Vintage books

Recollecting my Ladybird Collection and relaunching Ladybird Tuesday!

August 19, 2019 by penny Leave a Comment

Before moving house a couple of years ago my Ladybird book collection was in pretty good shape. I had an accurate written record of what I owned, the condition it was in and useful things like prices, tally numbers etc. I also knew where they all were. Beautifully arranged on shelves outside my bedroom so that I could stop and admire then whenever I walked past.

Fast forward two years, and following two house moves and a period in storage I’m only just starting to get my Ladybird collection back in order. I’ve not stopped collecting in that time, but I haven’t really been collecting in an organised manner. In an attempt to get so much of my life back on track this is another area that needs to change.

Once again I’m trying to use my blog as a way of forcing myself to do something.

For years I ran a little feature called Ladybird Tuesday over on Being Mrs C. I used to really enjoy sitting down once a week and pulling out a Ladybird book and writing all about it. I tried to move the feature over to here, but got rid of the regular posting. That was a bit of a failure. It seems I’m a creature of habit who needs to be forced to do things on a regular basis.

Therefore I’m pleased to announce that from next Tuesday, Ladybird Tuesday will return. I’ll be honest and say that I have absolutely no recollection as to why it was Tuesdays that I chose to share my Ladybird collection with readers, but it seems silly to get rid of the name when people are familiar with it. And it saves me the stress of trying to make a decision as to which day of the week I should post on!

Ladybird Tuesday will be a collection of new posts and also some re-edited ones from my old blog that I will move over. I’m also in the middle of creating a new spreadsheet containing all the books that are in my collection. I can’t commit to having it complete by the time Ladybird Tuesday re-launches, but I am hoping to make a start to the list I keep on this site.

For now though let me whet your appetite with a glimpse at a few things that have come into my collection recently.

Firstly – an utterly gorgeous selection of Uncle Mac books. I always wanted to find an Uncle Mac title in one of my charity shop trips, but I’ve never been that lucky. Instead, I am lucky enough to have a wonderful husband who listened to me telling someone about my love of the Uncle Mac titles and managed to find these for my birthday.

Second up is something a little bit bigger than a regular Ladybird book. The story of Jayne Fisher’s Garden Gang series is something of a legend to Ladybird collectors. I knew there was a larger Garden Gang book once published, but I’d never seen a copy in the flesh. Until one day I was busy looking at something else in a charity shop and spotted it looking down at me from a top shelf. Far more than I would usefully pay for a Ladybird book, but far less than they seem to be going for on eBay. This is a book that I simply had to make mine.

I look forward to sharing these treasures and so much more from my Ladybird collection with you. I just hope we can make it a regular date.

Black Beauty Annual 1978

November 5, 2018 by penny Leave a Comment

I can see an occasional series starting here on Penny Reads. Vintage annuals found in secondhand book shops. After featuring the Buzby Annual that Bonn and I came across in a National Trust shop of all places, today I bring you the Black Beauty Annual from 1978.

Black Beauty

Written in 1877, Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty is probably one of the best selling books of all time. Although Sewell died only 5 months after its publication, she lived to see its success. For years children have loved the story, but it also holds important messages about animal welfare, kindness, sympathy and respect.

What made someone decide to produce a Black Beauty Annual in 1978 is slightly unclear though. I do know that in that year there was a Hanna-Barbera animated version released via CBS, but I’m not clear that this was every released or shown here in the UK where this annual was published. Even if it was, I can’t find any link in the annual itself to Hanna-Barbera.

Annual contents

The annual contains the regular mix that you expected in annuals back in the 70s and 80s. There are quite a few stories for children to read, but also jokes, games, puzzles and some educational bits.

As well as a section on Anna Sewell herself, many of the horses featured the story are profiled, and there’s even a section on famous horses in the bible. I do wonder if they were struggling for content a bit by the end there!

One thing I note about the annual is the fact that it exclusively contains illustrations. There’s not a single photograph of a horse in there at all. I don’t know if that’s because it was cheaper to employ illustrators than photographers, or just quicker. Or maybe a style decision?

With four illustrators listed as having worked on the book, and no author or editor, I’m guessing that the illustrations were seen as an important part of the book as a whole though. It just seems a bit strange to me that they all get credited, yet those responsible for all the words don’t. Or maybe that’s just the way it was back in 1978?

Ladybird: Learning with Mother Book 4

October 19, 2018 by penny Leave a Comment

Learning with Mother Book 4 original featured as part of the Ladybird Tuesday series over on Being Mrs C. As I prepare to start on the motherhood journey afresh it seemed an obvious choice to move over to Penny Reads. And it’s also possibly time to refresh my memory as to what I’ve got to come over the next few years!

And who could possibly resist these gorgeous vintage illustrations?

As soon as I see this particular Ladybird book, or in fact any from this Learning with Mother series, I’m somewhat overtaken by emotion and a desperate desire to give my children the wholesome, educational upbringing that it shows.

I’ve covered Book 2 from the series before on Ladybird Tuesday, but Book 4 (covering 4 – 5 years of age) deserves its own post too now that it’s in my collection. This Under Five series (number 702 for any keen collectors reading) is designed to fit in with the belief, stated inside the front cover, that “almost half of your child’s intelligence will be decided by four and a half” and it is therefore targeted at parents who want to give their children every opportunity to develop to their maximum potential.

The book starts with a really good description of the development stage that 4 – 5 year olds are at and what sort of opportunities they need to given to help them in their development. Published in 1971 this book was written at a time when parents made their own entertainment for their children during the day, instead of the present day schedule of toddler classes and trips out. It really was Learning with Mother.

I strongly believe that there’s a lot we can learn from how children spent their days as I regularly feel that many modern day children don’t have the simple, old fashioned, ability to entertain themselves. Learning with Mother really does contain some lovely ideas of activities to do with children and also examples of everyday things which have great learning opportunities behind them.

I really love the activities in this book, especially because they’re so simple but engaging for children. I spent Sunday with my mum and Little Miss C at a 1940s experience (a whole blog post about that very soon as I loved it!) and it was fascinating watching LMC play in the children’s room there. She loved all the simple games and toys that they had and kept asking to go back to play with the toys there for the rest of the day. Children don’t need modern day technology to keep them amused, it’s just turned into a habit for us to give them that sort of thing.

I’m determined now to set my kids off with some old fashioned traditional toys and games based on both what I see in Ladybird books and also what children had during the war. Hopefully I’ll be back soon to share how we’re getting on.

Buzby Annual

October 4, 2018 by penny Leave a Comment

Hands up then. Who remembers Buzby?

Who is Buzby?

This cheerful bird first appeared in 1976 as part of a marketing campaign for Post Office Telecommunications, who later became part of British Telecommunications. His main aim was to get us to use the telephone more, and I think he did that.

Voiced in the TV adverts by the legend that is Bernard Cribbins, Buzby became a bit of a star, with loads of marketing items produced, including toys and badges. He also spawned a cartoon strip in TV Comic. At some point along the line his feather changed from yellow to orange (maybe it was an age thing?) but still he remained a hit.

With the strap line “make someone happy with a phone call” I wonder if BT could bring back Buzby today as part of a marketing campaign to get people actually talking to each other again rather than just sending messages.

But I digress…

The Buzby Annual

During one of my usual secondhand bookshop trawls I came across the Buzby Annual and knew it had to come home with me.

A spot of internet research tells me that there were two Buzby Annuals produced. This one in 1979, and then a second version in 1980.

As a child of the 80s annuals were very much a standard Christmas present. Something that we always looked forward to receiving, whether it be a Blue Peter one (another of my collecting habits) or one from a favourite band or TV programme. I’m not sure how many came out celebrating the start of advertising campaigns though.

What’s inside?

The Buzby Annual includes many of the features that you came to expect in annuals of the 70s and 80s. A mix of cartoons, longer stories, puzzles and a few educational features. The stories obviously featured Buzby, whilst the games and puzzles revolved around a theme of telephones.

Everything from spotting telephone handsets in a picture through to the “fill a ‘phone box game”. There’s a page of telephone related jokes and puns, as well as photos of telephone handsets from years gone by.

The copy of the annual I found seems to be in immaculate condition considering it’s age. Inside the front page the corner containing the price has been cut off (as was normally the way with annuals given as gifts at Christmas) but the only other sign that it’s ever been read is the crossword that has been completed inside.

There are plenty of games in the book that would have required the owner to cut the pages – something I felt uneasy doing, even as a child – and I was quite relieved to see that this hadn’t been done. I’ve no idea if modern day annuals ask kids to do the same or not, but in my mind scissors and a book should never, ever meet!

Why Buzby?

That’s what I’ve been wondering since picking this up. Was he really that big a star back in 1979 that he merited an annual on the bookshop shelves next to ones for Blue Peter, Football magazines and favourite bands? Then again, I recall an annual for a local radio station that I picked up in childhood from a car boot sale and that must have been a pretty niche market.

‘Fess up. What annuals do you remember having as a child?

Ladybird: People At Work – In a Hotel

September 30, 2018 by penny Leave a Comment

This post on Ladybird People at Work In A Hotel originally appeared on Being Mrs C as part of Ladybird Tuesday. It has been updated and edited before appearing here on Penny Reads.

I started collecting Ladybird books by accident. I never intended to become a series collector, but the more I bought the more I loved them and the more I wanted to share my collection with other people.

I love sharing my Ladybird collection with my readers and hope to continue to do so here on Penny Reads. When I started collecting I was amazed that although I could find excellent listings of the books on sites such as The Wee Web there were very few people writing about the individual books themselves. Some of that has changed with the amazing Ladybird Fly Away Home, but when I first started Ladybird Tuesday back in 2012 that site didn’t really exist in the way it does today.

Ladybird Tuesday is going to kick off with In A Hotel which was part of series 606B People at Work. Originally published in 1972, this book aimed to provide information about the people who work in a hotel and how they contribute towards its smooth and efficient running. The series looked at a variety of occupations ranging from fireman and policeman to miner, car maker and pottery makers.

Things have obviously changed a lot in the hotel industry since People At Work In A Hotel was written and one of the most obvious things is the absence of computers at the time. The idea of a receptionist having charts showing which rooms are occupied and which empty is very old fashioned, but then so is the concept of someone writing a letter to book a room.

One thing that is obviously noticable in this book (and looking at the other titles in the series) is just how much the roles are gender based. The “girls in the cashier’s office” are obviously no more, but at the time of writing many companies had rooms full of women who were either cashiers or typists. Technology has replaced both these roles but it is strange to look back and see how women at the time were somewhat limited in the roles that they could take on.

The expectations at the time were that men would take on the senior roles and hotels were no different.

“In all hotels there is one man who is in charge of everything. This is the manager.”

Not one person, but specifically a man. The book even goes on to describe exactly what he will be wearing. I’m guessing that the ideal of a female manager would have probably blown the mind of whoever wrote this at the time, but it’s still a bit surprising for the 1970s.

As a child I’m sure I would have loved this book as I always thought of hotels as being incredibly exotic places and I really wanted to understand how things worked behind the scenes. That was in the 1980s though and even then things had changed. I’ve no idea when they stopped publishing this particular book but it is funny looking back and seeing just how dated it is, yet I suppose a lot has changed in 40 years!

Visitor’s London – a vintage alphabetical guide by London Transport

September 2, 2018 by penny Leave a Comment

There haven’t been anywhere near enough vintage books on here recently so let me try and rectify that situation with one of my recent car boot sale finds – Visitor’s London.

Whenever I go to a car boot sale or charity shop there are certain things that I am always looking out for. Ladybird Books is one such category, but not at all the only one. B and I have numbers collecting habits so we’re just as likely to be seeking out vintage toys and games or transport related bits and pieces. The further away from London you get the less you see with the familiar London. Transport (or TfL) roundel on it, but there is still treasure to be found and Visitor’s London is one such gem.

It was the roundel under the title on the front cover that first drew my attention to Visitor’s London, and then I spotted the slightly jazzy roundel used as the background on the rest of the book.

Written by Harold F. Hutchison Visitor’s London describes itself as “an alphabetic reference book for the visitor to London who wishes to also see something of London’s countryside”. Published by London Transport it seems that the first edition of this came out in 1954, with the 13th edition that I have found being published in 1967. In fact, it seems that a new edition was brought out in every year except 1961.

The book itself is split into two sections: London and London’s Country.

The first being an alphabetic list of places in London and the second being tourist attractions further afield.

Possibly the most exciting part for me is the How to Get There booklet that is inside the back cover – again in perfect condition.

Dated clearly on the cover as 1967 (and priced at 1/-) this little booklet contains the addresses, opening hours, prices of admission and routes for all the destinations featured in the main book. At the back is a fold out colour version of Beck’s Underground map showing the network as it was at the time.

The Victoria line, Hammersmith and City line and Jubilee line obviously didn’t exist back in 1967. Although you can see the second branch of the Bakerloo line, which went on to become the northern section of the Jubilee line and also the Baker Street to Hammersmith section of the Metropolitan line. Also marked as a branch of the Northern line is the section from Moorgate to Finsbury Park, that is now sometimes known as the Northern City Line and no longer part of Transport for London’s infrastructure.

The book as a whole is a gorgeous slice of London Transport history. There is reference to an earlier edition of such a book on the London Transport Museum website where there is a catalogue entry for a poster called Visitor’s London and the text there talks about an alphabetical guide which I am guessing is an earlier version of the same book.

It might have been the only bit of London Underground treasure that I found at this particular car boot, but bearing in mind that it, and a pile of six vintage cook books cost me only £3 I’m pretty damn pleased with my find!