The Enid Blyton Society

I can imagine her signing her name like that quite well actually.

Yes, I know exactly what you mean. I think it come with the flow of the signature, really. I think she paused then wrote the dashes after she had written 'Enid Blyton'.
And it's definitely NOT a logo, a signature that I think was very 'Blytonish'. Another reason as Anita said 'it could have just slipped and there was an idea for her signature Daadah!!!

Now, this might sound odd, but I may have hit upon a reason for the double dash under Enid's name and it's all to do with Pitman Short hand.

Now if you use this translator and play around with different phrases and names, you'll see the double dash/ underscore appear.

If you put "Enid Blyton" into the translator the scoring doesn't appear, but as we know she did go under the name of Mary Pollock, and if you put THAT name into the translator you come out with this:



Now I don't know if Enid ever learnt/used shorthand, but as a teacher- surely she must have done?

Its just a thought that if she knew of the double dash- which is used for emphasis- she may have used it to emphasis her name and set it apart which would make it more distinct.

I'm not saying that this is a fool proof theory in the slightest, just an idea I hit upon when I was discussing pitman shorthand with a very good family friend of mine.

As I've said, its just an idea, and thought I would share for scrutiney.

That's an interesting theory Stef. I'm trying to remember, but I think a double underline is used to denote a capital letter in the Teeline shorthand system. I don't know if it was around in Enid's day, and so I doubt she'd have used that version, but it would seem that a short double underline is quite widely used as an emphasis.

It's an interesting theory Stef. However I see no reason why a teacher should learn shorthand - it wasn't on the syllabus at my college and I haven't heard of it being used by anyone in that profession. It was more the province of a secretary. My mother learnt shorthand when she left school and she continued to use it when she wrote out her Christmas present list each year. So frustrating not to be able to read it!

I don't know how a secretary's skills would be viewed by someone like Enid back then. I've a feeling that such jobs were looked down up by Enid's middle class characters, although I may be thinking of something else I've read. Certainly in my own experience of work, I've heard the phrase 'only a secretary' used, so it hasn't been seen as a very important job.

Daisy, I've used my shorthand to make present lists as well - serves nosey children right for trying to peek. Thankfully, ulike trying to spell out words I didn't want the children to hear, they never learned how to read shorthand, so I was able to keep somethings private!

Very interesting theory Stef. But could be true-

honesty

Hi Everyone,

If you go to this website, the images that are shown have EB's signature but where's the dashes?

http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2013/03/31/jun04.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm guessing she didn't have the two ,, when they were published...

Those books appear to be later reprints, Honesty. Some publishers don't print the two dashes beneath the signature, perhaps for reasons of space or simply because they prefer a plainer, less cluttered look.

Thanks Anita!!!

Good theory Stef. Who knows could be fact, could be that some people like to put a line under their signature, and Enid chose 2.

I think it's time to go outside and bang my head against a brick wall.

It was only an idea Nigel! Please don't bang your head against a brick wall cause of me!

Don't worry, Stef. There's nothing inside Nigel's head to damage!

But what about the brick wall???