I was in a charity shop yesterday and bought an old book for £1.50. It's from the '30s, I think - maybe even the '20s. Hard to say for sure as there's no date anywhere inside. The four colour plates evoke a long-vanished age, so I thought it worth sharing them with you here. Couldn't say whether it ever had a dustjacket - perhaps you know? If so, do tell.
7 comments:
I can imagine the first picture being redone for today with David Cameron and George Osborne looking at Boris Johnson in the distance and saying "That chap IS a rotter, who'd have thought ? And him being an Eton fellow too - the cad !!"...
I ve seen a lot of similar 1930s - 50s books appearing in charity shops in the Lanarkshire area -sadly it must be because that generation of 30s kids have passed on.
I ve seen similar books with that style of "cover" and they had dust jackets but I have no idea what that would look like (was the publisher "Nelson" by any chance?)
You're a political satirist, CJ. Who'da thunk it?
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Yes, it is by Nelson. Funnily enough, McS, I'm sure I've got an Annual-type book with the same name. I must dig it out.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/The-Bumper-Book-for-Girls-by-Thos-Nelson-Sons-/182064050575
this looks like the version for girls, similar cover style,
Ta, took a look - costs a lot more than mine and not in such good condition. Wouldn't really want it anyway, as it's a girl's book.
Yeah that’s the one I saw aa well and thought it was like yours (from Nelson)
I have an abiding memory of getting one of these large Bumper books (I think it was from the ‘50s) when I was a kid of about 5/6 years (so 1966 /7) that had a combination of comic strips and stories aimed at kids - if I recall correctly the book was based on the Winter/ Xmas theme . This was probably the book that got me really interested in comics (even at 5 or 6) as one of the strips was a partial reprint of Ken Reid’s Fudge the Elf (this was drawn as comic panels with written text underneath, similar to “Rupert the Bear”). I can still remember being fascinated by the art one this strip and in particular drawings of a “tooth” (a character tooth if that makes sense) and 2 wee bugs. I remember reading it and loving the story and art but the strip ended short of the actual ending (them meeting Santa). I have been searching for that book for nearly 35 years and have yet to find it (I doubt I ever will) although I picked up the Fudge book the story was in from Savoy a few years ago and it was exactly as I remembered it.
There was another similar Bumber book my Aunt got my brother and myself one Xmas (when I was about 10 years old) that was more an educational book that had great illustrations in it that I used to think about from time to time (sad as I am) and I came across that in your neck of the woods (in Strathaven) about 4 years ago so you never know I may yet find the other one as well one day (and no I didn’t buy it – no idea why not daft I know!)
The book I'm looking for, McS, is a text book with illustrations I had as a kid. It had stories like The Three Billy Goats Gruff, The Little Red Hen, The King's Horse, and one about a hedgehog, as well as other tales. Would love to see that again. As for not buying something when you see it and later wishing you had - been there, done it.
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