60 Years Ago This Week - Enid Blyton's Magazine 1958

[Courtenay]

Another great review and very enjoyable stories — thanks, Rob and Tony. Interesting that both uncollected short stories were on the theme of animals and pets this time. The Ugly Little Dog is not particularly original, as you say (and I guessed correctly what was going to happen as soon as the fog came in!), but Enid really does build up our sympathy for the poor lonely and unwanted animal while giving us a pretty realistic view of how probably many children and adults would have viewed a dirty, smelly stray (and they still might). "Why was it that other dogs had homes and masters and food and loving pats and he had none? The poor little dog couldn't understand" — that really tugs at the heart-strings, so to speak. Of course all ends happily, with Enid posing her usual kind of question to her readers in the final line — would you do the same thing? "Yes — I expect you would!" And how could we resist wanting to?

I agree A Friend for John is a little more unusual for Enid in showing the situation of a child in an urban flat with no pets allowed — I guess she must have been mindful of the fact that especially by the 1950s, that was how many children were growing up, and she deftly shows that even in the middle of a city or large town, there can still be something of the natural world for children to connect with. Quite a relevant theme even today, with all the talk of children suffering "nature deficit disorder" from spending so much more time indoors and being constantly connected to computers / phones / TV etc.!

On that note, I'm guessing pen-friends are pretty much obsolete these days — everyone just connects to everyone else on Facebook. The internet has its huge advantages and I wouldn't want to be without it for too long, but it's not the same as the specialness of receiving a letter in the post all for yourself, really... My best friend from school and I became pen-friends after she moved up to Queensland when we were 12, and we wrote to each other almost every week for years after that, even when we both had email addresses!

[Anita Bensoussane]

Another great write-up, Rob. Like you, I love Roger Payne's dramatic depiction of the temple in Adventure of the Strange Ruby. Thanks to Tony too for the scans.

Our News Sheet gives all the usual news about Enid's charities - and also some other things that are Blyton-themed - such as the Noddy In Toyland Pantomime - which in 1958 - 59 was to be performed at The Victoria Palace.

I hadn't realised - or had forgotten - that Noddy in Toyland was ever performed at the Victoria Palace Theatre. I've seen Billy Elliot there, which was certainly more my cup of tea!

A Friend For John is my favourite uncollected story this week - although its nothing very exciting - but a realistically portrayed story about a boy befriending a squirrel. I liked the atmosphere of this story - it gives a good impression of life in the late 1950's, when more and more people were living in flats with large green spaces surrounding them - very much like a few of the high-rise flats built in Kings Norton during the 1950's and 60's. these days we look upon them as being, basically, a failure, because they can create antisocial areas, and they isolate people from their neighbours - but back then they were a definite answer to the housing problems of inner cities. As a child I watched 'Mary Mongo and Midge' which sort of glamorised life in a high-rise block of flats - well, to me as a child anyway! This story has a similar feeling to it somehow - quite modern and a sign that Enid's stories were contemporary and she understood the problems her modern readers were often facing.

'The Ugly Little Dog' is a moving but predictable story and I agree that 'A Friend for John' is more interesting. I too used to watch Mary, Mungo and Midge, which made it seem special to live high up in a tower block that always looked gleaming and orderly. Enid Blyton had already touched on life in a council flat, and the problem of not being able to keep pets, in The Children at Green Meadows (1954). Incidentally, Enid Blyton herself had a half-tame squirrel called Frisky when she lived at Elfin Cottage.

[Rob Houghton]

Got a cold and cough this week...so a shorter review than usual and a bit late! Still, any EB Magazine is good to cheer us up!



You can read the cover story by following the link. This week we have The Light In the WIndow. Its a simple story but I thought it was well written and interesting. In a way it reminded me of one of the later Secret Seven stories!

Enid's Editorial Letter this week is another interesting read as always. Enid tells us she is going to start her Christmas shopping, and that she has been hanging out coconuts etc for the birds. Tere is also, maybe, a hint that Enid's workload is beginning to get on top of her - she mentions having many letters and not being able to answer them all. I know she has mentioned this before, but I'm guessing there did come a time when she was answering less and less.

Adventure of the Strange Ruby this week offers perhaps one of R Paul Hoy's most dramatic illustrations, which makes a change - I like the shadowy feel - although again it can never compare to the brilliant illustrations supplied by Roger Payne in the novel!






PUZZLE PAGE -

Sunbeams Prize Puzzle -

Take the first letter of each word in the sentence below, re-arrange the letters and you will find the name of one of Brer Rabbit's enemies! Who is it?

"Richard look over Betty's wall for Edward's rabbit.

Famous Five Prize Puzzle -

There is a garden tool hidden in each of the following sentences - can you find them all?

1) Is this pad easy to write on?
2) Your brakes are very efficient.
3) Does Tom owe Ruth threepence?

A Puzzle for my Busy Bees -

Can you name the odd word in the following group?

Middlesex, Gloucestershire, Birmingham, Kent.

Bonfire Night for the Secret Seven continues with chapter four - but I'm wondering how I would have felt reading a bonfire night story in December...I probably would have skipped it, as I rarely read the Secret Seven bonfire night stories after the big day. No illustrations in this issue.

The Goblin Shop continues its merry way - read it via the link!

The second uncollected short story is - wait for it, Anita - a NODDY story! Yes - He Sounded Like Noddy is another of those stories where someone up to mischief is mistaken for Noddy, purely because he is wearing a bell. I'm glad I don't have a bell on my hat, as this could be a real problem - maybe that's why bells on hats as a fashion statement never really caught on!

The Ragamuffin Mystery continues with chapter nine - 'a hot bath for Snubby'. in which Snubby, for reasons of the plot, arrives at the inn filthy, and has no more replacement clothes as his case has been mislaid...so he is 'forced' to buy some second hand ones. Of course, this is all for plot reasons...but it never seemed very satisfactory to me - Snubby starts off borrowing Rogers and Barney's clothes - which are too big...almost as if Enid is contriving the outcome she needs - that Snubby ends up looking like a ragamuffin!

I was interested to see Enid endorsing the BBC Children's Annual in her News Sheet and also in an advert - given that the BBC didn't ever seem interested in broadcasting her stories etc. Its described as 'one of the best of this year's annuals' - and yet I'd never even heard of them until now!

Here's the link -

https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/mag ... ?magid=951

[Kate Mary]

Thank you Tony and Rob, I enjoyed The Light in the Window, it's a very good story. I don't own any copies of the BBC Children's Annual, but I've seen them in bookshops, they looked very dull to me.

[Courtenay]

Thank you, Rob and Tony — hope you're feeling better soon, Rob. I really enjoyed The Light in the Window too — and a nice change that the heroes in it were both girls rather than boys. Braver ones than I am, too — I wouldn't have dared to go into that situation myself! (Not giving away what it is so as not to spoil the story for other readers.)

He Sounded Like Noddy! was amusing — and I liked the fact that Enid made a point of how good and kind Mr Golly was (who said she was racist??) — but I was a bit disappointed that the rabbit wasn't allowed to keep his gift in the end!

[Anita Bensoussane]

Hope you'll soon be feeling better, Rob. Thanks as always for the write-up - and thanks to Tony as well for the scans. I agree that 'The Light in the Window' is an interesting and exciting story.

[Rob Houghton]

Really behind this week, due to catching up with stuff after a cold. But here's this week's Enid Blyton Magazine - the Christmas issue -



I must say I'm not a fan of the 'special Christmas cover' - not very artistic...a bit flat and dull. I'm sure another illustrator would have done a better job. It seems to be a tradition with the Christmas issue that an illustration is used that has nothing to do with the stories inside. Looking at other Christmas issues, none of them are particularly inspiring!

In Enid's Editorial Letter she gives us some news about her Famous Five club, as well as her various homes and charities, and also the inhabitants of her garden. Of course, she also sends her readers Christma greetings. You can read the full letter, as always, by following the link. Thanks again to Tony.

The first uncollected story is What A Wonderful Afternoon! - with some great snowy illustrations that are again 'uncredited'. What a shame, as they are quite good ones...and I think I recognise the illustrator, although I can't put a name to them. Maybe someone else can? It's a story all about how some children help 'Father Christmas' - but this time its not the real Father Christmas, as in some other stories. A nice little story.

Next we have the next installment of The Ragamuffin Mystery - where Snubby buys some 'new' clothes. As a child I loved this part of the story but as an adult it seems slightly contrived. However, as Enid always said, she only listened to critics under 12 years of age, so who am I to say?

PUZZLE PAGE

Sunbeams Prize Puzzle -

If the code - HP, UP, CFE, FBSMA, PO, DISJTUNBT, FWF means 'Go to bed early on Christmas Eve', what does NFSSZ DISJTUNBT mean?

Famous Five Prize Puzzle -
Cross out the name of a bird in the following string of letters and you will find the name of a delicious Christmas dish. Name the bird and the dish -

PLGUOMPOUDSDIENG

A Puzzle For My Busy Bees -

Can you find the name of a girl hidden in the following sentence?

"Have you seen their island in the lake?"


Next we have The Goblin Shop which can be read by following the link, and after this the next chapter of Adventure of the Strange Ruby - here's this week's illustration -





Next we have a story about Bom - unusual in the Magazine - but it is available to read in the book Enid Blyton's Bedtime Annual 1971 should you have a copy! It's called Where's Your Drum, Bom?

Unusually the Bom story has no illustrations...maybe R Paul Hoy was a bit overworked, illustrating Strange Ruby and The Goblin Shop!

Bonfire Night For the Secret Seven continues with chapter 5 - A Nasty Looking Lot! It has quite a good illustration by Burgess Sharrocks -



The book has two illustrations in this chapter - both a bit inferior -





But interestingly the magazine illustration is used later in the book, with some alterations - in chapter 15 -




Apologies that my review is a bit short this time round - just wanted to get it down before the next issue - the last issue of 1958!



here's the link -

https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/mag ... ?magid=952

Merry Christmas!

[Courtenay]

Thanks as always, Rob and Tony — hope you're feeling better, Rob.

I must say I'm not a fan of the 'special Christmas cover' - not very artistic...a bit flat and dull. I'm sure another illustrator would have done a better job. It seems to be a tradition with the Christmas issue that an illustration is used that has nothing to do with the stories inside. Looking at other Christmas issues, none of them are particularly inspiring!

Hmmm, I don't much like it either, not least because the way the longer stockings are placed, they look like they're supposed to be the legs of the two children hanging out of the bed!!

The first uncollected story is What A Wonderful Afternoon! - with some great snowy illustrations that are again 'uncredited'. What a shame, as they are quite good ones...and I think I recognise the illustrator, although I can't put a name to them. Maybe someone else can?

Yes, an enjoyable one, though I don't recognise the illustrator. I notice, too, how careful Enid always is to say Santa Claus rather than Father Christmas, at a time when most British readers and writers would only have used the latter term — I think it's because "Santa Claus" comes from St Nicholas, the historical Christian figure behind the legend, whereas "Father Christmas" was originally a pagan figure. Regardless, it's a bit unusual of Enid to feature someone merely dressed as Santa Claus when she was so determined in other stories to have us believe in the real one!!

Interesting that Enid mentions the weather being so warm "that I believe I shall be able to do what I did last year — pick a bunch of red roses out of the garden for our Christmas dinner-table, to match the red candles! They are still blooming merrily in my garden." A far cry from her Teacher's World letters of the 1930s when she was describing how she would pick budding roses in summer, seal their stems with wax, bury them in a tin to keep them cold, and then dig them up in winter to revive them with water in time for Christmas! Also in Let's Garden, she speaks highly of the "Christmas Rose", a white-flowering hellebore that she implies is very unusual for flowering at about Christmas time. I always had the impression that it's only been in the last few decades that the climate has changed enough for Christmas in southern Britain to be sometimes "warm" enough to have roses and other summer flowers still blooming outdoors, but it looks like I was wrong there.

[Kate Mary]

I'm sorry chaps but I disagree, I think it is a brilliant cover for the Christmas number, a very 1950s design. The boy has hung a pair of stripey socks on the end of the bed, the girl has a pair of stockings and the cat has hung up four little white socks, a good joke, at least it made me smile. I've had a look at all the Christmas covers for the Enid Blyton Magazine and I like them all, they are very evocative of that decade.

Thank you Rob for including the puzzles and illustrations, it's great fun reading your reviews. And thanks also to Tony as always.

[pete9012S]

Thank you very much once again Rob and Tony.

I have a bit of catching up to do as I like to read the complete issues and then read your review.
Alas, other responsibilities have prohibited this of late.

Sorry to hear you have been unwell Ron - hope you are back to 100% for Christmas, and please don't tell me your pore old bike is still outside in all this rain!!!

[Courtenay]

Sorry to hear you have been unwell Ron - hope you are back to 100% for Christmas, and please don't tell me your pore old bike is still outside in all this rain!!!

Who's Ron?

[Anita Bensoussane]

Thanks as always to Rob and Tony for their hard work. Hope you're feeling better now, Rob. I rather like the simple lines and colours of the cover design, though the bed doesn't look long enough.

I notice, too, how careful Enid always is to say Santa Claus rather than Father Christmas, at a time when most British readers and writers would only have used the latter term — I think it's because "Santa Claus" comes from St Nicholas, the historical Christian figure behind the legend, whereas "Father Christmas" was originally a pagan figure.

Enid Blyton does call him "Father Christmas" in some of her books.

It's interesting to hear in the Editorial about youngsters from children's homes being taken to see the dress rehearsal of the pantomime Noddy in Toyland.

Reading 'What a Wonderful Afternoon!', I chuckled at the mention of Hall's Stores having previously had a scene showing Noddy and Big-Ears driving a sleigh.

Great stuff as always!

[sixret]

Hope you are well now, Rob.

[Rob Houghton]

Here we are with the very last issue of Enid Blyton's Magazine for 1958. In fact it came out on 31 December - so it really was as 'very last' as it could be!



The cover shows an illustration from the one uncollected short story in this issue - She Didn't Like Parties! - which is a nice story for this time of year...although its very predictable, having read several others with similar themes. However, it was an enjoyable read, and has some lovely illustrations by Anne Read.

In her Editorial Letter which can be read by following the link, we ear that for Enid it is still very much before Christmas, as she had to write this magazine extra early in order to get it to the printers. She chats all about the treats and theatre visits and parties she is sure her readers will be enjoying...which gave me pause for thought, as I'm sure there were very many poorer readers who would not have known such treats. I wonder what those children thought when they read Enid's letter this week!

She Didn't Like Parties! is quite a long short story, meaning that this week there isn't any room for more - only the several ongoing series stories Enid is currently including. Its fairly unusual for Enid to have three serials running at once...but I would think that this was partly to do with her 'winding down' the time she spent writing the magazine. These three novels would have been written months before and all completed, so she didn't have to do any extra work on them in preparation for each magazine. As we leave 1958 behind, its a bit sad to realise that this is the last New Year as well as the last Christmas, we will share with Enid via her magazine.

PUZZLE PAGE

Sunbeams Prize Puzzle -

The boys name below is made up of the mixed names of two animals. What are they?

BILL GUTER


The Famous Five Prize Puzzle -

Can you find the names of two of the Famous Five in the sentences below?

a) Either choose a cabbage or get some new potatoes.
b) I love all books written by Charles Dickens.


A Puzzle For My Busy Bees -

How many sides has a threepenny piece?



Next we have chapter 11 of The Ragamuffin Mystery and its rather hard to believe that in such a short book, the mystery is really only just beginning. Although I quite enjoy this book, and rate it higher than Rat-A-Tat Mystery personally, I do think its rather 'thin' on plot, and takes ages to get going, with some directionless stuff at the beginning with the holiday plans and caravans etc. Here we have the chapter I enjoyed most as a kid - where Snubby gets mistaken for the ragamuffin of the title - a situation I thought wholesomely credible as a kid but I'm less convinced these days!

The Goblin Shop offers us another quintet of verses, which I still find very enjoyable. Even R Paul Hoye's illustrations are great - they suit this sort of story/poem very much better than The Strange Ruby.

Which is what follows next - chapter 17 of Adventure of the Strange Ruby with another two illustrations by R Paul Hoye.




This next illustration from Adventure of the Strange Ruby I find somewhat baffling, in a jokey way...WHO is that rather glamorous woman standing behind the children? She looks like a cross between Marilyn Monroe and Diana Dors! Presumably this is meant to be one of the children, as no adults feature in the scene!!



Meanwhile we get an altogether more realistic depiction from Roger Payne -




Tony has really gone to town with his scans this week - and has included many little snippets which aren't usually available - including the Puzzle Page, which I didn't notice until AFTER I'd typed it all out - Thanks Tony!

There's also a nice Noddy painting competition, as well as a crossword you can try if you follow the link!

Bonfire Night for the Secret Seven continues with chapter 6 - The Bonfire Is Begun. Again there's an illustration by Burgess Sharrocks -

Its not bad...for Burgess Sharrocks...but to me it looks like two different illustrations spliced together. The children are well depicted, seated at the table...but their mother looks too young...or is it too old? I can't decide! Anyway she looks 'odd' - plus she looks massive compared to them. I'm not keen on her depiction at all and it doesn't really look like it was originally part of the illustration!



Mind you, its an improvement on the book version - which doesn't have an illustration at all for chapter 6.

Next, we have a road safety article, and the crossword, both of which can be found by following the link below.

https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/mag ... ?magid=953

And so our fortnightly flick through the pages of Enid Blyton's Magazine for 1958 comes to an end. There are sadly only 12 issues of The Magazine in 1959, and I will continue my fortnightly review of these under a new thread in 2019.

Happy New Year to you all!

[pete9012S]

Really enjoyed that overview - many thanks indeed to Rob & Tony for this thread which for me is one of the most enjoyable on the forums.