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

Discuss Blyton's magazines, short stories and poetry here.
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Eddie Muir
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Re: 60 Years Ago This Week - Enid Blyton's Magazine 1957 -

Post by Eddie Muir »

Nice one, Rob - as always. :D

It would certainly be great to know what the children in the photo are doing now, Julie. :D
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Re: 60 Years Ago This Week - Enid Blyton's Magazine 1957 -

Post by Tony Summerfield »

It is always nice to learn something new and you have told me something that I had certainly never realised, Rob. I am fully aware that all Eileen Soper Famous Five illustrations in EBM are completely different to the ones in the book, but I had not realised that this might be the case with some of the Secret Seven illustrations and it looks as if it warrants a closer look. I have always preferred the first two Secret Seven illustrators, but somehow the Burgess Sharrocks one that you show seems better that some of the ones in the book. I must take a closer look to see if there are further differences in illustrations.
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Re: 60 Years Ago This Week - Enid Blyton's Magazine 1957 -

Post by Rob Houghton »

That's great Tony - I didn't realise I had made a new discovery! :-D

It's something I've noticed throughout 'Secret Seven Mystery' - though I haven't looked at any other Secret Seven serials to check if the same applies with those too. Certainly Burgess Sharrocks is my least favourite SS illustrator - but as you have observed, the illustrations he uses in the magazine do seem a better quality to those he used in the book version! I wonder why?
'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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Rob Houghton
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Re: 60 Years Ago This Week - Enid Blyton's Magazine 1957 -

Post by Rob Houghton »

Julie2owlsdene wrote:How great that we can see a photo of the Club Party. I wonder where those children are these days. Be great if any of them read this and saw the picture of themselves, and tell us what it was like. :)
I agree, Julie - its a great photo! I asked Tony if he'd mind including it, as I thought many would find it interesting.

It would be brilliant if Linda Hooks could be traced. I guess she'd be about 67 now! :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 Anita Bensoussane »

Thanks as always, Rob and Tony! A great read for a Sunday morning - much better than reading the Sunday paper!
Rob Houghton wrote:The cover shows an illustration from the first story - Hunt The Slipper its a good story but not exactly very exciting - however, I did like the fact that Daddy called the police - that gave an added punch to the story somehow!
I must admit I loved this story. It's really sweet and I like the way Enid Blyton takes us into the dog's mind. I smiled at the part where Jane hides a biscuit for Skippy to find and we're told: "Skippy didn't peep. He always played fair." What a wonderful dog! :)
Rob Houghton wrote:Enid always had some interesting ideas, and I must admit I’ve never tried hanging out a lucky bag for the birds – it’s something I might try this year!
Yes, that sounds like a great idea.
Rob Houghton wrote:...we have our second uncollected short story - Nancy's Coconut - another one which is based on a true story, apparently. Again, it's not really an amazing story - feels like a filler.
Not the best story, I agree. I was a bit shocked at the dog getting hit on the head! Ouch - I bet that hurt! Also, I don't understand why the coconut wasn't just cut in half, as is usual. Then one half could have been hung outside Nancy's bedroom and the other outside another window so the rest of the family could watch the birds too.
Rob Houghton wrote:Next - an advert - What About a Noddy Theatre for your BIRTHDAY? - with two sets of scenery, seven actors (Noddy and all his friends) and two booklets containing three plays. All this for 18 shillings.
A toy theatre sounds very appealing although I'd have preferred one based on other Blyton books - e.g. the Faraway Tree, Galliano's Circus, Famous Five or Adventure series.
Rob Houghton wrote:Next, we have a lovely photo of Our Magazine Club Party - showing the 100,000 member, Linda Hooks. You can see the photo in the link above. Thanks to Tony for adding this for me. :-D
Some readers must have felt quite jealous, seeing that!
Rob Houghton wrote:The last short uncollected story is Micky's Muddle - my favourite story of this issue, although again, it isn't one of Enid's best, maybe. It's also a little confusing at the beginning - or maybe that's just me, lol - with various names such as Mr Shout-Alot, Granpa Twinkle, Old Man Trembly, Dan Do-Well and Ben Button-face. Great names, but they all come a bit thick and fast on the first page. Its a fun story - and aspects of it remind me of 'Pinocchio'... :wink:
I see what you mean about aspects reminding you of Pinocchio! I'm always amused by the way characters' names in some of the short stories reflect their personality, appearance or situation and I chuckled at the idea of two of the characters changing their names to represent their new circumstances!
Rob Houghton wrote:One other thing caught my eye in the Club News, and that is Address Please! in which Enid talks of a young girl, Sandra Crane, who didn't send her address, but sent Enid a gift of all the ship-ha'pennies she had collected. I found this of interest because, by great coincidence the copy of 'The Troublesome Three which I received only today from eBay has the following dedication in the front - "Paul Mullimuise in appreciation for collecting 444 ship-ha'pennies...and the name of someone I can't read - maybe the name of a Scout leader or teacher. I'd never heard of collecting ship ha'pennies before, although I have a few in my collection of old coins.
What a coincidence!
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Re: 60 Years Ago This Week - Enid Blyton's Magazine 1957 -

Post by Rob Houghton »

Anita Bensoussane wrote:Thanks as always, Rob and Tony! A great read for a Sunday morning - much better than reading the Sunday paper!
Thanks Anita - I agree - much better than a Sunday paper! :-D Give me an EB magazine or Sunny Stories every time!
Anita Bensoussane wrote:
Rob Houghton wrote:The cover shows an illustration from the first story - Hunt The Slipper its a good story but not exactly very exciting - however, I did like the fact that Daddy called the police - that gave an added punch to the story somehow!
I must admit I loved this story. It's really sweet and I like the way Enid Blyton takes us into the dog's mind. I smiled at the part where Jane hides a biscuit for Skippy to find and we're told: "Skippy didn't peep. He always played fair." What a wonderful dog! :)
Yes, I must admit, Enid's real strength with these stories is getting into the heads of her animal characters - I did find this aspect of the story very pleasing!
Anita Bensoussane wrote:
Rob Houghton wrote:...we have our second uncollected short story - Nancy's Coconut - another one which is based on a true story, apparently. Again, it's not really an amazing story - feels like a filler.
Not the best story, I agree. I was a bit shocked at the dog getting hit on the head! Ouch - I bet that hurt! Also, I don't understand why the coconut wasn't just cut in half, as is usual. Then one half could have been hung outside Nancy's bedroom and the other outside another window so the rest of the family could watch the birds too.
I was mystified by that, too, Anita - why didn't they just cut the coconut in half - which, as you say, is the usual way of preparing a coconut for the birds, anyway! I also thought a coconut landing from a great height onto a dogs head can't have done the poor dog much good! It could even have knocked him out or killed him!! :shock:
Anita Bensoussane wrote:
Rob Houghton wrote:Next - an advert - What About a Noddy Theatre for your BIRTHDAY? - with two sets of scenery, seven actors (Noddy and all his friends) and two booklets containing three plays. All this for 18 shillings.
A toy theatre sounds very appealing although I'd have preferred one based on other Blyton books - e.g. the Faraway Tree, Galliano's Circus, Famous Five or Adventure series.
Even though I was a Noddy fan as a child, I think I would certainly have preferred a theatre based upon the Farway Tree characters - in fact I dimly recall making my own out of a tissue box, with characters I traced from the Dean books onto cardboard, coloured, and cut out, then stuck onto straws. :-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 Kate Mary »

Great review Rob thank you. That's a lovely photo of the Magazine Club party, I wish we could trace Linda Hooks or some of the other guests, I'm sure they must remember it. I enjoyed the three stories especially the first one, thanks to Tony for scanning and putting them on the website.
"I love everything that's old: old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wines." Oliver Goldsmith

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

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Yes, it would be super to hear from Linda Hooks or anyone else who attended the Magazine Club party.
Rob Houghton wrote:Even though I was a Noddy fan as a child, I think I would certainly have preferred a theatre based upon the Farway Tree characters - in fact I dimly recall making my own out of a tissue box, with characters I traced from the Dean books onto cardboard, coloured, and cut out, then stuck onto straws.
Sounds fun!
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.


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

Post by John Pickup »

Well done, Rob, another great review. I agree it would be interesting to know where Linda Hooks is nowadays. Regarding the birds singing early in the morning, I can tell you that the blackbirds are definitely up and about well before six o'clock in the morning. I heard them whilst biking to work last week.
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Re: 60 Years Ago This Week - Enid Blyton's Magazine 1957 -

Post by Rob Houghton »

Thanks for all the great comments! The reviews do take around an hour and a half to compose, so I'm grateful that people are still enjoying them. Of course, they'd be nothing without the great scans provided by Tony. I enjoy reading through each magazine in order and its a real treat to read so many uncollected short stories! :-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 Tony Summerfield »

This is a photo of Linda Hooks at the same party making a presentation to Enid. I had another version of this as a Family Photo in Journal 47 which some might remember.

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

Post by Rob Houghton »

Thanks Tony! A funny thing - but we are so accustomed to seeing people taking 'selfies' these days that for a minute I thought Enid was holding a mobile phone and taking a selfie of her and Linda Hooks!!! :lol: :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 Courtenay »

:lol: She was ahead of her time. :mrgreen: :wink:
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Re: 60 Years Ago This Week - Enid Blyton's Magazine 1957 -

Post by Tony Summerfield »

I think I must have gone scan crazy at the moment as I have just added Enid's letters to the 1957 issues so far! I thought that as I have been putting them into Sunny Stories, these ones are much more interesting and much longer. Here is a link to the current one, but the other three are also there.

http://enidblytonsociety.co.uk/magazine ... ?magid=904" 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 for doing that, Tony - it means I will have to quote less! ;-) On the other hand, you're making a rod for your own back, as I'm pretty sure most people just click on the link and read your scans, to save having to read my review! :lol: I know some people dislike long posts! ;-)

The letters were my main reason for reviewing the magazines...so I will soon just need to provide a link, lol!! ;-) However, that's okay by me, as I won't need to write such a detailed review. :-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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