"Don't mention the war."

[GloomyGraham]

With apologies to Basil Fawlty, this struck me as a good thread title for the Blyton forum

1939--45 were some of her most productive years and post-war issues (eg rationing) lasted another 10 years but were rarely referenced in her books.

Could kids on a camping trip around 1948 reall have gone to a village bakery and had sausage rolls, macaroons, ginger beer & ice creams without worrying about ration books?

And then waled to soome farm where the wife would give them bread, bacon, eggs and a great big fruit-cake for tomorrow?

[GloomyGraham]

How many books did Enid mention the war in?

- The Adventurous Four
- The Children of KIdillin
- Smuggler Ben

I''ll leave the rest of them for you to name

[Courtenay]

The Valley of Adventure is another one, obviously, although it's set after the war (the ones you listed are set during it).

[db105]

I have no insight on what Enid Blyton's motivation for not mentioning the war was (maybe I should read a biography), but it looks like she wanted to make the books timeless and avoided references to real-world issues. Of course, now the books are dated by the lack of modern technology, but it's not clear when exactly they are set. I read them for the first time growing up in the 80s, and I didn't really see them as period pieces then, helped by the fact that, not being British, I was used to some cultural differences.

There is something I always found very attractive as a kid about the adventure-style stories, related to how much freedom the children have in organizing their holidays and going on their own with a group of like-minded friends. Of course, the stories always took place during holidays, so there was also freedom from schools and studying. Just starting the book and reading the first chapters, even before the adventure proper began, made me happy. Really good wish-fulfilment, and my guess is that the nice food was part of that atmosphere too. Even if I had no idea what ginger beer was ("surely not alcoholic?", I wondered), it didn't matter: just reading about them enjoying the food and drinks so much was enjoyable.

[Hannah]

Too short stories that don't mention the word "war" but are probably related to it:

In the short story "A Night on Thunder Rock" (1947) there are smugglers and it is said:

“Well, you know there are plenty of smugglers to-day, now that things are expensive and difficult to get,” said Fred.

"The Secret of Sky-Top Hill" was published in 1944 and 1945 and features spies.

[Yak]

I always felt that the lavish descriptions of food in so many of the books were related to the fact that rationing was in force during the time. I am sure that readers would have been envious at the amount that Blyton's characters seemed to be able to get their hands on!

[GloomyGraham]

I always felt that the lavish descriptions of food in so many of the books were related to the fact that rationing was in force during the time

Yes, I think I mentioned this in a thread in the past. Enid only mentioned the war a few times in her books but never mentioned rationing though it happened for about 15 years of her output.

I still laugh at the FF raiding Aunt Fanny's 'big cupboard' stocked with tins in case the cottage got 'snowed in'. That was called 'hoarding' back then Fanny and was almost a criminal act lol

It might have made the books a bit too close to reality though.

"Let's see"said the jolly farmer's wife. "I can give you a ham and a fresh-baked loaf. Some butter, a dozen eggs and some currant buns. Would that suit you?"

"Oh yes" said Anne smiling.

"Now, I just need to see your ration books"....

[Courtenay]

If you read Enid's weekly letters to her young readers in "Teachers World" magazine during the early 1940s — Anita has been sharing links to them each week in another forum thread here — she fairly often makes references to the war, not in great detail, just occasional mentions of how hard it is to get certain things and so on. I've always figured that it's probably because everyone was experiencing the war and her young readers all KNEW what it was like to live under rationing, to not be able to travel freely, to have blackouts and bombings and to suffer the loss of loved ones, that Enid didn't mention any of this in the vast majority of her books. She surely wanted to give children an escape from all that, to remind them of happier times and to encourage them to hope that peace would come and life would go back to normal some day.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Another book in which the war is mentioned briefly is The Children at Green Meadows, published in the early 1950s. Mr. Marshall, the father of the family, was injured in the war, leaving him disabled. We're also told that he was awarded medals for "Great Bravery".

Too short stories that don't mention the word "war" but are probably related to it:

In the short story "A Night on Thunder Rock" (1947) there are smugglers and it is said:

“Well, you know there are plenty of smugglers to-day, now that things are expensive and difficult to get,” said Fred.

"The Secret of Sky-Top Hill" was published in 1944 and 1945 and features spies.

Yes, a number of short stories either mention the war or refer to things related to it. A few more:

'They Showed a Light' is to do with the blackout, and the blackout is also referred to obliquely in 'Mr. Twiddle Goes Out at Night' and 'Mister Meddle Makes a Mistake'.

'The Boy Who Changed His Name' is about a boy called Adolf, and how other children react to his name during the war. 

Sugar rationing is hinted at in the Mr. Pink-Whistle story 'A Wonderful Party', with twins Mollie and Michael telling Mr. Pink-Whistle that their mother is making them a big birthday cake with pink icing. Mollie adds, "She saved up the sugar icing specially for us."

'Mr. Twiddle's Meat Pie' refers to problems caused by wartime food shortages too. Twiddle wonders whether he and Mrs. Twiddle ought to accept an invitation to have dinner with his wife's sister, Harriet, because "food is so expensive." Mrs. Twiddle replies, "Quite right - food is expensive just now - so you can go out this afternoon and buy a meat pie from the cookie-shop. You won't have to stand in the queue for more than an hour, I should think."

In 'Mr. Twiddle is a Funny Fellow' the grocer, who has run out of eggs, recommends that Twiddle buys egg-powder for Mrs. Twiddle to use when baking her buns, saying, "It will do quite well in place of eggs." Egg-powder was popular during the war, when fresh eggs were rationed.

We recall the wartime motto "Make do and mend" when Mrs. Twiddle ('Mr. Twiddle and the Boots') decides that her husband's old boots "must be soled" because "In these hard days we mustn't throw old boots away."

In 'Mister Meddle Has a Surprise' we're told that Aunt Jemima "knitted socks for the soldiers."

[Anita Bensoussane]

The Island of Adventure was almost a war novel. In Enid Blyton - A Literary Life, Andrew Maunder says that Macmillan initially wanted Enid to write them an adventure novel "based on a plot of their own design. This featured two teenagers, an older girl and a younger boy, returning from the United States to do war work in Britain via the Atlantic (a perilous crossing, given the threat of being torpedoed by German submarines). Once in London, the girl would get a job at the Admiralty, during which time she would meet an American pilot (on leave after being wounded on a bombing raid over Germany). He would take the girl and her brother under his wing." [These details were outlined in a memorandum dated 16th July 1943]. Macmillan felt that such a story would cement the bond between the USA and Britain, and establish Enid Blyton in America.

However, Enid wasn't keen on writing war-based fiction by that stage. On 19th July 1943 she wrote in a letter to Macmillan: "...do you mind if I don't write a book bringing in the war? I say this for two reasons - one is that the war inevitably dates a book, and after the war is over few people will want to read about it - certainly we shall want our children to forget it! Another reason is that there are still a great many people who definitely will not buy a book about the war for their children - they prefer stories that take the children's minds away from it, and this is quite right."

As Db105 and Courtenay have said, Enid Blyton hoped to avoid her stories being seen as period pieces, and wanted them to provide an escape for children.

[db105]

However, Enid wasn't keen on writing war-based fiction by that stage. On 19th July 1943 she wrote in a letter to Macmillan: "...do you mind if I don't write a book bringing in the war? I say this for two reasons - one is that the war inevitably dates a book, and after the war is over few people will want to read about it - certainly we shall want our children to forget it! Another reason is that there are still a great many people who definitely will not buy a book about the war for their children - they prefer stories that take the children's minds away from it, and this is quite right."

I have to say, I find this interesting because it shows how Enid Blyton was concerned about how the books that she was writing at that time would be perceived many years later, and wanted them to still be relevant instead of period pieces. I find this unusual because, from what I know of the publishing industry, a book's commercial success or failure is mostly determined by the sales right after the publication. Years afterwards, the book may still be selling but it's normally a small amount compared to the sales immediately after publication, when the book would be at many book shops and therefore easier to find for readers.

Maybe in the past this was different, but I find how Enid was thinking about the long term quite unique. Maybe it's because at that point she was already a household name and knew that her books could still be selling a lot, even years after publication?

[Debbie]

I think a lot of books round that time do forget about the rationing and talk a lot about food.
Even those that are definitely war time, and have rationing, food is a big part. I've a book of my mum's called "Riddleton Roundabout" (I think) which is about two children evacuated to the countryside. It's very much "normal life as evacuees at a nice farm" but you get the blackberrying for the WI to make jam and the amount of sugar used, and there's a cake the children discover one night which they call "very un-war-like" and take a slice, only to discover it was a special one and they shouldn't have touched. Meals are full of description of food in the way that I don't think they do nowadays unless the food is relevant.

Although it's interesting that EB says that once the war is over people won't want to read about it-my son spent years reading almost nothing else. I wonder if she'd written the first FFs with the war featuring (like the Lone Pine series for example) whether her books would be more or less popular today?

[Anita Bensoussane]

...I find how Enid was thinking about the long term quite unique. Maybe it's because at that point she was already a household name and knew that her books could still be selling a lot, even years after publication?

Enid Blyton was certainly aware that she had quite a following. In 1943 she was in touch with her readers on a regular basis through Teachers World and Sunny Stories , and she had every reason to expect that close contact to continue (indeed it did, and she started her own magazine in 1953 - Enid Blyton's Magazine - which gave her complete control of the content).

Also, she had begun writing series of books and she must have realised that many children who started with a later book from a series would then want to track down earlier titles about the same characters.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I think a lot of books round that time do forget about the rationing and talk a lot about food.

I've noticed that too. Maybe it's done deliberately, as part of an attempt to create an alluring world of wish-fulfillment? Young readers can immerse themselves in a story in which children get to roam free, defeat villainous adults and eat heartily.

I talked about 'Mister Meddle Makes a Mistake' earlier, in which Mister Meddle has trouble finding his way to and from a party because it's so dark. Enid Blyton doesn't mention the word "blackout" but the story was first published in 1940 and we're told that "The streets were very dark, for there were no lamps lighted," which can only be a reference to the blackout. Despite the war, there are "plenty of good things to eat" at the party - "There were three chocolate blanc-manges, six pink jellies, some egg sandwiches, and a fruit salad with a big jug of cream." I believe that only a few things were rationed to begin with, and other things were added to the list later, but sugar and butter were among the items that were rationed early on.

Noel Streatfeild's The Children of Primrose Lane comes to mind too. The war has brought much deprivation, yet when the children and their parents have a party they have tinned lobster, sausages, cream buns, fruit, ice-cream, lemonade and beer.

Although it's interesting that EB says that once the war is over people won't want to read about it-my son spent years reading almost nothing else.

Enid Blyton probably wasn't thinking quite that far ahead! Maybe she felt that children who had been through the war might prefer not to be reminded of it, and that children who were born towards the end of the war or just after the war would want something fresh. It's different once many years have elapsed, as young readers may well be fascinated to look back on a period of history that brought so many changes.

I wonder if she'd written the first FFs with the war featuring (like the Lone Pine series for example) whether her books would be more or less popular today?

It's hard to say. I imagine the series would still be popular but that readers would feel that the earlier books were set apart from the rest.

[Yak]

I remember in one of the FFOs the children are given an egg and a pat of butter each at a market and seem to think it's a great treat. I was not terribly impressed with that as a child - if I wanted an egg I could go to the fridge! - but at the time, eggs must have been rationed (and often powdered) and ONE extra egg on the ration per week, every now and then, was much appreciated.