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Daily Mail Article About 1930s Postcards and Letters

Posted: 20 Mar 2017, 23:28
by Anita Bensoussane
Quite interesting, though Bobs began writing his letters rather earlier than 1933!:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... lyton.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

People who have read Blyton biographies or followed the forums thread about Enid Blyton's Teachers World letters will have seen some of the postcards/photos before, though I don't think I'd seen the picture of Gillian in her reins or the final photo of Old Thatch.

Re: Daily Mail Article About 1930s Postcards and Letters

Posted: 20 Mar 2017, 23:43
by Tony Summerfield
How I hate being misquoted. I spoke to a male reporter from a small local paper last week, I have not had any contact with the Daily Mail at all. He thought that Bobs started writing letters in 1933, but I explained to him that Bobs started writing letters long before that date. I also said that I did not think that the pets influenced her writing in any way, she just used them to write short amusing letters but they were on top of her own letters in Teachers World. I also explained that the Bobs books were just collections of his letters in Teachers World and were not specially written books. I added that Bimbo and Topsy were the only pets to have their own book.

Re: Daily Mail Article About 1930s Postcards and Letters

Posted: 20 Mar 2017, 23:54
by sixret
An interesting article. Thank you, Anita. And thank you, Tony for the explanation.

Re: Daily Mail Article About 1930s Postcards and Letters

Posted: 21 Mar 2017, 00:56
by Rob Houghton
I was a bit confused trying to find these three postcards that have 'come to light' and was surprised to only see photos of Bobs that I'd seen before...a bit of a stretch to suggest that they are new discoveries, as the report seems to be saying! I guess they mean the actual postcards have been newly discovered with the letter, but two of the Bobs photos were used in 'The Story of My Life' and the one by the well appears in Barbara Stoney's biography. I was hoping to see something new!! :?

Re: Daily Mail Article About 1930s Postcards and Letters

Posted: 21 Mar 2017, 08:19
by Kate Mary
You can always rely on a newspaper to get the facts wrong. A nice picture of Gillian though, I've never seen it before.

Re: Daily Mail Article About 1930s Postcards and Letters

Posted: 21 Mar 2017, 09:57
by Julie2owlsdene
Yes, I've seen all those photos of Bobs, in the books I have. It's nice though that these articles even though some of the facts are wrong, keep Enid's name and books going. I haven't seen that picture of Gillian either, it's not in any of the books I have.

8)

Re: Daily Mail Article About 1930s Postcards and Letters

Posted: 21 Mar 2017, 10:12
by Courtenay
Oh no, their facts aren't wrong. They're just alternative facts. :twisted: :wink:

Seriously, even with Tony being misquoted and the various other inaccuracies, it is still good to see an article about Enid that shares some interesting information about her personal life and career WITHOUT trotting out any of the tired old lines about her books being racist/sexist/classist/infantile or otherwise bad for kids. I certainly didn't know anything about Enid's children or Bobs and her other real-life pets while I was reading her books as a child, so I'm sure this will be of interest to others as well.

Re: Daily Mail Article About 1930s Postcards and Letters

Posted: 21 Mar 2017, 11:00
by Rob Houghton
Yes, I agree. Its still a very interesting article, and its great to see the letter, and I have also never seen the photo of Gillian before. I do find it interesting that Enid Blyton took all three photos of Bobs herself...including the one where she's sitting with him by the well - presumably she must have used a timer for that one! :?

I'd also never seen the photo of Old Thatch before that comes at the end of the article. 8)

Re: Daily Mail Article About 1930s Postcards and Letters

Posted: 21 Mar 2017, 12:22
by John Pickup
That's a lovely photo of Gillian. When we talk about Bob's letters I always imagine the dog lying in his kennel in the evening, scribbling a few words on to paper with his paw. I always see him as left-handed, the same as me.

Re: Daily Mail Article About 1930s Postcards and Letters

Posted: 21 Mar 2017, 13:05
by Rob Houghton
:lol:

No - I'm pretty sure he's right handed...or should that be right-pawed? ;-)

I've said it before, but I really love Bobs letters - Enid really shows how good she was at getting into the mind of others - be it children or dogs! They are briliant pieces of writing and its a shame they haven't been published in a 'proper' book. I'm really glad I have the volumes printed by the Society. :-D

Re: Daily Mail Article About 1930s Postcards and Letters

Posted: 21 Mar 2017, 13:40
by sixret
Rob, I think Tony has compiled all of Bob's letters in three booklets. You should buy them since you love his letters. :D

Re: Daily Mail Article About 1930s Postcards and Letters

Posted: 21 Mar 2017, 13:55
by Rob Houghton
Yes - that's where I first read them, sixret! I have all three. :-D They were actually reprints of Enid's own self-published books.