The Enid Blyton Society

The official Rupert Bear society 'The Followers of Rupert' has a smart new website:

http://www.rupertbear.co.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The old one was the dullest site I have ever clapped eyes on, not a patch on our glorious Enid Blyton Society website, but they have sharpened up their act it seems and produced a very attractive site. I am occasionally tempted to join but then I look at the eye-watering £28 per year subs and think again. What great value-for-money our modest £10 subscription is. The annual 'day' is a posh affair too with a Gala Dinner included.

One thing lacking from their site is a forum, perhaps they know they would overwhelmed with people telling them just how awful the recent annuals are, this year's edition being no exception.

Are any forumites or Enid Blyton Society members also members of the Followers?

Kate

I haven't seen the site yet, nor have I seen the latest annuals etc, but when I was learning to read, the Rupert books/annuals were some of my favourites.

I had the 1973 Rupert Annual as a child and loved Alfred Bestall's illustrations. Some of the stories had eerie or creepy elements which made me shiver. I remember being spooked by Rupert coming across a gate in the middle of nowhere which was apparently not joined to a wall or fence of any kind, and frightened at Rupert and his friend Rastus Mouse accidentally getting locked in a big department store overnight. Yet there was also a cosy homeliness to the tales, with Mrs. Bear bustling about in her gingham apron and Rupert having so many cheerful, helpful friends in the community of Nutwood.

I had the 1970 and 1972 annuals as a child, and have since acquired a second hand version of both as an adult. My favourite story of all was Rupert and the Sky Boat where Rupert and Margot meet this sinister looking inventor who runs a factory that makes this mysterious "anti-gravity" material called Sky Metal. If a piece of Sky Metal isn't held down by a heavy enough object, it'll just fly straight up into the sky and get lost!

I know this is the Enid Blyton Society, but I know that many of us have other similar interests, so I hope Tony won't mind me re-opening this thread.

I was really pleased with the Pop-Up Rupert book (Rupert and the Ruined Garden) that I bought yesterday. I've never seen one before. It was published by Purnell, who also published lots of Enid Blyton books in the 1970s.

Anyone else out there collect Rupert books in any shape or form?

I have several Rupert annuals from the seventies/eighties, and some slightly bigger ones from the nineties onwards, which I prize as part of my overall collection of children's books. I don't tend to seek them out, but I like to pick them up when I come across them. I loved the Rupert Bear annuals as a child - I thought them magical, exotic, humorous and full of the quaintest people. They're beautifully illustrated too.

I've never seen a pop-up Rupert book, so I'll keep an eye out for one.

I saw a batch of about eight early Rupert Annuals, in a Charity Shop today, for £40. I don't know of if this was a good deal? I agree that the illustrations are lovely, but I've never really been interested in the stories themselves.

Rupert was the great love of my childhood and I collected the annuals from the early 1960s. I now have a full set (79 of them) but the wartime and pre-war ones are facsimiles from the 1980s. I don't usually pay a lot of money for second hand books but I must admit I paid well over £100 each for the 1946 and 1947 annuals. Sadly the annuals published in the last few years are a bit thin and mostly contain reprinted stories.

As a child growing up in the mid 60's,, I used to receive a Rupert the Bear annual every year. This ritual continued until I reached the age of 10. I kept my little mint collection in boxes in the attic for years on end & eventually gave them to a relative, Who promptly went about scribbling inside & defacing the covers!

As an adult, I came across the beautiful little cottage in Beddgelert in Snowdonia, North Wales, where Alfred Bestall once lived. A lot of Alfred's illustrations in the Rupert books were inspired by the surrounding area in & around Beddgelert. A great village to visit if you happen to find yourself in that part of Wales.

I have always liked Rupert Bear, and have managed to obtain all the 1970's Rupert Annuals, on eBay, in excellent or mint condition, I prefer the size of the 1970's Rupert Annuals, to the more recent Rupert Annuals.

Some episodes of the 1970's Rupert puppet series, can be seen on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od7TUPDcXB0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4ABZ9O5j9E" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have always liked the theme song, by Jackie Lee - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY1aJ35sw98" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I've always liked that theme song too - and the one Jackie Lee did for White Horses.

My sister and I had the Pepys Rupert playing cards when we were children, and I also had a Rupert money box made from fabric-covered plastic. It was a sad day when my mum made me throw it away because it had gone mouldy (I kept it on the window-sill and it suffered badly from the condensation).

I loved the 1970's Rupert programme - and the theme tune. I also loved the added aspects, such as his flying chariot. I can remember seeing a Rupert the bear in an aeroplane, which fixed to the handle-bars of a bike, when I was little. The propeller went round as you rode your bike, and I thought it was amazing, and really wanted one - but unfortunately I never did get one.

I did have a Rupert the Bear doll, however, with a plastic body and jointed arms and legs, which I loved!

The 1982 Documentary (presented by Terry Jones), about Rupert Bear, can be seen on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vf9j_t2rlU" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Daily Express, June 3rd 1971 - Rupert's Girl.

Brilliant! Imagine such a photo being included in a newspaper these days! There would be an outcry, lol!

Reading back through this thread, I was interested to see Anita mention a story in which Rupert was locked for a night in a big department store - yes - that was one of my favourite Rupert stories. It was quite frightening! I also remember a story where Rupert was carried away by an eagle because they thought his rugby ball was a bird's egg!

I have many Rupert books now, most from pre-1980 and a couple of facsimile ones, but my favourites are still those I had as a child, with well-remembered stories inside!