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.
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 !!"...
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteI 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?
ReplyDelete******
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
ReplyDeletethis 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.
ReplyDeleteYeah that’s the one I saw aa well and thought it was like yours (from Nelson)
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDelete