Toffee Tower

[rockybar]

I'm trying to identify some dimly remembered stories from childhood... the first one involved people climbing a tower made of toffee, they stuck saucepan handles in thhe toffee and used the saucepans as steps to clinb the tower. sorry it's not much to go on, and even that bit might be inaccurate!

[Anita Bensoussane]

Was it a short story or an episode from a chapter book, Rockybar? If it was the latter, you're probably thinking of The Enid Blyton Book of Brownies (about three brownies called Hop, Skip and Jump who go on a quest and are accompanied by the Saucepan Man for a while). It's a brilliant book - incredibly inventive and quite moving in places, but laced with humour. It has been re-titled several times over the years, as you can see if you click on this link and scroll down to REPRINTS:

https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/boo ... 26+Jump%29" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[pete9012S]

Yes, I think Anita could be right rockybar!



Here's a short excerpt:

They ran towards the castle and, panting and breathless, flung
themselves down at the foot of it.
‘Isn’t it a funny colour!’ said Hop, looking at it closely. ‘It looks just
like toffee!’
Skip broke a piece off and licked it.
‘It is toffee!’ he said. ‘My goodness! Fancy a castle built of toffee!’
‘Toffee!’ cried Jump in delight. ‘I say, how lovely! I’m going to have
a really big bit!’
He broke off a fine fat piece and began chewing it. It was
delicious.
‘I suppose it was built by magic,’ said Hop. ‘I can’t imagine people
building it, can you? They’d get so terribly sticky.’

‘This is what I mean,’ said Hop, and he picked up a saucepan. He
held it upside down and drove the handle into the toffee wall. It went
in quite easily, and stayed there, for the toffee held it tight.
‘One step up,’ said Hop, and picked up another saucepan. He
pushed the handle of that one in, a little way above the first one.
‘Two steps up!’ he cried. ‘Now do you see the idea?’
‘Oh yes !’ cried the other two. ‘What a good plan, Hop! We can
climb up on the saucepans, if only the handles will hold all right!’
‘The toffee will hold them,’ laughed Hop, who was beginning to
feel very excited.
One by one the saucepans’ handles were driven into the wall, so
that every saucepan made a step higher than the last. They were
quite firm and steady and, as the brownies were little and light, there
was no fear of the steps breaking.
Higher and higher they went, until they had almost reached the
window at the top. Jump carried the saucepans that were left and
passed them one by one to Skip, who passed them to Hop, who
drove the handles into the wall.
‘What a mercy we had so many saucepans!’ whispered Skip.

[rockybar]

You're right Anita and Pete!
The book of brownies, thats the one, I will be searching for a copy now I know the title. thanks for the very helpful replies!

[rockybar]

What exactly IS a brownie?
I seem to remember them cropping up quite often in Enid Blyton and just took it for granted, never heard of them since though, did she invent them??

[pete9012S]

What is a Brownie?
Rohini Chowdhury


A brownie is a small, hardworking elf-like creature that lives in houses and barns. He is said to come out at night, and finish the housework that has been left undone. In return, a brownie will accept gifts of food and cream, bread or milk may be left for him, though other gifts offend him. If clothes are left out for him, he will put them on and vanish, never to return. This is what happens in the Grimms’ story The Elves and the Shoemaker. A brownie is rarely seen, though he can often be heard cleaning and scrubbing. A mischievous brownie could sometimes disarrange rooms and furniture, and make an untidy clutter.

Brownies also feature regularly in children’s literature, for example in Julian Horatio Ewing’s story, The Brownies, written in 1870. The story is about two lazy little boys; their mother is dead, and their father is looking after them all alone. He gets no help from the boys and has to do the household chores on his own. So one of the little boys goes in search of a brownie to help his father. He soon realises that he and his brother are the only real brownies. The story shows that all children are brownies when they are kind and helpful.

Lord Baden-Powell liked the concept of helpful children being called brownies so much that he adopted the name ‘Brownies’ for the junior girl guides in 1918. The leader of the pack is called Brown Owl, which is once again taken from the story by Mrs. Ewing, where the Old Owl shows the boy what he and his brother must do.

Another well-known work for children that features brownies is Palmer Cox’s poem, The Brownies in the Toy Shop; this describes a troop of brownies rambling through the town at night ‘to pry at this, to pause at that’, till they see a toy store. They are fascinated by the shop, and spend the entire night ‘in greatest glee’, playing with the toys. Palmer Cox’s brownies first appeared in the 1890s. They became so popular with children that the main characters were reproduced as dolls.

And of course, we have Big Ears the Brownie, in the Noddy stories by Enid Blyton. He lives in the woods, in a dear little toadstool house, and rides a red bicycle. He is Noddy’s best friend, and also his mentor and protector.

Brownies occur mainly in the folklore of England and Scotland. The boggarts of Yorkshire and the bogles of Scotland are wicked mischievous brownies, a bit like poltergeists.

http://www.longlongtimeago.com/once-upo ... e/brownie/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Regards

Pete