Blyton References on TV

[Anita Bensoussane]

Interesting snippets of information. I wish we could watch that episode of Hobby Horse!

[Barnard]

Although I watched the whole series of Hobby Horse, after so many years I don’t remember any of the Enid Blyton questions. Like you, I would love to see the programmes. I hoped it might be available on youtube but no such luck.

[Barnard]

On the BBC home service on Sunday the 2nd of March 1958, Enid Blyton made a charity appeal for The Friends of The Centre for Spastic Children. I would be interested to know whether Enid made many charity appeals and whether she was a generous charity donor herself.

[Anita Bensoussane]

When she was writing Enid Blyton's Magazine in the 1950s, Enid Blyton encouraged her young readers to join various clubs and raise money for the Centre for Spastic Children, the Sunshine Homes for Blind Babies, the Busy Bees (the junior section of the PDSA) and a children's home in Beaconsfield. She felt that youngsters were particularly interested in helping other children and animals.

Enid herself became 'Queen Bee' of the Busy Bees in 1951 and she'd been on the committee of the children's home in Beaconsfield since 1948, visiting it regularly and attending monthly meetings. The royalties from her book Before I Go to Sleep went to the home and she became chairman of the committee in 1954, remaining in that position until the home closed in 1967.

[Barnard]

While browsing the RadioTimes archive I noticed a very early radio broadcast of an Enid Blyton story. On Saturday the 16th of May 1925 on a programme called Children’s Corner, ‘Bufo’s One-Legged Stool’ from Enid’s Bookof Fairies was read. I am wondering whether that was the first broadcast of one of her stories or does anyone know of anything earlier.

[Katharine]

Just spotted another one in a documentary about the late Ken Dodd.

Someone was talking about Knotty Ash and the Diddy Men and how Ken had created a cosy, mythical world similar to Lewis Carroll and Enid Blyton.

[Courtenay]

I just caught a Blyton reference on TV last night while serving a drink to one of our care home residents. She was watching a game show — I THINK it was Pointless (at least, Alexander Armstrong was the host) — in which the theme for the questions was magical items in children's books and one of them was a Titbit Dish in Adventures of the Wishing-Chair. (Actually, I'm pretty sure the dish in question is from The Wishing-Chair Again, but I think the first book's title was the one given on the screen. I definitely knew who the author was, though. )

[Daisy]

I saw that too, and immediately knew the answer. So did the lady who got a good score with it!

[Courtenay]

Oh good. I didn't have time to wait and see how it ended!

[Barnard]

There is a racehorse named Enid Blyton running currently in India. It has won its last three races at Mumbai.

[Anita Bensoussane]

It's interesting to hear of these references to Enid Blyton.

I just caught a Blyton reference on TV last night while serving a drink to one of our care home residents. She was watching a game show — I THINK it was Pointless (at least, Alexander Armstrong was the host) — in which the theme for the questions was magical items in children's books and one of them was a Titbit Dish in Adventures of the Wishing-Chair. (Actually, I'm pretty sure the dish in question is from The Wishing-Chair Again, but I think the first book's title was the one given on the screen.)

At least it hasn't been renamed 'Tatbit Dish'!

[Courtenay]

At least it hasn't been renamed 'Tatbit Dish'!

Well, in America the equivalent word is "tidbit"... I'm never sure whether that's because American accents usually soften "t" sounds in the middle of words ("wodder" for "water", "innernational" for "international", etc.), or because someone saw the original British version of the word and was scandalised!!

[Fiona1986]

Turns out it's possible the Americans have this one right! It was originally tidbit or at least pronounced like that in Britain first and then changed to titbit for reasons that are unclear.

Tidbit or Titbit?

[Viv of Ginger Pop]

Having insomnia, I've been looking at the first ever edition of Radio Times, September 1923

or

It was surely the finest week for the South Shields Corporation Tramways Band!

The link is to the children's page, but use the arrows to scroll through

https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/page/d58cef ... d4?page=25" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looking at the adverts for the various receiving sets, I felt that somewhere I've seen a Blyton poem called "Listening In".

Looking in the Cave it was published in November 1923, just 2 months after this Radio Times was published.

It's strange to think that Enid, age 26, was one of the first people to listen to the BBC!

Viv

[Katharine]

That's an interesting thought Viv.

I read that poem a while back and seem to recall they had to listen via hand held devices?

It hadn't occurred to me that radio had only just been invented when Enid wrote the poem. A quick Google informs me that the BBC launched national radio programmes just one year earlier, so she was pretty quick off the mark with her poem.

When I moved into my current house, I found some paperwork from the previous owner including some information from the mid 1920's about a 'build your own wireless' kit that they had purchased. How times change.

I've probably mentioned this before, there was also a half written letter about the owner's time as a pupil/teacher at the school where Enid did her teacher training, although she missed Enid being there by just a few years.