Enid and the Credit Crunch?

[Comerscroft]

Now that we are all entering into an era of austerity, I wonder what sacrifices and economies Enid would have made to adapt to changing times?

Not that she would have been unable to cope. After all, she had lived through 2 world wars and the Great Depression, and must have been affected by rationing and shortages.

In the first St Clares book, when the twins are annoyed at not going to Ringmere, their mother tells them that 'we have to live much more simply nowadays', and the matron later insists that they mend sheets.

All relative, I know, and Enid's time is different to ours, but I wonder how Enid would have coped with lack of employment, financial uncertainty etc.

My own impression is that she would have briskly got on with it, while at the same time, ensuring that she worked hard and got her money's worth. I don't know that she would have been at all sympathetic towards anyone she viewed as work-shy or spendthrift!

[Petermax]

Now that we are all entering into an era of austerity, I wonder what sacrifices and economies Enid would have made to adapt to changing times?

For starters, Enid Blyton would have had no time whatsoever for the concept of living beyond ones means. Apart from a house and perhaps a car, any other item would be paid for up front, no matter how long it took to save.

The past 15 years or so have seen an increase in the availability of easy credit and falling prices for electrical goods and vehicles that were once expensive luxuries. Even so, I look at the massive shiny off-road vehicles in my local supermarket car park and wonder if their owners can really afford them. We have yet to see what the next two years will bring.

Enid Blyton came from an era where household items had to last for years instead of being replaced when still in perfect working order. Upgrading for the sake of it was certainly an unheard of concept 50/60 years ago.

[Viv of Ginger Pop]

I think that The Family at Red Roofs would give her attitude

Viv

[Julie2owlsdene]

Petermax makes some very good points. Enid came from a time, when you saved up for whatever it is you wanted. Otherwise you made do. These days people don't want to wait or even save up, they just spend on a credit card as it is so much more easier than it used to be. At one time you were really vetted, and had to speak to the bank manager for any kind of loan. I remember when we were first married in 1970, we couldn't afford a TV even, and so did without for about 12months. Newly weds these days have everything all at once, even down to a dishwasher. Something I still haven't got

So any kind of credit crunch wouldn't have affected Enid at all. As long as she could publish her books and have a good supply of paper. She did go through the war afterall with no problems.

[Moonraker]

Newly weds these days have everything all at once, even down to a dishwasher. Something I still haven't got

One of my sons still refuses to wash up - he says that there is no need to wash up as we should have a dishwasher!

[Anita Bensoussane]

We don't have a dishwasher either - never fancied one and our kitchen is too small to hold one anyway. But we do have children, which amounts to the same thing!

Anita

[Lucky Star]

Good points all. Of course Enid was a fairly wealthy woman anyway and so would have been unlikely to have had to go short personally. I think she would probably have written some more stories/articles dealing with money saving tips, making do and mending etc in order to push home the point to her younger readers that there is more to life than the things that money buys. Of course in her time also we did'nt have health and safety departments banning everything that even smacks of the possibility of danger.

[Boodi]

I am glad to hear that we are not the only ones in the world who don't have a dishwasher! Mind you, I would like one, but our kitchen is slightly too small.

[Belly]

My view of Enid changed after reading A Childhood At Greenhedges.

As she became wealthier and joined the upper middle classes she had an expensive ( even flash car by the standards of times)? and shopped at Harrods. I think Imogen suggested that this was largely through the influence of Kenneth Darrell Waters. I get the feeling that her 'arrogant spirit' meant she secretly enjoyed material things & the trappings of upper middle class life at the time (going on a cruise, employing efficient uniformed staff etc).

That said I think back then Harrods was a bit of a 'John Lewis' for the upper middle classes (in that things were seen as being good quality).

She never lost her work ethic and agree she would frown on those who lived beyond their means. She wasn't Jenny Wren though (although I think she would like to have been) and I sense she had a bit of a inner Gwendoline or Angela, impressed with wealth and napkins embossed with initials etc she used to have to give stern talkings to sometimes.

[Petermax]

My view of Enid changed after reading A Childhood At Greenhedges.

I'm intrigued. I will most certainly track down a copy of this book in order to answer a few questions, namely the ones that I asked on the Discipline thread of this forum. My one hope though, is that it will not read like Mommie Dearest by Christina Crawford!

As she became wealthier and joined the upper middle classes....

It is fascinating that Enid became so much like the some of the characters in her books. I refer to those who employed all manner of cooks, gardeners, house maids, nurses, governesses, butlers and chauffeurs to name but a few. This certainly gives an insight into her character and the lifestyle that she aspired to.

Enid Blyton lived very well indeed by the standards of the time. The post war austerity period was surely more severe than any recession or so called credit crunch. I for one do not have any criticism of her spending habits, Enid's disposable income was very well deserved. It must be remembered that tax rates for high earners back in the 1950's were punitive, as high as 97%.

[Belly]

That's interesting Petermax especially about the tax rates, I didn't know that.

I enjoyed a Childhood at Greenhedges it gave a different perspective and it actually didn't make Enid go down in my estimation on the whole. She was a talented, complicated woman. As a child I had imagined her to be a flawless, loving saint. This book made her seem more real somehow, with feet of clay

I actually think to put it crudely part of her got off on being 'rich' and I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

I have great empathy and sympathy for Enid's difficult childhood and think that his meant she had some difficulties later on. I think that her great writing and creative ability was honed because of the extreme tension and unbearable sadness she felt.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Enid Blyton lived very well indeed by the standards of the time. The post war austerity period was surely more severe than any recession or so called credit crunch. I for one do not have any criticism of her spending habits, Enid's disposable income was very well deserved. It must be remembered that tax rates for high earners back in the 1950's were punitive, as high as 97%.

I think you're right, Petermax. In A Childhood at Green Hedges, Imogen Smallwood writes, "The post-war years were, for most people, a period of austerity and adjustment. But for my family it was a time for spending the money that my mother was making so rapidly. By 1947 she had become a very wealthy woman, although not as wealthy as she thought, as it later turned out. Left to herself, she would probably have used it a great deal more carefully than she did jointly with my stepfather. The joint account that they shared allowed him unaccustomed luxuries and he was not slow to take advantage of them...Once my stepfather had acquired the taste for spending money, he began to spend a great deal." However, Imogen adds that "He did not squander it." Kenneth bought expensive cars that were used by the family and things that he and Enid could enjoy (jewellery, wine, etc.) but he did not waste money and, amusingly, would always take bills for tradespeople in Beaconsfield by hand, to save the price of a stamp. Imogen says, "My mother did not seem to mind either the extravagance or the overcareful accounting. She loved to see him enjoying himself, aware that she had made it possible - although she was careful not to say so." I love that last comment!

I'm not sure I imagine Enid as "getting off" on being rich, Belly. Undoubtedly there would have been a lot of pressure on her to "keep up with the Joneses" but I don't think material things in themselves would have meant a huge amount to her. No doubt she'd have admired the workmanship and beauty of a diamond necklace and enjoyed having things of quality, but I think what really mattered to her was having enough money to arrange her life exactly as she wished, with time to devote to her writing being given top priority. Having a comfortable home and beautiful garden seemed to have meant a lot to her partly because of the feeling of security it provided. Green Hedges could be said to be her "kingdom" in a way, where she was in control of the whole set-up. Money enabled her to pay staff to deal with various jobs, leaving her free to write, play golf, enjoy the garden and spend time with Kenneth. Imogen says that Enid didn't really enjoy the cruise to America which she went on in 1948, but was persuaded to go by Kenneth and by their friends, the Biggs family.

Petermax's mention of high taxes fits in well with Imogen's remark that her mother was "not as wealthy as she thought, as it later turned out." In 1949 Enid Blyton was informed by the Inland Revenue that, for the last six or seven years, she had (unwittingly) been paying too little tax - "Not only was back tax demanded but heavy fines were imposed and the resulting bill was enormous." It was because of that that the company Darrell Waters Ltd. was formed, to manage Enid's financial affairs. Unfortunately that brought Eric Rogers into Enid's life (he became Company Secretary and later Managing Director of Darrell Waters Ltd.) and from what we've heard it seems that he had immense fun spending Enid Blyton's money!

Anita

[Belly]

I agree with all you've said Anita.

I maybe saying she 'got off on being rich' is putting it a bit too strongly but I do think there was a part of her that was perhaps more material than she might have admitted to herself (perhaps a small part of herself she wrestled with)? I think I see hints of it in various characters she wrote about.

[rogoz]

I think EB was acutely aware of the value of money - or lack of it. Georgina Kirrin won't go to a nice school or the Kirrins get a Cook until those gold ingots are rustled up ! Likewise, the plot of Finniston Farm revolves around selling old junk to Americans to pay for a new tractor etc. And that was just the middle class.

Interesting note about her tax problems - nowadays a tax accountant would be the first person hired - not the last.

[Enikyoga]

In “House-at-the-Corner (first published in 1947),” Aunt Grace sells some of her shares in the stock market to rescue the dysfunctional Farrell family. I wonder if Aunt Grace could pull it off in this context as she did over 60 years ago, in light of the current global meltdown that has adversely affected the stock markets.