfortunately, as my New Year Issue is missing the cover and first inside double spread, I can't review any more of the magazine. If anyone else has a copy, feel free to let us know what Enid writes about in the Editorial, if there's anything of interest! ;-)

Hope you'll join me looking through the magazines of 1957 fortnight by fortnight! Happy New Year! :-D
Last edited by Rob Houghton on 02 Jan 2017, 14:45, edited 1 time in total.
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: 60 Years Ago This Week - Enid Blyton's Magazine 1957 -

Post by Fiona1986 »

Unfortunately my copy is missing the cover too, so I only have half of the editorial.
"It's the ash! It's falling!" yelled Julian, almost startling Dick out of his wits...
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Re: 60 Years Ago This Week - Enid Blyton's Magazine 1957 -

Post by pete9012S »

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Re: 60 Years Ago This Week - Enid Blyton's Magazine 1957 -

Post by Rob Houghton »

Thanks pete! Tony also sent me a scan - so now I have a printed copy to put on my battered magazine! Its good for everyone to be able to read the editorial though - so thank you for doing it - and thanks to Tony also! :-D
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: 60 Years Ago This Week - Enid Blyton's Magazine 1957 -

Post by sixret »

Thank you so much Rob, Tony and Pete! Very much appreciated. :D

Although I now have all 162 Enid Blyton magazines plus more than 50 plus extra magazines, I really enjoyed reading your take on each magazine, Rob.

I must give you a credit for creating the wonderful thread below that came to my attention in September, 22 2016.
http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/foru ... &start=165" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The credit also goes to Tony for uploading the uncollected stories. The uncollected stories being uploaded had given me the boost to my motivation.

And also credit goes to the thread below:

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/foru ... =16&t=2340" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

My journey to acquire the complete set of 162 Enid Blyton's magazines:

Because of your thread and Tony's kindness in uploading the uncollected stories, I was determined to buy all the magazines by hook or by crook. At first I thought how very difficult to accomplish my goal of collecting all of them. I asked each and every seller who had listed Enid Blyton magazines on Ebay privately. Lo and behold, one of them had the complete Volume 1- Volume 4 but she put them for sales in one of the antique shop. And she had the complete Volume 5 with her except No. 23 which she duly ordered from a lady in London for me! I was so enthralled!

I pursued my quest for finding the last two volumes i.e. Volume 6 and Volume 7. After some times, I found another seller(I bought more than 100 Schoolboys Own Library and Schoolgirls Own Library magazines from him). I asked him casually with no hope if he had Enid Blyton's magazines. His reply had literally made my jaw dropped because of unbelievable luck I had! He had all numbers in Volume 6 and 7 except No. 22, 23 and 25 in Volume 6 and no. 7 in Volume 7.

Then I asked one of my regular seller whether she had those missing numbers. She did!

Hence the completion of my Enid Blyton's magazines!

Eight and four are twelve they say,
Suppose you now take nine away,
Multiply the rest by seven,
And from this number take eleven.
Then add three times double two.
The answer should be clear to you.

I know the answer but I don't want to spoil other reader's enjoyment. :lol:
Last edited by sixret on 03 Jan 2017, 12:08, edited 2 times in total.
I stand with justice and the truth. Palestine will be free from the river to the sea.

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Re: 60 Years Ago This Week - Enid Blyton's Magazine 1957 -

Post by Tony Summerfield »

So your next challenge has to be Enid Blyton's Sunny Stories, Sixret, there are 552 copies of this! The series was launched on January 15th 1937, so we have a few days to go before we get your new thread:-

80 Years Ago This Week - Enid Blyton's Sunny Stories 1937. :lol:

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/maga ... ?magid=201" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: 60 Years Ago This Week - Enid Blyton's Magazine 1957 -

Post by Rob Houghton »

Thanks Sixret! :-D

I admit, the original reason for starting the 'sixty years ago today' thread was because I had a pile of EB magazines and thought it would be good to make use of them. I decided to read one a fortnight, to coincide with the right time of the year...but then I realised it would be nice to share them with EB forum members who maybe hadn't seen them or were unable to obtain them for their own collections.

I was very lucky because I received quite a box-load of copies of EB magazine from Pete - and I helped him to complete his collection by sending him a couple he needed. This is why I now have quite a collection, but I still don't have them all. I have all 1957 and all 1958, plus all 1956 but still need a few issues from 1953, 1954 and 1959.

8)
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: 60 Years Ago This Week - Enid Blyton's Magazine 1957 -

Post by sixret »

Thank you so much, Tony. But I do have 250 plus Sunny Stories magazines in my collection with more than 40 duplicates. So I only need 300 more to complete my collection! The earlier ones are hard to come by online. I'll upload some photos of them later. :D

They are not too difficult to come by, Rob. Your sharing was the spark that had triggered me to buy them, Rob. Hope your collection will be completed this year. :D
I stand with justice and the truth. Palestine will be free from the river to the sea.

Learn the history. Do research.

The hypocrisy, double standard, prejudice and bigotry own by some people is so obvious.Shame on them!
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Re: 60 Years Ago This Week - Enid Blyton's Magazine 1957 -

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

How lovely to be taken back to the ringing in of 1957! :D The stories 'George Has a Bit of Fun' and 'Happy New Year!' are a little on the weak side, though they're mildly amusing nevertheless and the magazine as a whole is fascinating as always.

Linda Hooks must have been on cloud nine when she heard that a party was to be held in her honour! Imagine having a special cake and being presented with twelve Enid Blyton books of your choice - and, of course, getting to meet Enid Blyton! I wonder if Linda is still a Blyton fan? Barbara Stoney includes a photo of the party in Enid Blyton - the Biography and gives some additional information about the party and the Magazine Club:

"The main object of the Enid Blyton Magazine Club was to help the young spastic children, who daily attended a special centre in Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, London. This centre had been the subject of a Week's Good Cause broadcast appeal made by Enid in May 1955 and, once again, the response from her readers to the suggestion of forming a club on the centre's behalf was overwhelming. Ten thousand requests for membership were made within the first month and by January 1957 the club had recruited its hundred thousandth member. Evans Brothers decided to mark the occasion by inviting Enid and some of the children who had worked for the club to a celebration party at the magazine's headquarters at Montague House in London's Russell Square. There was a special cake and Enid was presented with an initialled and dated gold replica of the Magazine Club badge. Funds raised by this club eventually helped to furnish a hostel attached to the centre and to provide various other extra amenities. Enid broadcast two further appeals on behalf of these spastic children and in 1960 was elected a Vice-President of the Friends of the Centre - by which time the Club's membership had increased to around a hundred and fifty thousand."

Like you, Rob, I remember loving Secret Seven Mystery when I first read it as a child. It really was a mystery on that initial reading and I found it extremely puzzling and exciting. Unfortunately, the solution tends to stick in the mind so it's not a mystery at all on subsequent readings. Still an enjoyable story though!

Being a Cadbury's chocolate taster would be great fun!
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Re: 60 Years Ago This Week - Enid Blyton's Magazine 1957 -

Post by Rob Houghton »

Wouldn't it be great if we could trace Linda Hooks!? She'd be about 72 now I think. :-D
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: 60 Years Ago This Week - Enid Blyton's Magazine 1957 -

Post by sixret »

From far-off Malaya. Wow! Couldn't believe someone from my country had written a letter to Enid Blyton. :D
I stand with justice and the truth. Palestine will be free from the river to the sea.

Learn the history. Do research.

The hypocrisy, double standard, prejudice and bigotry own by some people is so obvious.Shame on them!
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Re: 60 Years Ago This Week - Enid Blyton's Magazine 1957 -

Post by Rob Houghton »

Its amazing how popular Enid was all around the world, especially when we consider there was no internet or email back then! :D Imagine how popular she would have been today, with Twitter blogs and facebook pages! :lol:
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: 60 Years Ago This Week - Enid Blyton's Magazine 1957 -

Post by sixret »

You're right, Rob. Writing letters needs plenty of effort to write(at least in my case). That person must have loved Enid Blyton books so much. :D
I stand with justice and the truth. Palestine will be free from the river to the sea.

Learn the history. Do research.

The hypocrisy, double standard, prejudice and bigotry own by some people is so obvious.Shame on them!
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Re: 60 Years Ago This Week - Enid Blyton's Magazine 1957 -

Post by sixret »

Looking forward to reading your take on the next issue i.e. No.2 Vol. 5 tomorrow, Rob! I notice that Tony has uploaded the uncollected stories for us to enjoy. :D

I may not comment but I am definitely going to read your piece! :D
I stand with justice and the truth. Palestine will be free from the river to the sea.

Learn the history. Do research.

The hypocrisy, double standard, prejudice and bigotry own by some people is so obvious.Shame on them!
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Re: 60 Years Ago This Week - Enid Blyton's Magazine 1957 -

Post by Rob Houghton »

A fortnight of the New Year gone already - and here we are opening the second Enid Blyton Magazine of 1957!

Follow the link to read the short story, which Tony has kindly reproduced on the Magazine page. :-D

Image

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/maga ... ?magid=902

This edition has a great wintry cover - uncredited, which I think is a real shame, as this artist has a great style. I particularly love one of the illustrations accompanying the story, where Will is looking down through the hole in the ice - it's literally quite chilling, imagining the realities of such a story.

The cover illustrates this first story - It Happened One Frosty Morning and its a story I really enjoyed. Its unusually dramatic - almost horrific in its suggestion of what has happened - quite a tense little story, with a couple of good messages into the bargain. It's a real pity this has never been reprinted in a short story compilation since, as I think it is a very strong story indeed.

This week Enid uses her Editorial to tell her readers more about her various clubs. It makes quite interesting reading as she gives us a few facts and figures, such as the number of members each club has. At the start of 1957, the Magazine Club had, as we already know, over 100,000 members - and its chief aim is to raise money for the little Centre for Spastic Children in Chelsea. The Famous Five club has about 80,000 members and helps raise money for Enid's Children's Home in Beaconsfield, while the Sunbeam Society, with over 16,000 members helps the Sunshine Homes For Blind Babies and Children. I found it interesting to read what Enid said about this - I love how she gets her readers to think more deeply about the plight of others who are less fortunate - If you are not a member, shut your eyes for a few minutes, so that you are in complete darkness - and try to do a few simple things. Then remember that the blind children are in that darkness for always and see if your heart tells you that, in thankfulness for your own good sight, you feel you must help those whose eyes see nothing!

Lastly Enid tells us about her oldest club - The Busy Bees - which was the children's division of the PDSA. This club has over a quarter of a million members - very impressive in a day when there was no social media, of course. As Enid says, many children belong to more than one club and some belong to all of them! What a great job these clubs did, in their own small way, to raise money for their respective charities. 8)

Following on from the first short story, we have the next instalment of The Secret Seven story - Secret Seven Mystery I know I've said it before - but why do Burgess Sharrocks illustrations look so much better in the magazine than in the books?! Aside from the fact those in the books were completely different, I mean. he seems to have redrawn most of them completely and in so doing has made them less detailed!

Next we have a story where I hardly like to repeat the title - as it's not PC these days - We're Golly and Woggie and Nigger' I'm betting that Tony was quite relieved he didn't have to battle with his conscience over whether to reproduce this one on the magazine page or not! Luckily, it isn't an uncollected short story, so he didn't have to! It appeared in the later publication 'Enid Blyton's Bedtime Annual 1972' in which the title was changed to 'A Tale Of Golly, Sooty and Sammy - three Golliwogs'.

I was always a big fan of The Three Golliwogs stories as a child - I love the Dean version, and particularly the gorgeous cover and spine. The stories always amused me and I relished them - but let's face it - these are some of Enid's most repetitive stories. They are stories with only one joke...a 'one trick pony' if you will - all based on mistaken identity and the fact all the gollies look exactly the same. Reading this latest one, my constant thought was 'how did Enid write so many of these with the same plot and still keep them fresh?!' - fresh if you read one for the first time, anyway.

Next we have the new feature In My Garden which I find really interesting, as it tells us, fortnightly, what we should be doing in our gardens at this time of year. Enid gives us a 'planting plan' of where to plant seeds, arranged in height order. Its a great idea for a one page article, and something even adults would find useful.

Next Our Letter Page and unusually, a couple of the letters are from boys this time. The prize-winner is from Keith Williams of Aberdare, Glamorgan. He tells us how his mother knitted a jumper for charity and they raffled it off and were able to send a cheque to Enid for the spastic children's home for £5 5s. Then there's a letter from Peter Smith who tells us how much he liked the birthday cake Enid sent him, as he was one of the lucky children who's name was drawn out of a hat and received a birthday cake. Lastly, a little girl writes from Nairobi, Kenya, to tell how one morning she saw giraffes in the garden eating the thorn tree, to which Enid replies - Well Judith - there isn't a child in England who could have put that in a letter! How exciting to have a giraffe in your garden! :lol:

Following on - in Noddy Went Too Fast - can we be coming to the end of the story at last? Noddy is sad - won't eat - and is pining for his House-For-One - while Big Ears knows not what to do...until there's a visit from Mr Tinny - can it be that Mr Tinny isn't so nasty after all? He arrives with a box of chocolates.

Five Go To Billycock Hill continues with chapter 18. Again, some nice illustrations that don't appear in the book version. I especially like an illustration showing Mr Thomas speaking on an old-fashioned telephone to the police! :-D

Nature Notes reminds us that birds need extra attention in the winter - and Enid writes - Each garden usually has its own robin and this is a good time to tame him. Spread crumbs on your windowsill for him, and soon he will come each day for them - and may even tap on the pane with his beak when he is hungry, and peer through the window to see if you are there! Enid also tells us about squirrels, who, when its frosty, will curl up in holes in trees wrapped up in their tails. Interesting how times have changed...as the grey squirrels we see about now never seem to hibernate even in the snow - and are always up on the bird table collecting and eating peanuts!

Next we have A Painting Competition - and prizes were great - THREE EB books for the first prize, under six years old, between six and nine and over nine years old.

The next short story is a collected one - Isn't It A Good Idea! and is to be found in one of the 1970's Enid Blyton Bedtime Annuals - this time the 1973 edition. Its a really good story, though not really exciting - but satisfying. It also made me realise that such a story just couldn't be written now - and sort of comments on what we have often talked about on the forums regarding children not having adventures any more due to mobile phones. The whole plot of this story is based around carrying a phone through a wood to trick some nasty goblins into thinking you're ringing the police - something anyone could do nowadays without resorting to a toy telephone and an alarm clock!! ;-) The illustrations (again uncredited) are really nice, and its a pity they weren't reproduced in the annual!

The magazine ends with the usual Club News which tells us about a little girl, Patricia, who, as a Busy Bees member, walked a neighbour's dog because the dog's owner was 'lame' and couldn't take it for walks. Patricia walked the dog for five hundred and fifty days of walks, twice a day - over a thousand walks!' as Enid tells us. Then, sadly, Patricia had pleurisy (sounds like a not very just reward for all those walks!) and so could no longer walk the dog. Patricia is the January Prize-winner and will have her photo - and the dog's photo - in the next issue of Busy Bees magazine...but I wonder if Patricia ever walked the dog again?! Enid doesn't tell us!

Next we have a few adverts, which I always find quite interesting - one for Ovaltine - a drink I have never tried in my life - although my mom used to be in the 'Ovaltiney's club' ;-) The advert tells us - Don't forget it is the golden rule of all Ovaltineys to drink 'Ovaltine' every day. 'Ovaltine' is made from the very best of Nature's foods and it contains important food elements, including vitamins. Remind mummy to serve this delicious and nourishing beverage with your meals and always drink it at bedtime every night' 'EVERY BOY AND GIRL SHOULD JOIN THE LEAGUE OF OVALTINEYS. It goes on to explain how Ovaltiney members have special signals and codes, a badge and a rule book etc. I found it quite interesting how they seemed to be using 'blackmail' in order to get members and therefore customers, lol. I can imagine boys and girls up and down the country feeling they were somehow missing out if they weren't drinking Ovaltine and being members of the Ovaltineys! :lol:

Well - I'm off to do the painting competition - and have a mug of Ovaltine! :lol:
Last edited by Rob Houghton on 15 Jan 2017, 15:51, edited 1 time in total.
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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