The Naughtiest Girl Series

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Rob Houghton
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Re: The Naughtiest Girl Series

Post by Rob Houghton »

Having worked things out roughly at today's prices (depending on the fact I'm sure a small village wouldn't have a Poundland, lol!) Elizabeth's 'whole pound' would more likely have been around £30 today.

She bought a large 10 shilling cake, a book about birds, 3 birthday cards, stamps, a red handbag, a comb, and a handkerchief for £1.

In 2017 I'm sure a cake that was as large as Enid describes would cost at least £15 (I haven't bought a cake from a bakers lately - but even in a supermarket they would be about £10)

So let's say the cake now cost £15.00
Book about birds - £ 5.00
3 birthday cards - (cheap ones) £ 3.00
Stamps (three second class) £ 1.68
Red handbag (cheap one) £ 6.00
Comb £ 1.00
Handkerchief £ 1.00

total - £ 32.68
'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 Naughtiest Girl Series

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Good to hear that your grandson is reading the books, Nigel! Both my children loved the Naughtiest Girl series.
Rob Houghton wrote:I've also never noticed Joan Townsend's name-change...even though I'm currently reading the books! Its quite amusing, as Joan Leslie was a well-known American film star of the 1940's! :-D
That's interesting. It's possible that that's what caused Enid Blyton to type "Joan Leslie" unconsciously! :lol: She no doubt read about famous actresses and watched some of their films. I've always wondered whether the film star "Lossie Laxton" in Third Year at Malory Towers (Zerelda Brass admires Lossie and does her hair up in a flamboyant roll in imitation of her) might have been inspired by Deanna Durban, as her name also alliterates and she sometimes wore her hair in "rolls":

http://www.deannadurbindevotees.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Your modern prices sound about right, Rob, except for the cake which I'd have thought would cost considerably more. I make birthday cakes rather than buying them so I'm not sure how much bakeries charge, but Enid Blyton writes in Chapter 19:

"The little girl [Joan] became quite pretty with happiness, and when she cut her birthday cake, and gave a piece to everyone in the school, her face was a picture!"

Wow! Either the school is tiny or the cake is enormous!

Edit: Nora says Joan's cake is "the biggest birthday cake I've seen" but when Elizabeth ordered it the baker's wife commented that it was "the size people often order for Whyteleafe School." She also said that "...we don't charge girls so much as the grown-ups as we know they do not have much to spend," so it seems that Elizabeth didn't have to pay full price.

Further edit: "...we don't charge girls so much as the grown-ups"

What about boys? Don't they ever buy cakes?
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Re: The Naughtiest Girl Series

Post by Fiona1986 »

£6 for a handbag? You probably wouldn't find one one even in Primark for that little.

The cake must be enormous if it's to do a whole class let alone a school, but I don't remember the baker's wife saying they don't charge girls as much as grown-ups.
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Re: The Naughtiest Girl Series

Post by Rob Houghton »

Yes - my prices were on the cheap side, lol! I was thinking more of a tiny purse on a strap type 'handbag' - not really sure what Enid had in mind. I was being deliberately cut-price - but I agree about the handbag and the birthday cake. Probably Elizabeth would have needed nearer to £50 these days - which proves that money should never be altered to match the era! :lol:
'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 Naughtiest Girl Series

Post by Katharine »

Well according to an on-line calculator, £10 in 1940 is equal to £60 today.

I imagined the birthday cake was similar to the size people have for occasions such as 18th birthday parties - no idea how much one would cost, but if everyone had a small square piece it would do quite a few people. I think 1940s portions were smaller than we expect today.
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Re: The Naughtiest Girl Series

Post by Rob Houghton »

Katharine wrote:Well according to an on-line calculator, £10 in 1940 is equal to £60 today.
Which is why I never like direct comparisons with prices then and prices now. :shock: So £1 would be about £6?
'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 Naughtiest Girl Series

Post by Katharine »

That's the problem with updating books, some things don't change as much as others do. Although I often wonder how much attention to details Enid took anyway. Such as the size of the cake, would it really be possible for one of sufficient size to be made for that price? Plus of course Enid seemed very vague about the size of the school. I seem to recall that Elizabeth is about 11, but there is mention of younger children, even a Kindergarten, but what age did they start? Did the school go right through to sixth form age? How many children were there in each form? How many forms were there?

Whenever I read about the handbag, purse and red comb, I automatically think of very small red plastic items, which would probably be quite cheap.
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Re: The Naughtiest Girl Series

Post by Eddie Muir »

Katharine wrote:Well according to an on-line calculator, £10 in 1940 is equal to £60 today
I think your online calculator must be broken! £10 in 1940 is equal to nearly £600 today. :roll:
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Re: The Naughtiest Girl Series

Post by sixret »

£600 is more like it. Just checked online using inflation calculator on bankofengland website. :D
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Re: The Naughtiest Girl Series

Post by Rob Houghton »

Eddie Muir wrote:
Katharine wrote:Well according to an on-line calculator, £10 in 1940 is equal to £60 today
I think your online calculator must be broken! £10 in 1940 is equal to nearly £600 today. :roll:
I was thinking that! Then I wondered if £10 was a typo for £1 - as £10 doesn't even get mentioned in any of the books! :-D
'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 Naughtiest Girl Series

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

I don't understand inflation calculators which say something like "£10 in 1940 is equal to £600 now". It's not as though everything is 60 times more expensive. Price increases differ hugely depending on whether you're talking about houses, cars, petrol, clothes, furniture, food, radios, train tickets, books, pets or whatever.

Speaking of prices going up, a couple of days ago I went to the local library and saw a notice which said that charges had just been put up as follows:

Reserving a book assisted by a librarian rather than by using the self-service machine - £1 (previously free)
Inter-library loans - £7 (previously £3)
Items obtained from the British Library - £22 (previously £3)

Well, I was quite shocked by the increases - particularly the last one! :shock: If everything in society went up at that rate, we'd be in trouble!

Out of interest, I asked my son (aged 17) what he thought Elizabeth would need to spend to buy the cake and other items today. He said exactly the same as you, Rob, except for the handbag (£8) and the cake (he thought Elizabeth would have to spend at least £70 for a cake big enough to feed a small school).
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Re: The Naughtiest Girl Series

Post by Rob Houghton »

Anita Bensoussane wrote: Out of interest, I asked my son (aged 17) what he thought Elizabeth would need to spend to buy the cake and other items today. He said exactly the same as you, Rob, except for the handbag (£8) and the cake (he thought Elizabeth would have to spend at least £70 for a cake big enough to feed a small school).
Interesting! yes - I'm sure it's true that such a big cake would cost around £70 from a bakers. I wonder how big Whyteleafe school was? When I was a child I imagined it was as big as the schools I knew personally - but probably it was much smaller.
'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 Naughtiest Girl Series

Post by Eddie Muir »

Anita Bensoussane wrote:I don't understand inflation calculators which say something like "£10 in 1940 is equal to £600 now". It's not as though everything is 60 times more expensive. Price increases differ hugely depending on whether you're talking about houses, cars, petrol, clothes, furniture, food, radios, train tickets, books, pets or whatever.
You're quite right to say that price increases differ depending on what items you're talking about, Anita, but the online calculators base their figures on average increases across the board.
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Re: The Naughtiest Girl Series

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

I thought they probably did, Eddie, but I don't think an average is particularly helpful.
Katharine wrote:...Enid seemed very vague about the size of the school. I seem to recall that Elizabeth is about 11, but there is mention of younger children, even a Kindergarten, but what age did they start? Did the school go right through to sixth form age? How many children were there in each form? How many forms were there?
Rob Houghton wrote:I wonder how big Whyteleafe school was? When I was a child I imagined it was as big as the schools I knew personally - but probably it was much smaller.
The school Enid Blyton herself attended (St. Christopher's in Beckenham) only had 50 pupils when she was there (scroll down to the photo):

http://www.beckenhamheritagegroup.co.uk/?cat=15" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't know exactly how many pupils were at Bickley Park School in Bromley when Enid taught there, but I believe that was a small school too (it was only a prep school though).

Maybe Enid Blyton had a school of that size in mind when she wrote about Whyteleafe.
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Re: The Naughtiest Girl Series

Post by Eddie Muir »

Anita Bensoussane wrote:I thought they probably did, Eddie, but I don't think an average is particularly helpful
I'm inclined to agree with you, Anita, but the average increases do give you some idea of how much prices have risen.
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