'Don't know,' he said, 'I'll have to ask Mother.'
Mother was disciplining a small and excitable Jack Russell which sported a natty but unnecessary tartan coat. The dog was called Willy and rushed snappily at the ankles of anyone foolish enough to get within a lead's-length. Mother, sniffing a sale, quickly bundled the dog into the boot of the car and said she could 'Do it for £2.00.'
'It's old,' she added to clinch the deal. I could only agree and didn't feel like arguing anyway. I handed over a couple of coins which disappeared into the pouch strapped to her generous belly.
It's another little treasure from the car boot sale at Tuffins in Churchstoke. Not profound and not great literature - drivel in fact. I'm not sure I'd want to expose young children to Enid Blyton's 'imaginings' and the crude line drawings of Olive. F. Openshaw. Seen with our eyes it's an unsophisticated period piece. I expect 60 years hence the things that today's children flick through will probably seem equally ridiculous.
A weird world indeed - and badly drawn too. Scary. Don't go there.
6 comments:
I grew up on Enid Blyton ...until the English teacher at Secondary school told me off for wasting my time on such drivel...still read them ...never told him!!! Lucky find!
How did we go from blissfully ignorant and naive to world weary and all-knowing in just one generation? This kind of thing reminds me of my Janet and John childhood and how today it's all tamagotchis or whatever the latest expensive craze is. I feel old.
why would anyone put a tartan coat on a jack russell?
Oh, what a brilliant find! Am still a huge EB fan and collector, it's so difficult to find any now. Actually I don't think the illustration is that bad, certainly no worse than some of the ghastly tripe that is published today.
There are still some who are not all knowing and world weary. My 7 year old daughter consumes Enid Blyton in just the same way I did. She's read everything now; Secret 7, Famous 5, Adventures, Mysteries, Mallory Towers, St Claires, the whole lot. I laughed though when she asked me what a liberty bodice was.
Good find.
I think you'd enjoy The Fidra Blog. There's a link to it on my page, next time you visit.
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