Christmas is Coming...

[Anita Bensoussane]

I'd have thought you'd have been hoping for some nettle beer!

[Moonraker]

I'd have thought you'd have been hoping for some nettle beer!

I look forward to sampling some at our next summit/picnic!

[Rob Houghton]

Just had a look at the calendars. I think my favourites are the 1945 Brer Rabbit calendar - as has been said, the illustrations and the poems, which tell stories, are all very clever, and the Galliano's circus calendar - 1949. It's very colourful, and I love the little stories beside each character. Good one, Tony!

[Anita Bensoussane]

Have just been reading the poems on the 1942 and 1944 calendars. Some lovely verse. I read "The Things We Love" (1942 calendar, August) through twice - it paints a beautiful picture of a hazy summer's day.

Anita

[Tony Summerfield]

Interestingly these poems on the calendars are some of the last poems that Enid wrote for her own publications. In the 20s and 30s she wrote numerous poems, but the final one in Sunny Stories was in August 1941. After that, apart from the ones on the Calendars, she just wrote the odd poem here and there, in periodicals such as the Sunday Graphic and Good Housekeeping.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Hurrah - the 1943 Sunny Stories calendar is up! Good to see various unrelated Enid Blyton characters interacting with one another - I hadn't realised, for instance, that Mr. Twiddle was acquainted with The Three Golliwogs! I very much like the Brer Rabbit poem "Who's That at the Door?" (March.) I see that Tales of Toyland was originally serialised in Sunny Stories in 1942, which explains why the "Invitation" from Tiptoe and Jolly appears in the calendar even though Tales of Toyland wasn't published in book form until November 1944. Great stuff, Tony - these calendars are beautifully illustrated on the whole and contain some real gems.

Anita

[Tony Summerfield]

Well spotted, Anita! Yes, I have done all I can on the Calendars now, I just hope that someone can help with the missing 1945 one. I don't hold out a lot of hope though as the majority of serious collectors generally have no desire to share their items with others!

[Anita Bensoussane]

Yes, I have done all I can on the Calendars now, I just hope that someone can help with the missing 1945 one. I don't hold out a lot of hope though as the majority of serious collectors generally have no desire to share their items with others!

Let's hope this thread will encourage them if they read it. To get to see rare items like these and be able to read all those uncollected poems etc, and enjoy the illustrations, is a wonderful treat and much appreciated.

Anita

[Anita Bensoussane]

Just one very tiny criticism - some of the early calendars have poems on the front covers but the scans of the covers are small, meaning that the poems can't be read.

Anita

[Tony Summerfield]

I can soon fix that! I think it is just the first two.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Cheers, Tony! Yes, I think it's just the first two.

Anita

[Tony Summerfield]

All done, but I will try and get a better version of 1945 if I can find it!

[Anita Bensoussane]

Thanks - that's great!

[Moonraker]

I have the 1947 calendar hanging in my kitchen! Great!

[Anita Bensoussane]

Good idea! Wonder if any visitors will notice that you're 61 years behind the rest of us!