1940s Children's Authors

[Francis]

Vernon Smith was an excellent character - I liked him in 'Billy Bunter's Beanfeast' when he sets out to
make his fortune from a French casino after devising a 'foolproof' method of beating the odds! I also had a big problem finding Famous Five and Adventure books in the library - the few they had were always booked out. The shelves were full of the Hugh Lofting books.

[John Pickup]

Other books from the 40's that may be remembered by some of us are the excellent "Alison" series by Sheila Stuart and the series about the Waggoner children and Crusoe by David Severn. David Severn published the first one, Rick Afire, in 1941 and that was swiftly followed by Waggon For Five, Hermit On The Hills and Forest Holiday.
I also have copies of two excellent children's novels from that time, The Beacon Cottage Mystery by Alan Langton which came out in 1948 and The House On The Cliffs by Rita Coatts, published a year earlier in 1947. A veritable feast of reading for the children growing up at that time.

[Francis]

I wonder why there are so many in this period - I suspect children (or rather their parents and relations) were able to buy more books than before and reading was very popular. Unfortunately, although my sister and I were called bookworms we couldn't afford books and had to rely on the various libraries.

[John Pickup]

My parents couldn't afford to buy me books either, Francis. All of the hard backs that I read were borrowed from the library which I visited every week. I did receive the occasional book as a present but didn't buy them until the Armada paperback books came out in the early sixties. I had read all of the Famous Five, Adventure and Secret Seven series from the library before I actually owned a copy of any of them.

[Francis]

It sounds like we came from deprived backgrounds but that was not true as mothers stayed at home and there was only one income in most households. Unfortunately paperbacks for children had not been introduced in the 1950s but I did own one Famous Five - 'Five go to Billycock Hill' . I loved that book and read it many times.

[Daisy]

The only books I received were birthday and Christmas presents and very occasionally I managed to save up pocket money for weeks to buy a new book. Yes, John I loved the Alison books and have about seven of them, including 2 modern reprints. I also have several Rita Coatts books and a David Severn one which I had from The Children's book club.

[Courtenay]

Just to get back to the comment about wartime economy paper - my recently bought copy of The Island of Adventure was published in 1944 (by Macmillan), and yet the paper is quite normal, thick and of good quality (and doing very well for 70 years old!). I've seen other books with wartime paper, and this definitely isn't anything like it.

Was the economy paper only used in the first few years of the war, or were there exceptions made for some books or publishers - does anyone know?

[Katharine]

What is the wartime paper like? Is it that brittle brown paper? If so, I really love it, as I think it gives the books character. However, it is a bit worrying as well, as I have a couple of books that I fear may disintegrate soon.

I like the 'Alison' books too. I read several at school when I was forced to choose an another author rather than Enid Blyton. Even then I got ticked off for reading all the books in that series that were in the school library. I couldn't remember who they were by, but thanks to the knowledgeable folk on these forums, I was pointed in the right direction, and even have a couple of the books of my own now.

Oh, just had a strange 'flash back', I seem to remember seeing a FFO book on the library shelves, but don't know why I never borrowed it. Wonder what happened to it.

[Anita Bensoussane]

...my recently bought copy of The Island of Adventure was published in 1944 (by Macmillan), and yet the paper is quite normal, thick and of good quality (and doing very well for 70 years old!). I've seen other books with wartime paper, and this definitely isn't anything like it.

Was the economy paper only used in the first few years of the war, or were there exceptions made for some books or publishers - does anyone know?

I don't know the answer to that, but the Adventure books also have embossed designs on the cloth covers - using a couple of colours - and are satisfyingly chunky volumes. With gorgeous wraparound dustwrappers as well, they do seem remarkably lavish considering that the first few titles were published during or just after the Second World War.

[Moonraker]

I remember loving the Macmillan editions of the Adventure series. They were big, thick books, and seemed like a proper adult book. Imagine my disappointment when finding a copy of the Thames Publishing edition - almost wafer thin, but not abridged. It turned out the Macmillan books were printed in larger type on thick paper. I felt cheated!

[Farwa]

Poor you!

[burlingtonbertram]

One of my favourite characters in the Billy Bunter books is Vernon-Smith, otherwise The Bounder. A true loner with a scheming mind. Didn't Lorna Hill write books about ballet and dancing? I seem to recall some of her work has been re-published by Girls Gone By.

The Bounder is by far and away the best drawn character in the Greyfriars books. He has many faults, but he's not malicious merely self destructive. He's the one that you would have wanted to sneaked out of school with after lights-out to visit the local pub and back a horse. Frank Nugent, John Bull and Harry Singh are just cyphers. Harry Wharton is a more rounded character but still a tad flat; a junior George Wingate. Loder - the cad of the Sixth and Price, black sheep of the Fifth are much more interesting. I think it was the cowardly Price who laid out Wingate with a blow to the back of the head, one foggy day.

I've wittered on about this in a thread elsewhere on "Other Authors" but the earlier Greyfriars stories appeal to me more. They are less Bunter orientated. By the time you get into the 40's and beyond, his escapades do dominate.

[burlingtonbertram]

What is the wartime paper like? Is it that brittle brown paper? If so, I really love it, as I think it gives the books character. However, it is a bit worrying as well, as I have a couple of books that I fear may disintegrate soon.

.

It always reminds me of recycled paper - I don't know if they did that then.

[Daisy]

I have several war economy books and the paper feels a little thinner than normal but otherwise they are just as good as others of the same vintage. The pages haven't gone brown - unlike some of my other elderly books of pre-war or just post-war age.

[Francis]

I certainly think there must have been some authors who were less effected by the wartime economy measures - maybe it depended on which publisher they used.