The Enid Blyton Society

Here is another large glossy magazine that a kind neighbour has given to me.

The Wonderful Time cover looks very attractive.

Must look out for that when we're next in Dorset.

What is exactly the meaning of Jolly Japes?

Looks interesting. Is the inside as good as the cover suggests?

sixret wrote:What is exactly the meaning of Jolly Japes?

Well, "jape" is a word for a funny trick or practical joke, but I don't think Enid ever used it in her books — I certainly don't remember encountering it until I was in my teens and had stopped reading Enid Blyton! But for some reason the term "jolly japes" is regularly used in articles like this to describe what Enid's characters do, even though Enid never used it herself. It's a bit tiresome, seeing it yet again.

(A bit like "lashings of ginger beer", which is another supposedly Blytonian cliche that doesn't appear in any actual Enid Blyton books. But at least she did regularly use the terms "lashings of..." and "ginger beer" — just not in the same sentence! )

It's good to see that Dorset acknowledges the link to The Famous Five at last!

Thank you, Courtenay. Like you, I have never encountered it in EB's works.

Rob Houghton wrote:It's good to see that Dorset acknowledges the link to The Famous Five at last!

Yes, good point — I didn't think of that! Who knows, maybe Enid is finally "in" again...

I've never encountered the word 'japes' in Blyton either, or in her contemporary authors. But it is very common in 1920s and 1930s children's 'story magazines' (the forerunners of illustrated comics, and in the 1920s-30s usually composed of written stories with only one or two illustrations per story). These - different for boys and girls at that era but often written by the same authors under different pen-names - featured large numbers of boarding school and mystery/adventure stories, some 'one-offs' in one issue and others longer serials. Their characters were forever taking part in 'japes' , referred to under that name, and this was seen as an essential part of being a 'good sport' at school by disrupting lessons etc in the manner of Alicia or June at Malory Towers - it showed you weren't 'stuffy' and too devoted to work. It seems a bit repetitive - but the then readers presumably loved it.
The overall impression of school being for 'playing about' as much as working and the authors approving of this does appear from time to time in Enid's works, eg Pip and occasionally Larry (and perhaps Snubby) being complained about in their school reports, but I think Enid has been unfairly regarded as a leading exponent of this cliche. Her more approved of 'jokers' are those who keep it in bounds and also work. eg Alicia and the later Bobby, and the ones who just fool around are told off and usually reform eg Bobby at first (Summer Term at St Clares) and June (In the Fifth/ Last Term at MT). Was Enid just assumed to be the prime exponent of this by lazy modern journalists who hadn't read much of her work, especially 'Comic Strip' fans who confuse her with their satire? Personally I suspect that the main culprits, the magazine school story writers, were projecting the fun they had had as children in the Edwardian era onto their characters 30-40 years later and not being up to date for the 1940s-50s - as was Enid in having Alicia and co. sending off for books of tricks. 'Jape' was a term much in vogue in Edwardian comics, eg the 'Magnet' and 'Gem'.
But three cheers that the media in Dorset seems to be taking note of Enid positively for once. I hope it catches on.

I think sending off for a book of tricks to play was fairly realistic. You could stll send for such things during the 1970's and 1980's from comics such as the Beano, and once there was a pull-out and keep section in one of my comics (Buster, I think) that built into a book of tricks to play on people.

I've just bought that May issue of Dorset magazine (you can buy single copies online at their website). If the Famous Five article is good, it'll make a lovely present for my mum's birthday next month. She loves the Famous Five and the English countryside in general.

I've ordered it too - and also the Country Life magazine.

A really good, atmospheric cover. More importantly, do the contents live up to the cover's expectations?

My thoughts exactly - but I thought I'd risk it! the cover is great!