60 Years Ago This Week - Enid Blyton's Magazine - 1959

[Kate Mary]

I love the pictures of Tom Twisty in his teddy-boy jacket, that really made me smile, and I noticed in Enid's editorial letter a prize winner named Roy Goone. I wonder if Roy grew up to be a policeman.

[Courtenay]

Thanks, Rob and Tony, for sharing another excellent issue! I liked the story of Tom Twisty, even though, as you say, it's a familiar sort of basic plot — Enid does make it fresh enough to be intriguing and enjoyable to read. Incidentally, one of the villains in one of the Mr Pink-Whistle stories (I forget its title) was also a Mr Twisty, in this case a crooked greengrocer who, along with his equally nasty wife, cheats all his customers until Pink-Whistle (invisible of course) comes along and exposes all his tricks. Obviously Enid liked the name!

As for Sixpence A Bunch, I quite agree with you, Rob — I hope Enid's portrayal of "Linda" did come from the real girl's own admittance originally, i.e. that she did send more than just the little note saying "From sale of bunches of primroses"! It would be quite embarrassing, to say the least, to have one's own faults publicly exaggerated or even invented by Enid Blyton for the sake of a good story, even without using the person's real name!! But it's a very satisfying story with a good message.

I noticed in Enid's editorial letter a prize winner named Roy Goone. I wonder if Roy grew up to be a policeman.

[Rob Houghton]

Thanks, Rob and Tony, for sharing another excellent issue! I liked the story of Tom Twisty, even though, as you say, it's a familiar sort of basic plot — Enid does make it fresh enough to be intriguing and enjoyable to read. Incidentally, one of the villains in one of the Mr Pink-Whistle stories (I forget its title) was also a Mr Twisty, in this case a crooked greengrocer who, along with his equally nasty wife, cheats all his customers until Pink-Whistle (invisible of course) comes along and exposes all his tricks. Obviously Enid liked the name!

I always have a chuckle to myself when Enid uses names like this - although as a child I loved the names to reflect the characters, and its still fun as an adult - but who on earth would even try to trust a person called 'Twisty'!? They would be the one person in the village that no one would have anything to do with, surely - and people certainly wouldn't buy anything from them!

[Rob Houghton]

I love the pictures of Tom Twisty in his teddy-boy jacket, that really made me smile, and I noticed in Enid's editorial letter a prize winner named Roy Goone. I wonder if Roy grew up to be a policeman.

Lol! Gah!

[Courtenay]

I always have a chuckle to myself when Enid uses names like this - although as a child I loved the names to reflect the characters, and its still fun as an adult - but who on earth would even try to trust a person called 'Twisty'!? They would be the one person in the village that no one would have anything to do with, surely - and people certainly wouldn't buy anything from them!

Well, Enid mostly does it in her stories that are more like fables or fairy tales, which suits the tone of them — I don't think she very often gives her villains such obvious surnames in her more "serious" books. Mind you, characters such as Block, Rooky or Twit do sound a bit suspicious — not to mention old Goon himself!! (Not that he's actually a crook, but the name does suit him...)

[Rob Houghton]

Here we are - a little late this fortnight - with the latest issue of Enid Blyton's Magazine.



It seems funny this isn't an Easter edition - just because this is Easter weekend...but obviously it wouldn't be, unless Easter happened to fall on the same dates in 1959!

the cover shows an illustration from the first uncollected short story - The Day They Flew Their Kite. As a story I enjoyed it - although there was nothing new in there, if you've read loads of Enid Blyton short stories! It borrowed several elements from other short stories - a fly-away kite, a fear of cows, a missing cat. But it was an enjoyable story all the same.

In Enid Blyton's Editorial letter we hear of all the news, as usual - and also more about the silkworm eggs! It was obviously a very, very popular hobby back in those days! I was interested to hear about a Bom TV series, also...didn't realise there had been one - but that explains why, in my old 1959/1960 'TV Comic Annual' there are two Bom stories.

You can of course read the short stories and the editorial letter, as well as the Puzzle Page and the comic strip, by following the link below. Thank you, as always, Tony.

After the first story, we have Our Puzzle Page - which can be accessed via the link - much better than me having to type it all out! There are some interesting puzzles this week! Hope you enjoy them!

Next, The Ragamuffin Mystery - and we are on chapter 19 - 'Very Exciting!' One of my favourite illustrations accompanies this chapter - an illustration I have always felt is 'iconic' and could be used to illustrate quite a number of Enid's books - hidden children, watching 'queer goings-on' at the beach!



Next we have another double spread of The Goblin Shop. I'm quite relieved that poor old Jinks has become himself again after a few weeks as a hen! But the illustration of Junks bursting out of the hen's skin might be a little horrific for a children's story!!

Bonfire Night for the Secret Seven is next, and this week we are treated to an illustration -



Compare this to the equivalent illustration in the book -



Again, I think I prefer the magazine version!

The next uncollected short story is The Wishing Stone - a fun story - with two children finding a wishing stone and all the mishaps and mistakes that ensue - a story I would have thoroughly enjoyed as a child!

I also noticed an advert in this week's magazine, for Kellogg's 'Sugar Ricicles' - featuring free 'toyland zoo' animals in each packet. How I remember my excitement when we had cereals as a child with free plastic creatures inside! But those I remember were nothing like as good as this one from 1959 - a fully patterned giraffe is shown in the advert - although the advert states there are also models of an elephant, a lion, a horse, a tiger and a kangaroo! What impressed me was the size of these animals - it says 'shown actual size' - 6 inches tall! Those I remember were only a couple of inches tall at most.

here's the link to follow for the stories - enjoy!

https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/mag ... ?magid=961

Until next time!

[sixret]

Thanks Rob and Tony.

[Rob Houghton]

Thanks Sixret! I am always wondering how many actually read this thread! Only a few more to go now, and then I bet people will wonder where its gone!!

[Kate Mary]

I always look forward to your reviews Rob and check to see when the stories appear on the website. I enjoyed this week's stories very much but The Wishing Stone felt rather unfinished as if it was only part one of a story, Enid is growing a little tired perhaps. Thank you to Tony for adding the stories and puzzles.

[Rob Houghton]

Thanks Kate Mary! yes - I agree about The Wishing Stone.

Also, I'm always amazed when Enid suggests that there are lots of stones lying around with holes in them! She has one in The Rockingdown Mystery - which takes the children about ten seconds to find. I've never found even one stone with a hole in it!

[Courtenay]

I've seen plenty of stones with holes, but most of them were at the Barbara Hepworth Sculpture Garden...



Seriously, though, I also found The Wishing Stone a bit disappointing — unusually sketchy and unsatisfying ending, which is most unlike Enid, as Kate Mary said. Also, I thought it was a bit un-Blytonesque that it was never made clear whether the not-quite-as-expected consequences of Jack's wishes really were the result of the "wishing stone" being used unfairly, or just complete coincidences. They seemed suspiciously like the latter, but as we were never shown whether the stone would work "properly" under different circumstances, we're left not knowing. Again, not up to Enid's usual standards!

The Day They Flew the Kite, on the other hand, was definitely much more enjoyable, I thought. Like a lot of Enid's short stories, there's nothing hugely original about it, but it was fun, heart-warming, and with a really satisfying ending. Well, Dick's comments about "girls" at one stage weren't exactly politically correct, but they were just the sort of thing a lot of young boys WOULD have said in those days, and perhaps even now if they don't know what's good for them...

Thanks again, Rob and Tony, for sharing these. I'm sorry again to know there won't be many more, though of course the original readers back in 1959 wouldn't have realised that at this stage.

[Rob Houghton]

Thanks Courtenay! I agree that The Wishing Stone is not one of Enid's best - although as a child I would probably have found it amusing. I used to love stories like that but as you have said, its unusual that there doesn't seem to be any definite conclusion.

Its quite shocking in a way looking at my diminishing pile of Enid Blyton Magazines and seeing there are only four left for this year. three of those will appear over the next two months - then, after the third issue in June, there will be a break until September, which is when the final ever issue was published. It happened this way partly because there was a printing strike and so the magazine wasn't issued. Enid starts a two part story in the June issue...but you have to wait until September to read the concluding part!

[Anita Bensoussane]

I've been catching up with the last two issues, which I found very enjoyable as always.

The illustration is from the first uncollected short story, Be Careful, Tom Twisty! - a very entertaining story, though it runs along fairly familiar lines - a sort of 'circular' story that involves the theft of a basket. I used to love this kind of story as a child, and obviously they were quite popular because Enid used this kind of plot numerous times. To give Enid credit where its due though, each story comes across as fresh and new, even though quite often they had similar plots.

I still love stories of that kind. They're extremely satisfying even though the reader can guess what is coming.

'Sixpence a Bunch' is an engaging tale with a clear message and 'The Day They Flew Their Kite' is quite sweet, though I agree about 'The Wishing Stone' feeling unfinished.

I also noticed an advert in this week's magazine, for Kellogg's 'Sugar Ricicles' - featuring free 'toyland zoo' animals in each packet. How I remember my excitement when we had cereals as a child with free plastic creatures inside! But those I remember were nothing like as good as this one from 1959 - a fully patterned giraffe is shown in the advert - although the advert states there are also models of an elephant, a lion, a horse, a tiger and a kangaroo! What impressed me was the size of these animals - it says 'shown actual size' - 6 inches tall! Those I remember were only a couple of inches tall at most.

I used to like collecting plastic figures from cereal boxes too. Gosh, if the ones given away in 1959 were six inches tall I wonder whether that meant there was less cereal than usual in each box, to make room for the toy!

[Rob Houghton]

I also noticed an advert in this week's magazine, for Kellogg's 'Sugar Ricicles' - featuring free 'toyland zoo' animals in each packet. How I remember my excitement when we had cereals as a child with free plastic creatures inside! But those I remember were nothing like as good as this one from 1959 - a fully patterned giraffe is shown in the advert - although the advert states there are also models of an elephant, a lion, a horse, a tiger and a kangaroo! What impressed me was the size of these animals - it says 'shown actual size' - 6 inches tall! Those I remember were only a couple of inches tall at most.

I used to like collecting plastic figures from cereal boxes too. Gosh, if the ones given away in 1959 were six inches tall I wonder whether that meant there was less cereal than usual in each box, to make room for the toy!

Yes, I wondered that too!

[Boatbuilder]

There is quite a lot of product settlement in breakfast cereals (not Weetabix though) if you have ever noticed. The boxes usually have a lot of empty space in them.