Merry Moments - esp. The Fairy Dustman, issue 152

[PaulK]

Hello lovely people - newbie here. I know very little about Enid Blyton, apart from that I enjoyed reading her, and my kids do now! (Daughter's a big Malory Towers fan - anyway, I digress...)

I'm here to ask about a story in Merry Moments, issue 152, March 4, 1922 - called The Fairy Dustman.

Here it is on this fine website: https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/bly ... perid=4270

I'm researching a very early BBC radio broadcast for children, on air Nov 1922: Tales of the Fairy Dustman', apparently by a Phyllis Twigg. A Google search though has led me here, as 'The Fairy Dustman' was also a tale in March 1922 issue 152 of Merry Moments, illustrated by Phyllis Chase, and presumably written by Enid Blyton.

Does anyone know then:

- Did Enid Blyton write all of Merry Moments? Is it likely that she'd have written the tale of The Fairy Dustman in Merry Moments?
- Does anyone have a copy of/access to that issue? I'm curious as to what's in the tale!
- The radio broadcast of Tales of the Fairy Dustman featured Puck the Painter, Pan the Piper, and stories inc. The Dustman's Arrival, The Little Nut Tree, Courage, Faith, The Bunnies' Lullabye and finally Birth! They were put to music too. Does this sound likely to have anything in common with what might be in the Merry Moments tale? Or does this sound like the work of a completely different person?

I'm all ears! I just find it out that there were two different 'Fairy Dustman' tales involving two different Phyllises, written in the same year. It might be a coincidence and I'm barking up the wrong tree. I'd love to find out one way or the other, if the radio broadcast would have been anything to do with Enid Blyton or not.

Any thoughts on the above? Thank you!

[Anita Bensoussane]

Welcome to the website and forums, Paul. That story was reprinted in a Merry Moments booklet produced by the Enid Blyton Society. Unfortunately, I've mislaid the relevant booklet so I can't re-read 'The Fairy Dustman', but I believe it's the same story as 'Corovell, the Children's Dustman', which appeared later on in Tarrydiddle Town and Other Stories (Thomas Nelson, 1926), where it was credited to Enid Blyton (I don't have a copy of Tarrydiddle Town and Other Stories so I can't double-check). As detailed in the link you gave in your post, the story begins, "Once upon a time, long, long ago, the world became so full of exciting happenings that..."

Enid Blyton contributed a number of items to Merry Moments (magazines and annuals) in the 1920s, but there were other contributors too.

Phyllis Chase had been one of Enid Blyton's schoolfriends and she illustrated quite a few of Enid's early stories and poems.

[pete9012S]

Yes Anita, and I was just going to add that Corovell the Fairy [The Fairy Dustman] also appears in this 2018 book which can be purchased on amazon:

2.
Corovell the Fairy [The Fairy Dustman]
Story: Merry Moments, Vol. 3, No. 152, Mar 4 1922

https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/boo ... me+Stories

Amazon link:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Treasury-Bedti ... 569&sr=8-1

[David Chambers]

Hi Paul,

No, Enid Blyton only contributed to Merry Moments.
Newnes started the story paper in 1919 and Enid only began to contribute (it is believed) around the end of 1921.

The “Fairy Dustman” was a well used terminology at this time and there are numerous references to songs/performances of playlets etc, which all use this phrase, some as far back as 1917. None have any relationship to Enid’s story in Merry Moments. Or to the piece you have mentioned.

I believe your details refer to the gramophone record (the His Master’s Voice variety) which was first advertised on 1st Dec 1921 and includes:

For the Children
Marjorie Montefiore
Vocalist - Walter Glynne

Tales of the Fairy Dustman - Puck and Pan

No. 1 The Dustman’s Arrival
No. 2 The Little Nut Tree
No. 3 Courage
No. 4 Faith
No. 5 The Bunnies’ Lullaby
No. 6 Birth

This seems to match exactly the details you have.

Another similar advert (there were a number) states Marjorie is telling the story on the record and Walter singing the songs.

An 8th Dec 1921 advert calls the piece “the new and fascinating Tales of the Fairy Dustman” which suggests it first appeared around this time.

Wireless performances of the same piece all come after the record in 1922.

As Anita and others have said Enid’s story was reprinted in later books so you should be able to get hold of a copy fairly easily. But it is an entirely different tale.

Hope this helps

David

[David Chambers]

I have just noticed the music and words seem to appear in “Tales of the Fairy Dustman” later on in 1922
https://discover.libraryhub.jisc.ac.uk/ ... stman&rn=5

A review of this text in May says:

“A most fascinating book, entirely novel in conception, prepared by Puck, the Painter, and Pan, the Piper. From the arrival of the Dustman with his tripping song:

I am your Dustman, fairy friend,
Fix your eyes on me;
I bring you dreams, fun without end,
Quick! Come to sleep and see;

the interest of the children is aroused. They love to hear of the fairies which are our thoughts and to learn “the best game you can ever play is making dreams come true.” Colin and Peterkin and the little Nut Tree that would only bear a silver nutmeg and a golden pear are soon real and well-beloved friends.

D

[Anita Bensoussane]

The “Fairy Dustman” was a well used terminology at this time and there are numerous references to songs/performances of playlets etc, which all use this phrase, some as far back as 1917.

It sounds as though it's another name for the Sandman of folklore.

[David Chambers]

It sounds as though it's another name for the Sandman of folklore.

Yes, more of a “fairy dust” man, than Dustman!

In Enid’s story “...the world became so full of exciting happenings that the children could not go to sleep at night.” Corovell, the Fairy, is able to provide the King with a fairy dust which “...not only makes the children go to sleep, but it makes them dream of roses and butterflies, and poppies and starshine - all the beautiful things in the world.”

[PaulK]

Huge thanks for the replies (and apols for my delay in this reply, after a few days offline)

This is really appreciated. Thank you. I did wonder if there were several different takes on the 'Fairy Dustman', and this seems to be the case here. I did wonder if the tale in Merry Moments might be Phyllis Twigg's, sold to the magazine, as I saw that she wrote her original story in 1921, before it was turned into the gramophone version. Phyllis Twigg contributed to several magazines, so it's possible that Blyton's Merry Moments might have taken her story...

...but it sounds most likely as you say that these are entirely separate stories, especially if the Merry Moments' 'Fairy Dustman' became Corovell the Fairy, later attributed to Enid Blyton.

Phyllis Twigg's Fairy Dustman tale intrigued me because a separate tale of hers, The Truth about Father Christmas, is often heralded as the first drama every written specifically for broadcast (Dec 24th 1922), yet Twigg seemed to write very little else. For about half a day last week i excitedly pondered if Twigg might be Enid Blyton in another form! But alas no.

I've since done a bit more digging, and seen that Phyllis Twigg had a pen name, which explains why she vanishes completely from the airwaves. She reinvented herself as Moira Meighn and wrote cookbooks as well as children's stories (eg. The 'Normous Sunday Story Book - which MIGHT feature her Fairy Dustman or Father Christmas tales - I hope to get my hands on a copy soon). Meighn/Twigg later became Britain's first TV chef, so that's another nice notable first. Pic of her here: https://twitter.com/BBCentury/status/16 ... 7910235136

...but all of that is nothing to do with Enid Blyton, as it turns out they only share a book title, on that Fairy Dustman. Thanks for the help clearing this up for me!