Did Enid smoke?

[lizarfau]

Gabriel asked me if Enid Blyton smoked given so many of her adult characters did! I said I didn't know, but knew some people who might ... Anyone know? Tony?

[Philip Mannering]

An interesting question, although one to which I don't the answer. I think she did smoke, because as Gabriel said so many of her characters did. One can't be sure though - except for the knowledgeable people in the forum.

[Julie2owlsdene]

Maybe her daughter would know the answer to this question.

[Enikyoga]

An interesting question, although one to which I don't the answer. I think she did smoke, because as Gabriel said so many of her characters did. One can't be sure though - except for the knowledgeable people in the forum.

I am not sure whether Enid Blyton smoked, however in The Family At Red Roofs, Peter is averse
to fellow employees that try to offer him cigarettes, which gave me the impression that Enid may
have been indisposed to smoking.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I am not sure whether Enid Blyton smoked, however in The Family At Red Roofs, Peter is averse to fellow employees that try to offer him cigarettes, which gave me the impression that Enid mayhave been indisposed to smoking.

Peter was only about fourteen or fifteen, and we get the impression from The Mystery of the Pantomime Cat (when Fatty is praised for saying he won't start smoking until he's twenty-one) that Enid Blyton didn't approve of children or teenagers smoking. I don't know whether she smoked, but her husband Kenneth did.

Anita

[Rob Houghton]

There is one photograph in 'Enid Blyton - the biography' which shows Enid sitting by the pool at Elfin Cottage, and in it she certainly has her fingers positioned as if she is holding a cigarette, but it's very hard to make out if she is actually holding one or not!!

[Lucky Star]

There is one photograph in 'Enid Blyton - the biography' which shows Enid sitting by the pool at Elfin Cottage, and in it she certainly has her fingers positioned as if she is holding a cigarette, but it's very hard to make out if she is actually holding one or not!!

I have just got that off the shelf and scrutinised the picture in question. In my opinion she does indeed have a cigarete between her fingers. Hold the picture up to the light and you can see it quite clearly. It would of course have been nothing unusual for an adult in those times to smoke. I would guess Enid kept it private as she was well aware how great her influence over children was and wouldn't have wanted them to copy her in that particular vice.

[Ming]

I really can't see a cigarette in her hand, but I can definitely say from the picture on the opposite page that Dorothy Richards did!

[Enikyoga]

At times it was not uncommon in those days for people at times to pose with either a cigarette or
an alcoholic beverage merely for a photo op, even if they did not participate in such activities.
However, since we have learnt that her second husband smoked, the temptation of smoking
becomes great, though I would concur with those that argue that even if Enid Blyton smoked, she
may not have wanted her basic constituency, that is the children, to know, given the negative
message that would convey to them.

[Rob Houghton]

Then again, don't forget, that up till the 1970's (or even later) smoking was looked on as quite normal and certainly sociably acceptable. There would have been nothing wrong with Enid smoking, particularly in the 1920's and 30's. Lets face it, she'd done plenty of other 'unacceptable' things by this point, such as leaving home before she was married, becoming a 'career' woman against the wishes of her mother and having a short 'flapper' haircut!!

[Anna Moss]

Would seem likely...I think the Blyton film made by the BBC showed Helena Bonham Carter smoking as she played the role, but the BBC don't like Blyton..they could have just put that in anyways

[Lucky Star]

Thts true Anna. But it must be said that Imogen appreoved that film and appaerantly saw it several times herself so perhaps it is accurate. I'm sure she would have immediately pointed out such a lapse as having Enid made out to be a smoker if she really wasn't.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I'll have to watch Enid again as I can't now remember whether or not it showed Enid Blyton smoking. However, it seems likely that she might have been a social smoker.

[Anna Moss]

Really? Imogen approved it? But I always thought it showed her in a really bad light?

[Ming]

I think, Anna, it showed her in a real light. For those of us who have already read A Childhood at Green Hedges, the film was not surprising in the least. Though I have to admit that perhaps some scenes were rather exaggerated.