Journal 59

Courtenay · Post by **Courtenay** » 24 Mar 2016, 21:35

I don't remember much about the A-Team, but when we were little my sister and I had "Mr T" T-shirts with padding in the shoulders to make them look muscly!

(No real gold bling, though.)

Rob Houghton · Post by **Rob Houghton** » 24 Mar 2016, 23:06

any excuse for shoulder pads in the 80's!

Courtenay · Post by **Courtenay** » 24 Mar 2016, 23:12

Yep, even with kids under the age of 6!!

Moonraker · Post by **Moonraker** » 25 Mar 2016, 10:40

Our boys adored The A Team. I seem to remember they had a toy black van.

Rob Houghton · Post by **Rob Houghton** » 25 Mar 2016, 13:34

Talking of the wonderful 'centrespread' in this latest Journal, I'm currently reading The Rockingdown Mystery which I have in the original 'Junior Mystery' version with dust jacket. I was interested to see that even in the first edition, the dust wrapper blurbs were advertising it as 'the first in a new series of mysteries by Enid Blyton' and hinting there would be 'plenty more' - interesting, considering it was also a part of the Junior Mystery series.

I notice that a few authors wrote more than one book for the Junior Mystery series...such as Ellery Queen, who wrote several (Black Dog Mystery, Golden Eagle Mystery, Green Turtle Mystery etc) and also J.J Farjeon who had written two for the Junior Mystery series by the time Rockingdown Mystery was published...but Enid only released Rockingdown Mystery under the Junior Mystery banner before publishing the rest of the series 'independently'. I wonder why she didn't allow the other Barney Mysteries to be a part of the 'Junior Mystery' series - or was this a very short-lived venture by Collins?

Post by **Tony Summerfield** » 25 Mar 2016, 14:32

I was asking a question on that centrespread which can't really be answered, but The Rockingdown Mystery was Enid's first book for Collins and she may have felt that by offering to write some books for an existing series was the best way to get on board with a new publisher. I have three of the Ellery Queen books, The Golden Eagle Mystery being the first published in 1943 but I think The Black Dog Mystery might have been earlier than that, so the series had been going for several years before Enid came on board. Obviously we will never know whether it was Enid or Collins who went for the idea of a separate series. I might scan the wrappers of the other two Ellery Queen books that I have as they are rather nice.

Rob Houghton · Post by **Rob Houghton** » 25 Mar 2016, 15:30

That would be great, Tony! I didn't realise this was the first book of Enid's to be published by Collins - that's interesting too. It certainly seemed, from what it says on the dust wrapper, that Collins expected Enid to contribute more books to their Junior Mystery series - and certainly felt she would write more 'Barney Mysteries' as it states quite categorically that readers should expect more. This is unusual in a first edition book that is the first in a series, so I should think it was pretty solid evidence that more had been planned. Maybe Collins realised Enid would sell more copies in her own right than as part of the Junior Mystery series!

Post by **Tony Summerfield** » 25 Mar 2016, 16:35

The two that didn't make the centrespread!

Post by **Anita Bensoussane** » 25 Mar 2016, 18:05

Most intriguing. I'd certainly have liked the cover of Ellery Queen's The Golden Eagle Mystery if I'd come across it as a youngster.

Rob Houghton · Post by **Rob Houghton** » 25 Mar 2016, 19:14

Those covers are stunning! I agree with Anita that the Golden Eagle cover would have attracted me as a child. I'm not o sure about the cover for the Red Chipmunk - but the Golden Eagle book looks the type of adventure I'd have enjoyed. I also love the name 'Ellory Queen' !

John Pickup · Post by **John Pickup** » 25 Mar 2016, 19:38

The cover for The Golden Eagle Mystery has really whetted my appetite.
I believe J. J. Farjeon who contributed to the Mystery series was the J. Jefferson Farjeon who wrote whodunnits in the 1930's or 40's who has recently had his work republished under the British Classic Crime series. I believe Nigel has read a couple of them recently.

Rob Houghton · Post by **Rob Houghton** » 25 Mar 2016, 19:47

That's backed up by what it says on the rear of the dust wrapper for 'The Rockingdown Mystery'. There are two books by JJ Farjeon - and the titles are described as being 'Two Farjeon mysteries written specially for children...'

- The Llewellyn Jewel Mystery and The Lone House Mystery.

Post by **Tony Summerfield** » 25 Mar 2016, 19:48

Well I certainly learnt something today:-

Daniel Nathan, professionally known as Frederic Dannay (October 20, 1905 – September 3, 1982),[1] and Emanuel Benjamin Lepofsky, professionally known as Manfred Bennington Lee (January 11, 1905 – April 3, 1971),[2] were American cousins from Brooklyn, New York who wrote, edited, and anthologized detective fiction under the pseudonym of Ellery Queen.

John Pickup · Post by **John Pickup** » 25 Mar 2016, 19:53

Robert Houghton wrote:
That's backed up by what it says on the rear of the dust wrapper for 'The Rockingdown Mystery'. There are two books by JJ Farjeon - and the titles are described as being 'Two Farjeon mysteries written specially for children...' - The Llewellyn Jewel Mystery and The Lone House Mystery.

Something else for us to search for on ebay, Rob.
I never knew that about Ellery Queen either.

Rob Houghton · Post by **Rob Houghton** » 25 Mar 2016, 19:59

Im thinking the Junior Mystery series would be a great set of books to collect!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/The-Llewellyn ... SwuAVWw~v7

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/The-Black-Dog ... XQVERS0K0A

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WANDERLUST-GO ... Sw9mFWLg5V

Not cheap though!

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