The Famous Five's Consumption of Sausages

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The Famous Five's Consumption of Sausages

Post by pete9012S »

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The Famous Five's Consumption of Sausages 1942 - 1963

I'm currently re-reading Five Have A Mystery To Solve.You know the book.It's the one that Enid weaves a Famous Five mystery around the Five's love of sausages.

They ate 2lbs one evening much to Mrs Kirrin's chagrin and wanted more the next day too..

That got me thinking:how many books list the Five's consumption of sausages,how do they like them cooked,are the Famous Five's sausage preferences consistent throughout the series?

These are important questions that demand an in depth analysis.
(If you are not a fan of long posts or have a life,stop reading now!)

The very first mention occurs in book two.
2. Adventuring Again:

'He can sit under my feet whilst I'm doing them,' said George. 'It will be a great help to feel him there. For goodness' sake eat up your sausages, Anne. We've all nearly finished. The bell will go in a minute and you won't have had any breakfast.' –

'You can come into this kitchen once a day for your dinner,' said Joanna. 'And that's all. I'm not having meat and sausages and chicken disappearing under my nose if I can help it. I know what dogs are, I do!'
Sausages mentioned in George and Anne's school and by Joan at K.C.


9. Fall Into adventure:


‘I never heard her go,’ said Joan. ‘She must have been very quiet. There you are now - there’s a fine breakfast for you - sausages and tomatoes and fried eggs!’

‘O-o-o-h, lovely,’ said Anne. ‘And you’ve done the sausages just how I like them, Joan - all bursting their skins. Do you think we’d better eat George’s too? She’s still out in the boat. She may not be back for ages.’

She bustled about after this outburst, and was soon frying sausages and tomatoes for them. They couldn’t wait till they were cooked, and helped themselves to great hunks of bread and butter.
Quite a long gap from book two to nine until sausages reappear.Notice how Anne likes them,and also wants to eat George's!
10.Hike:

The policeman glared at Dick as he put the bits into his pocket. Then he made a peculiar snorting noise, turned on his heel and marched back to his sausages and onions.
‘And I hope his dinner’s gone cold!’ said George. ‘Horrid fellow! Why should he think we’re telling a lot of untruths?’
Just a small mention in book ten - the nasty policeman likes sausages.
11. Wonderful Time:


Come on - let's think about dinner, Anne. What are we going to have?"
"Fried sausages and onions, potatoes, a tin of sliced peaches and I'll make a custard," said Anne, at once.
"I'll fry the sausages," said Dick. "I'll light the fire out here and get the frying-pan. Anyone like their sausages split in the cooking?"
Everyone did. "I like mine nice and burnt" said George. "How many do we have each? I've only had those ice creams since breakfast."
"There are twelve," said Anne, giving Dick the bag. "Three each. None for Timmy! But I've got a large, juicy bone for him.
Book eleven informs us how they all like their sausages - George even prefers hers burnt!

15. Secret Trail:
‘I wasn’t saying it,’ said Anne, ‘I was only going to say that I hope they’ll be successful tonight. I’d like to get back to Kirrin and have some fun bathing and boating, wouldn’t you?’
‘Yes. And some of Joan’s marvellous cooking,’ said George. ‘Sausages and mash - and tomatoes with it.’
‘Yes. And fried plaice fresh from the sea with Joan’s best chipped potatoes,’ said Anne. ‘I can almost smell it.’
‘Woof,’ said Timmy, sniffing hard.
Book fifteen sees Anne and George lusting after the cooking at K.C and as you would imagine,sausages get a mention!

17. Get Into A Fix:
Mrs. Jones came in almost at once, beaming at them. “Well, good morning to you now,” she said, “and a nice morning it is too, for all the snow we had in the night. What would you be wanting for breakfast now? Ham and eggs - or home-made pork sausages - or meat patties - or...”
“I’d like ham and eggs,” said Julian, at once, and the others said the same. Mrs. Jones went out of the room, and the children rubbed their hands.



Mrs. Jones gave them a fine breakfast - eggs, bacon and sausages.
“It’s the last hot meal you’ll have, if you’re going up to that hut,” she said.
I was rather surprised that the Five did not pounce on the offer of home made pork sausages - but I'm sure they will make up for that in a later book!

19. Demon’s Rocks:

At last they came to the end of their journey. ‘I can see the chimneys of Kirrin Cottage!’ said Julian, standing up on the pedals of his bicycle. ‘And the kitchen fire is going - I can see smoke. The dinner must be cooking!’
‘I can smell it!’ said Dick, sniffing. ‘I think its sausages'.
‘Ass,’ said the other three together, and laughed.
Just one humble mention,but it shows sausages were still on their minds..
20. Mystery To Solve:

We never seem to have enough in the house when all three of you are back. And by the way - does anyone know what has happened to the sausages that were in the larder?’
Sausages - sausages - let me think!’ said Julian, frowning. Anne gave a sudden giggle. She knew quite well what had happened.
‘Well, Mother - you said we could get our own meal last night, as you were out,’ said Julian. ‘So we poked about and decided on sausages.
‘Yes, but Julian - two whole pounds of sausages!’ said his mother. ‘I know Georgina came over to spend the evening - but even so... !’
‘She brought Timmy,’ said Anne. ‘He rather likes sausages too, Mother.’
‘Well, that’s the last time I leave the larder door unlocked, when I go out!’ said her mother. ‘Fancy cooking those lovely pork sausages for a dog - especially Timmy, with his enormous appetite! Really, Anne! I meant to have them for our lunch today.’

‘Now - seeing that you had today’s dinner for last night’s supper, you’d better do a little shopping for me. What shall we have?’
‘SAUSAGES!’ said everyone, at once.
‘I should have thought you were quite literally fed up with sausages, after last night’s feast,’ said their mother, laughing. ‘All right - sausages. But Timmy can have a bone - a nice meaty bone. I am NOT going to buy any more sausages for him, that’s quite certain.’

‘Here’s the butcher’s. For goodness sake go and get the sausages and be sensible. I’ll go and buy the cakes.’


‘Well, you go and phone, and we’ll put our bikes away,’ said Julian. ‘Take your nose away from that bag of sausages, Timmy. You’re in disgrace over sausages, let me tell you. You’re suspected of eating too many last night!’
‘He did eat rather a lot,’ said George. ‘I took my eye off him, and he wolfed quite a few. I say, who’s this Mrs Layman who’s coming to tea?

'That’s your dinner, Tim,’ said Anne. ‘Plenty of meat on it, too. Look there’s Mother at the window, beckoning. I expect she wants the sausages. NO, Timmy - the sausages are NOT for you. Get down! Good gracious, I never in my life knew such a hungry dog. Anybody would think you starved him, George.’


‘Better take that dog of yours out of my kitchen,’ she said. ‘Funny how sausages always disappear when he’s around. Get down, now - take your paws off my clean table!’

‘Hallo, Georgina dear!’ said her aunt, coming into the kitchen, Timmy following her in delight. ‘Timmy, go out of the kitchen. I don’t trust you within a mile of sausages. Go on - shoo!’
The big one! This book is so crammed with references to sausages it had me wondering if Enid was subliminally promoting them for the meat marketing board or her local Beaconsfield butcher!
The Five simply can't get enough of them in this book and I lost count at how many times they are mentioned and consumed.

Question: How much is 2lb of sausages? Is it too much to share between four hungry children and a jolly large hound?
21. Together Again:

‘Well - would there be enough for so many extra?’ said Julian. ‘We meant to bring our own meal. Should we bring that and share everything with you? We’ve more than enough. Our cook Jenny said she would have it all ready for us to bring down tonight - a meat-pie - cold sausages - and apples and bananas.’
‘Sh! Don’t say bananas in front of Charlie,’ said Jeremy.


‘I thought maybe you’d do that,’ said Jenny. ‘It’s all cold. A meat pie - cold sausages - a cucumber and lettuce hearts and tomatoes, rolls - and apples and bananas. Will that be enough?’
‘Gosh, yes,’ said Tinker, thrilled. ‘What about something to drink?’
The very last book and the love of sausages continues unabated.There are no mentions of sausages in the short stories,so we have here a complete record of The Famous Five's Sausage consumption over the years.

It's supper time for me now so I must be off.Any suggestions as to what I could have.....

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Re: The Famous Five's Consumption of Sausages

Post by Fiona1986 »

Dipped into Liam's book again, Pete? Or did you check each one yourself!
"It's the ash! It's falling!" yelled Julian, almost startling Dick out of his wits...
"Listen to its terrible groans and creaks!" yelled Julian, almost beside himself with impatience.


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Re: The Famous Five's Consumption of Sausages

Post by Courtenay »

Mmmmm. Lashings of sausages. 8)
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Re: The Famous Five's Consumption of Sausages

Post by pete9012S »

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Fiona1986 wrote:Dipped into Liam's book again, Pete? Or did you check each one yourself!
What a mutt I am!
I did all the research myself.

I do apologise! I checked Liam's excellent guide (above) and found at least one sausage reference I had somehow overlooked....

3.Run Away Together

"Anyone feel inclined to have dry bread and jam for lunch?" inquired Julian, when he returned to the others. "Not? I rather thought so, so I turned down Mrs. Stick's kind offer. I vote we go and buy something decent. That shop in the village has good sausage-rolls."
I would be most grateful if anyone spots any other sausage references that have slipped out of my grasp.
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Re: The Famous Five's Consumption of Sausages

Post by Eddie Muir »

Wonderful thread, Pete! :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: The Famous Five's Consumption of Sausages

Post by Rob Houghton »

Lol! its a good job you didn't include 'Five Go Off In A Narrowboat' - as I think the Five ate sausages several times in that!! :lol:

I guess sausages were easy to cook, and fairly filling (although judging by the amount they eat, maybe not!)

They were a favourite food in quite a number of books. I know Tom in The Adventurous Four liked sausages...and everyone except Snubby gets food poisoning from sausage sandwiches in the Rilloby Fair Mystery!
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: The Famous Five's Consumption of Sausages

Post by Rob Houghton »

pete9012S wrote:What a mutt I am!
Or even 'a Silly Sausage'? ;-)
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: The Famous Five's Consumption of Sausages

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

pete9012S wrote:These are important questions that demand an in depth analysis.
(If you are not a fan of long posts or have a life,stop reading now!)
:lol:
pete9012S wrote: 20. Mystery To Solve:

This book is so crammed with references to sausages it had me wondering if Enid was subliminally promoting them for the meat marketing board or her local Beaconsfield butcher!
The Five simply can't get enough of them in this book and I lost count at how many times they are mentioned and consumed.

Question: How much is 2lb of sausages? Is it too much to share between four hungry children and a jolly large hound?
Not at all! I think 2lb would be about 16 standard-sized sausages. Three each and one extra doesn't sound greedy to me!

Later in the book, Timmy's diet is downgraded and he has to subsist on tinned dog food called Waggomeat.
Rob Houghton wrote:They were a favourite food in quite a number of books. I know Tom in The Adventurous Four liked sausages...and everyone except Snubby gets food poisoning from sausage sandwiches in the Rilloby Fair Mystery!
Yes - and the girls at St.Clare's cook sausages at one of their midnight feasts.
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Re: The Famous Five's Consumption of Sausages

Post by number 6 »

Obviously Sausages are the secret brain food needed to solve mysteries, & out-wit Smugglers, etc. If we all started the day with a few bangers, then maybe we'd be living in a crime free Country within a year or so! :lol: :lol:
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Re: The Famous Five's Consumption of Sausages

Post by pete9012S »

Continuation Book

Five Go Off In A Narrowboat
“You’ve managed everything splendidly, boys – I’m very impressed with you both!” said Mr
Tompkins, on the last evening, as they sat outside finishing a glorious meal of fried eggs, sausages and
fried bread, watching the sun sink below the trees, “I think you’ll be ready to go off on your own
tomorrow, when the girls arrive. I have no fears at all about you both being left in charge.”
Hurrah! Sausages are back on the menu! :D
It was incredibly peaceful – just as the Five liked it to be. They
moored the boat again at about six o’clock and sat on the grass while Anne fried sausages over a fire.
They didn’t use the wood burning stove in the cabin, for fear that the cabin would be made even hotter if
it was lit, but everyone agreed that sausages cooked over a fire somehow tasted much nicer anyway.
Yes,this writer has certainly got it right - that's just the way they like their bangers! (creep creep! :wink: )

“Good!” said Anne, “These are the last of the sausages – but it would be lovely to have some bacon
maybe – for breakfast – and some potted meat would be nice – and of course, some more bread and milk,
and maybe some fruit.”
Almost all of the Five's epicurean food delights listed in one or two sentences - superb!
Everyone laughed. Dear old Uncle Quentin! He never could remember when holidays started, or
what the arrangements were. Anne dished out the sausages and onions then asked Dick to cut some bread..
and open a tin of tomatoes. “It’s a strange meal!” she said,
Strange to you and I maybe,but sausage heaven to the banger loving Famous Five!
That meal was one of the best the children had tasted for a long time! It was so pleasant to sit by
the canal, eating sausages and boiled eggs and fried onions and tomatoes, watching a heron glide down to
stand near the bank looking for fish, then swoop up on its great wings again and fly further away, or
waving to boats as they slid silently past. The sun began to move slowly down behind the trees, and a
church in the nearby village struck the half hour, sounding lazily across the fields.
A lovely paragraph.Be honest,have sausages ever sounded more idyllic or inviting in that magical setting?
The next morning the four children set off with Timmy to walk to the tiny village beyond the trees.
It was really only a few houses and a village store, which seemed to sell everything they needed. They
didn’t even call at the farm, because the little shop was so well stocked. As usual, Julian took charge,
and spoke to the girl behind the counter in the calm grown-up way he had, which had her adding extra
sausages and slices of cake to their parcels in no time.
“That’s eggs, one dozen, a good large ham, some of our own tomatoes, some good butter from the
local farm, milk, bacon – 12 rashers – a dozen sausages...fresh baked bread made just this morning,
home-made potted meat, some big slices of mother’s fruit cake, baked fresh today, and I’ve put you in a
bag of pear drops and a packet of aniseed balls for good measure,” the girl said, smiling at Julian, as he
paid for everything, “The pear drops and aniseed balls you can have for free of course,” she added,
“You’ve been such good customers!”
Narrowboat is now almost vying with Mystery To Solve with it's descriptive accounts of the Five's passion for sausages!

Thanks to Rob for reminding me to check out his work for sausages - it certainly wasn't a fruitless search - the book could almost have been subtitled 'Bangers Galore'...

Mmmm now I wonder if that Claude Voilier mentioned sausages at all...
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Re: The Famous Five's Consumption of Sausages

Post by Rob Houghton »

:oops: :lol: I didn't realise I mentioned sausages quite so often as I did!! :twisted:
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: The Famous Five's Consumption of Sausages

Post by floragord »

There's something about the sizzle and aroma of sausages gently frying on the stove isn't there... perfect with heaps of buttery mash!
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Re: The Famous Five's Consumption of Sausages

Post by KEVP »

This sort of ties in with my ongoing concerns about how the Famous Five always manage to avoid the limits of British rationing.

Honestly, any discussion of British cuisine from the period 1940-1954 needs to take rationing into consideration. But I often feel as though Enid never does, and that somehow the Famous Five books are set in an alternate universe where World War 2 never happened.

One article I found online talked about how sausages became much more popular during rationing. Because a sausage can be made with very little actual meat in it, thus making sausages could make your food ration seem to be bigger than it really is.
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Re: The Famous Five's Consumption of Sausages

Post by Rob Houghton »

KEVP wrote:This sort of ties in with my ongoing concerns about how the Famous Five always manage to avoid the limits of British rationing.

Honestly, any discussion of British cuisine from the period 1940-1954 needs to take rationing into consideration. But I often feel as though Enid never does, and that somehow the Famous Five books are set in an alternate universe where World War 2 never happened.
I think The Famous Five and many other EB series' are indeed set in an alternative universe. It all adds up to that 'timeless' appeal. :-)
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: The Famous Five's Consumption of Sausages

Post by Courtenay »

I agree, Rob. With a very few exceptions in which the war plays a key role, Enid simply did not bring WWII into her books at all. She wasn't trying to write true-to-life stories about the hard times that her young readers and their families were living through in the real world. She deliberately set her books in a "children's dream world", if you like — where rationing doesn't exist and food is unlimited, no-one's home is bombed, no-one's father or uncle or brother goes to war and never comes back, and where children have all kinds of amazing adventures in which there's plenty of excitement and drama and intrigue, but nobody gets seriously hurt and everything turns out all right in the end. I've always taken it that she wanted to give children some escapism and enjoyment and a sense that there's always hope for a brighter future, not to remind them of the harsh realities that her original readers, during and just after the war, already knew too well.
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It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
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