Out of the blue Martin Byrne wrote to me to share a painting which his family owns of a subject called “Helen”. He’s given me permission to share it with you so let’s take a look.
“I wonder if you may be able to help me. I have an oil painting which appears to be by Leslie Caswell, however numerous searches have failed to come up with any record of it. It appears to have been signed by him and I believe will date to about 1940. It is titled “Helen” and on the reverse there is writing on the canvas which has his details including his army number and Rank. This was originally purchased by my mother in the 60s or 70s. I would greatly appreciate any information you could provide relating to this painting.”
The only ‘story’ behind this was that Martin said his Dad was in the RASC, Royal Army Service Corps, and Caswell became an officer in the Royal Artillery.
So let’s look at what we have. Firstly we know it’s Caswell because of the signature on the painting and helpfully a note of the tacking margin on the reverse.
The artist’s signatureFurther details on the tacking margin
Although hardly ever mentioned online Leslie middle name was Charles so we have confirmation this is ‘our’ Caswell. His British Army service number is mentioned along with 123 OCTU RA: The 123rd Officer Cadet Training Unit, Royal Artillery, trained officer candidates for the Royal Artillery during World War II (frequently stationed at Catterick, Yorkshire).
The big mystery is who is – or more likely – was “HELEN” Whatever we don’t know, we can say it’s a gorgeous oil painting of a young lady with distinctive auburn hair. Caswell’s wife’s name was Grace so this isn’t her. The subject, Helen, is wearing a papakha Cossack-style hat – was this therefore painted in winter? It’s likely as Martin guessed to be around 1940 but definitely post-1939 as the arts supplier’s address gives us information. The stamp on the rear of the canvas reads “Prepared by C. Roberson & Co. Ltd, 71 Parkway, London, N.W.1″. C. Roberson & Co. was a well-known 19th- and 20th-century British artists’ colourman and supplier, and the 71 Parkway address (north-east of Regent’s Park) was used by the firm from 1939 (after a renaming of the street). Roberson were based at 99 Long Acre from 1856-1937, then 101-104 Park St, Camden Town from 1937-1939, when the street was renamed and numbered 71 Parkway 1939-1987. [Source: National Portrait Gallery’s page on Art Supplies]
BBC Children’s Hour Annual [1952] is edited by May E. Jenkin (Head of the Children’s Hour), assisted by Freda Lingstrom (Head of Television Children’s Programmes); Molly Austin (West); Peggy Bacon (Midland); Lorraine Davies (Wales); Kathleen Garscadden (Scotland); Cicely Mathews (Northern Ireland) and Gwen Pain (North). Published by Burke, London, by arrangement with the British Broadcasting Corporation
Endpapers – “The Kitten on the Quay” with art by Derrick Harris
The cover is credited on the dust-jacket by Gilbert Dunlop and the endpapers are by Derrick Harris. He was born in 1919 and died 1960 and a lot of his work is shown the Derrick Harris website too
CONTENTS
Hullo Children! by May E. Jenkin [Introductory article]
Sam Pig’s Photograph by Alison Uttley; illustrated by A. E. Kennedy
Jennings Switches On by Anthony Buckeridge; illustrated by Douglas Relf
Jallopy the Enormous Boatman by Benedict Ellis; illustrated by Patricia Marriott
Make your own Puppets by W. R. Dalzell; illustrated by the author
Christmas at Cowleaze Farm by Ralph Whitlock; illustrated by Gilbert Dunlop
The Little Slant by Colin Clemak; illustrated by Patricia Lambe
Chicken for Supper by Noel Streatfeild; illustrated by Marcia Lane Foster
Magic Magpies by Ralf; illustrated by ?
Polly and Oliver by David Scott Daniell; illustrated by Jack Matthew
British Wild Mammals by James Fisher; illustrated by D[enys]. W. Ovenden
Mr Turnip’s Christmas Treat by Peter Ling; illustrated by Joy Laurey
A Voice in the Wall by Anthony C. Wilson; illustrated by Lance Cattermole
I’m Proud of My Father by Angus MacVicar; illustrated by Frank Bellamy
Folklore and Legends of the North by Bertha Lonsdale; illustrated by Olga Lehmann
A Present for the Queen by Aubrey Feist; illustrated by William Stobbs
A Parrot in Command by Olive Dehn; illustrated by Isobel Mount
Broggen and the Green Shoes by Patricia Lynch; illustrated by Peggy Fortnum
Pets in the Garden by L. Hugh Newman; illustrated by Wilson
Seringapatam by Ken Francis; illustrated by E. G. Pagram
Tammy Troot’s Tour by Lavinia Derwent; illustrated by Sam Fair
Disney Studios by John Stratten; illustrated by unknown + photos
Mines in the Fairway by ‘Sea-Lion’; illustrated by Geo[rge] W. Blow
Storm and the Tree Doctor by Tudor Watkins; illustrated by Lance Cattermole
Johnny Pilgrim [and the Island of Singing Frogs] by Jean Marsh; illustrated by Len Fullerton
Father Christmas was Late by Modwena Sedgwick; illustrated by Isobel Mount
Young Artists edited by Geoffrey Dearmer; with illustrations by children
Try These on Your Parents by Geoffrey Dearmer [Answers to a quiz]
ART GALLERY with my notes
GILBERT DUNLOP
Art by Gilbert Dunlop – Opposite Title Page
The header for “Christmas at Cowleaze Farm”; Art by Gilbert Dunlop, p.31
Ironically we don’t know much about the artist Gilbert Dunlop, and I’ve put together a bibliography of his works in a previous review of an Uncle Mac Annual.
We learn from the wonderful Illustration Art Gallery, that Albert Ernest Kennedy (4 February 1883 – January 1963) was born in Leyton, London and won “the approval of highly selective author Alison Uttley who approved both for his work and his personality”(Denis Judd’s Alison Uttley – the life of a country child, 1884-1976). Bridgeman have loads of his cute animals images
Albert Ernest Kennedy was 28 in 1911. In that census he is listed as “Publisher designer and draughtsman”with his birth in London Stoke Newington. He was married to Ella Maud Kennedy (who was 26 and born in Stratford, 1885) in 1909. They had two children by this time, Albert Ralph Kennedy born the year before the census, and Ella Leslie Kennedy born in the year of the 1911 census. They all lived at 4 Abbotts Park Road, Leyton.
The reason so little information exists on the Internet might be because anyone searching the 1921 census finds our Albert and family now with the head of the household listed as “Occupation: Off Licence Holder Best Wine & Spirit” at 309 Hoe St, Walthamstow! Did he need a sideline to supplement his income? His wife has “Home duties” as her occupation, so I assume she didn’t run the off-licence.
The 1939 Register states Albert was a “Commercial artist” and has the correct dates for him and his wife Ella, as well as their son Albert -who by this time was a “Medical Practitioner”. We learn here that A.E. Kennedy was born on the 4 February 1883 and find 13 people living in the same house (including the above) at “Chesholm”, Harpenden Road, St Albans, which I’m guessing is either gone or converted to flats now. If he remained in Harpenden, it might be him whose death was registered in the 1st quarter of 1963. So a little bit more information but more mysteries – perhaps that should be the name of this blog!
Patricia Marriott’s artwork feels like that of Mervyn Peake, the Gormenghast writer/artist. Patricia “Pat” Marriott (1920–2002) was a prominent British illustrator best known for her distinctive black-and-white drawings in children’s and young adult literature.She is most widely celebrated for her James Bond covers e.g. the first UK hardback edition of Ian Fleming’s Diamonds Are Forever (1956) and Dr. No (1958), as well as the playing-card motif for the 1957 edition of Casino Royale. She was apparently the in-house artist for publisher Jonathan Cape and married to Michael Howard, Ian Fleming’s literary advisor. Her most famous work for a children’s title was Joan Aiken’s Wolves of Willougby Chase as well as other books by that authoress. [Source: James Bond 007 Magazine]
Here’s another mystery – to me anyway. Patricia M. Lambe drew illustrations for children’s books – a short bibliography follows – but other than that I can find no reference to her in any of the usual places. The genealogical databases have her name but those people are generally too ‘old’ and therefore I can’t pin anyone with that name down.
The Church’s year by Charles Alexander, Oxford U.P., 1950
Sparks among the Stubble [Short stories.] by Elfrida Vipont, London: Oxford University Press, 1950
Dances and musical activities for Juniors, by Margaret Jarvis, London: Faber & Faber, 1951
Musical Games for Infants by Margaret Jarvis, London: Faber & Faber, 1951
Captain Smith and Pocahontas by J[ames] M[aurice] Scott, London: Methuen, 1953
The Debatable Mound by Dorita Fairlie Bruce, London: Oxford University Press, 1953
Letters to a Young Naturalist by Maxwell Knight, London: Collins, 1955
The above colour illustration accompanies the story “Polly and Oliver” and Jack Matthew adds 4 line drawings too. Matthew is most well-known now for his Ladybird books and was born on 8 January 1911 and grew up in Oldham, Lancashire. He studied at the Oldham School of Art and later Goldsmiths College School of Art, studying illustration under Rowland Hilder. He also learned from Stanley Anderson R.A. and Clive Gardiner, when he worked on wood engraving, and lithography. In addition to his Ladybird work, he drew many covers for crime fiction books.
In Illustrators-of-Childrens-Books-1946-1956, (1958) it is stated Matthew said: “The greatest influences were from the work of Adolph Menzel and Edmund J. Sullivan, but I do not think the influence of these two fine artists is very apparent now.” In the late 1950s he was living in Sevenoaks, Kent when he drew the first three Ladybird books for the series on overseas places. His work appeared in Treasure comic in 1963. He also drew for Ladybird until circa 1964 – his last titles The Story of Cricket and The Story of Football. The British Library has Jack Matthew as having passed away in 1964. I shall leave this here for a better genealogist than me to find out more about him.
The Wikipedia article tells us that Ovenden was a British natural history illustrator working principally in watercolour. He was born 1 April 1922 and passed away on 26 November 2019. His tribute page is on Muchloved.com where you’ll find photos of him too.
I’ve put this here as it’s a famous character from the 50s – Mr. Turnip- yes entertainment was simpler then! This Joy Laurey was NOT the French erotic fiction writer, but the Joy Laurey Archive tells us she used a stage name and was actually born Joy Johnson. I knew her name due to her involvement in Twizzle which was repeated on ITV in my youth. Mr. Turnip had lots of merchandise produced – puppets, bagatelles, books, etc. and was a competitor to Muffin The Mule at the time. Joy Laurey (Joy Dorothy Luczyc-Wyhowski), was born 30 April 1924 and died 2 June 2014. As you can see by her surname she married – at the age of 35 – and was very active in supporting people with mental health difficulties near her Tiptree home in Essex. Apparently no footage still exists but here’s the closest you’ll find to date
Olga Lehmann (Louise Olga Mary Lehmann, born February 10 1912; died October 28 2001) was another person who settled in Essex, but she began her life in South America. Wikipedia gives us a biography plus a listing of all her Radio Times work. Interestingly neither David Driver nor Tony Currie – who compiled books on the art of the Radio Times mention her work. Her work designing album sleeves for records can be found here and shows her technique to the full.
***UPDATE: 2 August 2026***
My wife and I visited the Fry Art Gallery yesterday – we’d been before – and the Lehmann exhibition is well worth visiting. There are oil paintings from her war work; artwork for films; designs for magazines etc. I love the Gallery anyway for the woodblocks on display created by people like Bawden and Ravilious plus so much artwork…and all squeezed into just two rooms!
Olga Lehmann: A Vivacious and Versatile Artist runs from Sunday 12th July to Sunday 25th October in the Gibson Room at the Fry Art Gallery – if you are going anywhere near Saffron Walden look up the exhibition – so many works are normally in private collections, you won’t see the like again for a long while.
William Stobbs was born June 27, 1914, in South Shields, and died April 6, 2000. He was an administrator, illustrator, and author. He was head of the design department at the London School of Printing, and also served as principal at Maidstone College of Art in Kent. His books for children feature both retold and original stories. There’s a basic outline of his works on Wikipedia, but Illustrators of Children’s Books 1946-1956 (1958) has a bit more detail:
Bom June 27, 1914, in England. Childhood was spent in County Durham. Attended King Edward VI School of Alt; Durham University. William Stobbs’ childhood was spent in the North of England, almost always in sight of the sea and the River Tyne which is noted for its shipping, and his interest in boats has continued. At Durham University he obtained a First Class Honours Degree (B.A.) in History of Art, and subsequently obtained an M.A. degree in the same subject. He believes that the strong traditional influence on his work is due to this. He is especially influenced by Caravaggio. He is now Head of the Design Department of the London School of Printing and Graphic Arts and is a member of the Society of Industrial Artists. Knight Crusader by Ronald Welch which William Stobbs illustrated received in 1955 the Carnegie Medal for the best children’s book of the year published in England. His home is in Richmond, Suney, England.
The British Library has listed at least 117 titles which are written, and, or illustrated by Stobbs (for a listing see the Illustrators Wiki); he drew illustrations in magazines too and finally FishInk blog has examples of his work.
If I have the correct Isobel Mount, I think she was born in 1908 in Angus, Scotland (and is 13 in the 1921 Census of Scotland. . However I am stepping on wobbly ground here. and am open to correction! Isobel Helen Mount was possibly born in Scotland and drew work for the “Land Girl” magazine and to quote the Imperial War Museum: “During nearly seven years of its existence, the ‘Land Girl’ has produced nothing more popular then the series of articles written by Isobel Mount of the Scottish W.L.A. under the title ‘Miss Baxter and I’. From the release of information at Scotlandspeople, we see her enrolment card “We are pleased to announce that the records of almost 10,000 women who served with the Scottish Women’s Land Army (SWLA) and Women’s Timber Corps (WTC) from 1939 to 1950 have been digitised and are now available online to search and view on Scotland’s People.” and the example they show is Mount’s card on which we learn her previous occupation before the war was “Press Artist” and that she was awarded the B.E.M. in 1946. An article in the Jedburgh Gazette (21 December 1945) tells us “Miss Isobel Mount, of Balluderon Farm, Tealing, Angus”, was presented to the Queen in London. I found some of her writing in Blackie and Son books. If this is ‘our’ Isobel, her probate record states: “MOUNT Isobel Helen of Chesterhill Cottage Washerwillys Newport on Tay Fife died 19 June 1965 at Meigle. Confirmation of Alexander Gilruth solicitor and Marjory Janet Mount”. I presume the latter is her sister – who dies herself in April 1985. I notice in the Land Girl magazine the artwork has a signature of a prominent ‘M’ and a tail reaching towards it, but none of the BBC Annual illustrations have anything but the credit.
A review of the last book I have listed as illustrated by Isobel Mount says: “A story of a Scottish boy’s struggle to decide whether he should try to build up a derelict hill farm or work on his father’s already well-equipped farm.[…] The story has little plot and is a fictionalized attempt to discuss various types of farming in Scotland. The characterizations are poor, lacking life and depth.” – no mention of the illustrations!
BIBLIOGRAPHY
“The Spirit Moo’ed” Illustrated Sporting and Drama 21 December 1945
“Country Cast No 1: Tooky o’ The Mains” Illustrated Sporting and Drama 23 April 1949
“Country Cast No 2: Stanley from Tiree” Illustrated Sporting and Drama 4 May 1949
Miss Baxter and I by Isobel Mount London: Land Girl, 194?
Sir Jacko and the whimsical wolf by Norman Hillas, 1949
Young farmers in Scotland by Nancy Martin, London: Macmillan, 1956
Margaret Emily Noel Fortnum (23 December 1919 – 28 March 2016) was an English illustrator, best known for illustrating the children’s literature series Paddington Bear. So I’ll just leave this with the Wikipedia link
I’ve shown two of the three images by Pagram as they are such an unusual style and as soon as one looks for other work and information it looks as if he was born in Edmonton, London in 1927, married in 1951 to Joan Bennett with whom he had three children, and migrated to Perth, Australia in 1965. He died in 2007. The excellent Speculative Fiction Database has a list of his art for that genre and he famously illustrated two Anthony Burgess books The Eve of Saint Venus (1964) and A Vision of Battlements (1965). Pagram’s own work “A View of London” – (Hamish Hamilton, 1963) shows his caricature style in charcoal but no line work I could find looked as interesting as the above. Also I must say nowhere could I find his middle name starting with a “G.” so I wonder if this is merely a transcription error for “J.”. For more information take a look at Lineage Artist.
George H. Blow – note the middle initial again- was an illustrator who worked for boys’ papers. He was particularly notable for his colour work on Chums. He later worked on short-run titles like Scoop’s Jupiter Adventure Comic, Children’s Press’ Singbad the Sailor, and Valentine’s Super Bumper. The reference to this middle initial came – like this information – from Alan Clark’s Dictionary of British Comic Artists, Writers and Editors, (The British Library, 1998). However, I notice the Book Palace also list an artwork by Geo. H. when it’s clear it should be “W.” which makes me wonder.
George William Blow is listed in the 1921 Census as having been born in 19 June 1898 in Rotherham, and is 23 years of age as living alone with his mother and his occupation as “Commercial artist and illustrator”. This Geo. W. left for Montreal, Canada on 16 September 1955 with his wife Margaret, born 20 October 1915, (born Margaret Baxter and married on 4 June 1943) plus their daughter Verta born 7 June 1947.
However, in the Dundee Electoral Roll of 1937, 1938 and 1939, his wife is listed as “Susan”. The interesting tie-up here with other data is that their home address “297, Hawkhill, Dundee” which could mean Geo. H. and Geo. W. are the same. Book Palace states: “George Blow was a member of Bill McCail’s Mallard Studios in Dundee, alongside Len Fullerton, Sam Fair, Alf Farningham and Sydney Jordan.He illustrated children’s books in the 1940s, including book covers for Our Boys Tip Top published by Renwick Of Otley”
So I’m drawing a line under this now and wait and see.
I’ve shared some of Cattermole’s work before but loved this colour image so here it is for you to enjoy too! There are also three B&W images in this story “Storm and the Tree Doctor”
I’ve mentioned Len Fullerton here: Uncle Mac’s Children Hour Book [1952] and Uncle Mac’s Children Hour Story Book [1953], both of which are bird drawings for which he was known. In this annual he draws images to accompany a high adventure story. Steve Holland has an extensive listing plus biography so I won’t repeat it here and notes that he was in the same studio as George Blow (mentioned above).
The Speculative Fiction website was my starting point for Modwena Sedgwick and clued me into the fact she married a ‘Glover’ Modwena Margaret Sedgwick was born on 2 January 1916 and appears to have married twice. Firstly to John P. Allen in 1937 – he was at the time an actor and later became a theatre administrator and theatre historian. Their marriage was dissolved according to his obituary. Prior to this the marriage produced two sons. She then married Claud Gordon Glover in 1946 She appears to have died in North Walsham, Norfolk in 1995. A newspaper article (Saffron Walden Weekly News) in 1952 mentions the Arkesden Fete at which the famous BBC Presenter Gilbert Harding opened the event and was a friend and co-presenter at the BBC of Mr. C. Gordon Glover. It goes on to state “fortune teller Mrs. Modwena Sedgwick Glover” and “Horse racing” Mr. C. Gordon Glover”. Claud Gordon died on 1 March 1975. She wrote several books for children with illustrators other than herself drawing in them
Finally it would be remiss of me not to mention Frank Bellamy‘s work appears here too as well as some photographs of the Disney studio.
In my previous article I wrote about the ORANGE cover version of this book and I’ve shown some of the inside pages on my Raymond Sheppard website. I’ll add a few more here just to make some points.
Now to the dating of this “yellow-covered” version. The contents are exactly the same, same number of pages, same illustrations to accompany the same stories with one very big exception. A ‘spot’ colour has been added to all the illustrations that were black and white and also the signatures of artists have been removed, as well as some of the subtler touches such as stippling, erased!
From the ORANGE cover version, page 21From the YELLOW cover version – page 21
In the above version of the art, we can see the stippling and line work of the thatched roof has just been ‘flattened’. But the colourist has added some lines in the road where nothing previously existed!
Some of Helen Jacobs, Raymond Sheppard and Barbara C. Freeman’s signatures have just been cut out, or whited out, making identifying the artists even harder!
Page 80 from the Orange cover version – Art by Barbara C. FreemanPage 80 from the Yellow cover version – Art by Barbara C. Freeman
I don’t think there’s any point in showing any more as the ORANGE cover seems so superior to me. My yellow copy has an inscription from some grandparents and is helpfully dated 1954. So I’m of the opinion, as the original was certainly published in December 1949 (see previous article) and the yellow cover is post 1949 and considering I have not identified or dated any further book in 1950/1951 the yellow could be from that year and still to be found in 1954. There were two more “Uncle Mac’s” published after these two, before we follow the progress of the dropping of his name on the Children’s Hour annuals – changed to BBC Children’s Hour Annual – the first published in 1951, due to his resignation in July 1950. Presumably the BBC decided or negotiated the use of his name and association with the programme for two more issues..
A Collins advert for the “Uncle Mac’s Children’s Hour Story Book” in July 1951 states the new book will be “in tint and full colour” and indeed the 1952 is just that – note the publisher and title changes. The Orange cover is published by Sampson Low (the yellow cover strangely has no publisher! A later advert states there will 5 colour plates and 128 pages – again confirming the Mays’ cover of a stage gives us the actual date as 1951 (i.e. the annual for 1952). So I’m settling for this perhaps being a reprint issued through the year following 1950 and most likely 1951.
The next book I want to look at contains some Raymond Sheppard artwork, which I’ve described before on that artist’s blog.
Uncle Mac’s Children’s Hour Book [1950] using the normal UK annual naming tradition, was published in 1949 with the orange cover. It does not – to my knowledge have any copyright date, but I’ve used it here as I have proof of that date. It was published by Sampson Low [and printed by Purnell] and the first story is titled “King Arthur’s Tree” by Alison Uttley.
An announcement in The Bookseller of 12 November 1949 states:
Uncle Mac’s NEW CHILDREN’S HOUR BOOK. Once again Uncle Mac’s celebrated Children’s Hour Book contains a great selection of stories and special articles by famous contributors to Children’s Hour, edited by Uncle Mac.
That doesn’t give many clues but the page count and an image of the cover do! The page count for the 6/6d book was 160 pp. – my copy has printed pages up to 157 (plus one), therefore 158 – so counting endpapers (?) we get to that number, maybe. But the picture in the following week’s Bookseller clinches it.
The Bookseller 19 November 1949 showing the cover
The title in the advert almost appears to be “Uncle Mac’s New Children’s Hour Book”, but we can see the cover does not contain the word ‘new’. I don’t own a dustjacket on my copy and have never seen one advertised. If you know of one, do let me know. Unfortunately we learn from a trade advert that the publication date had to be postponed for some Sampson Low titles and this title was to be published 8 December 1949 and it certainly appeared in listings around the end of the month but what a short lead time for Christmas purchasing!
The endpapers are signed by Raymond Sheppard and shown here, as is the title page too, so let’s begin with the Contents. Does anyone know who this artist is?
King Arthur’s Tree by Alison Uttley; illustrated by ?
Sandy the Blue Lion by Edward D. Dickinson; illustrated by ?
Tim’s Turkey by Meryon Vance; illustrated by Bernard Wragg?
The Crocodile Who Cried by Nancy Imlach; illustrated by Helen Jacobs
The Patchwork Dress by Barbara Leonie Picard; illustrated by Valerie Sweet
Quinney—My Cat by Brian Vesey-Fitzgerald, F.L.S.; illustrated by ?
Butterfly Beginners by L. Hugh Newman, F.R.E.S., F.R.H.S.; illustrated by the author?
The Horse Who Didn’t Like Sundays by Paddy Watts; illustrated by ?
Odds-Bobs-and-Mackerel and the Pirates by George Baker; illustrated by Raymond Sheppard
The Necklace of Stars by Geoffrey Dearmer; illustrated by Valerie Sweet
The Blue Fingers of Zwolle: An old Dutch story by Antonia Ridge; illustrated by Barbara C. Freeman
The Sentimental Sea Serpent by Barbara Sleigh; illustrated by ?
The Four Quarters by Ken Francis; illustrated by “Galas”?
The Cow That Went In And Out by W. A. Rathkey; illustrated by Barbara C. Freeman
Black and White by Barbara Euphan Todd; illustrated by HB?
The Dog Who Wore a Hat by Rosemary Tones; illustrated by ?
The Snowman and the Scarecrow by Midge Slaney; illustrated by Raymond Sheppard
A Deal in Turtles by C. Fox Smith; illustrated by Bernard Wragg?
The Smoking Chimney by Olive Dehn; illustrated by ?
Mr. Otter’s Honey-Flies by Modwena Sedgwick; illustrated by ?
The Ear-Ring in the Underground by Daphne Nicol; illustrated by ?
ART GALLERY and my comments and queries
Who is “HB”, “H.B.” or “H B”?
Firstly looking at the Contents page, I love the illustrated border but who drew it? There’s a lot of confident stippling and in the story further in the book, “Black and White” it is signed by HB. Here are two of their images from pages 111 and 113 respectively. I’m sure it doesn’t look like Helen Bannerman’s artwork (the creator of “Little Black Sambo”) but who was HB?
“King Arthur’s Tree” has a delightful illustrator who I feel I should know but again my memory has gone! All I can think of is Eileen Soper. Can anyone correct me? The second image with the little girl with that ‘fly-away’ hair seems so familiar!
“Sandy the Blue Lion” has some lovely strong illustrations. But again I have no idea who they are by.
WRAGG or “Wrall”?
Two stories in this book are illustrated by someone signing their name. But can you read it? Is it Wragg? Could this be Arthur Wragg (1903-1976)? I don’t think so as his work was very heavy on blacks and not such a light brush stroke. Also here’s his signature on a sketch:
But here’s a more credible alternative. BERNARD WRAGG. He illustrated various children’s books – see below – around this time until the 1960s. I think he also illustrated advertising and record sleeves.
Hundred Mile Adventure by Michael Gibson, 1950
The Secret of the Waving Bamboos by Arthur Waterhouse, 1951
Diesel flyer by Andrew Wood, 1957
The ‘Plane Wreckers by Pat Strong, 1961
The Motorway Chase by Bruce Carter, 1961
The Fast Green Car by Nicholas Fisk, 1965
If you compare this signature to the ones above, do you think they could be the same person?
The next mystery is the artist who draws the cats for “Quinney—My Cat” by Brian Vesey-Fitzgerald and if you tell me it’s Eileen Soper I will not be too surprised!
I’m not even going to try to identify the following artist as I’ve spent too much time trying to figure out if there is a signature in the bottom right or whether that is simple cross-hatching!
Page 66, art by Unknown
VALERIE SWEET
“The Necklace of Stars” by Geoffrey Dearmer, Page 76 drawn by Valerie Sweet
The next image taken from “The Sentimental Sea Serpent” by Barbara Sleigh is a sweet image but again the artist is unidentified.
“The Sentimental Sea Serpent” by Barbara Sleigh, page 91; art by Unknown
I previously wondered if Barbara Sleigh, in the 1937 book illustrated some stories but that art and this look different in style.
“The Four Quarters” contains various illustrations signed by…. well you decide. Is it Galbo,i,e,William Francis Phillipps – I don’t think so; could it be Galas and if so, I can’t find anyone with that pseudonym of surname.
And finally the last four mysteries where I have no clues
“The Dog Who Wore a Hat” by Rosemary Tones has some nice accompanying illustrations such as this one
Page 120
The Smoking Chimney by Olive Dehn. The loose style looks familiar but who is the artist?
Mr. Otter’s Honey-Flies by Modwena Sedgwick has artwork that is very stylised and meticulous.
Lastly, “The Ear-Ring in the Underground” by Daphne Nicol is also unknown to me
Page 153
If anyone wants to hazard a guess, I’m happy to research further on any tiny clues given to me
In two previous articles I looked at Gold Token comics and Gold Token Books. For me as a child, the Gold Token comics (I can’t remember ever seeing any books) was all about the content but also the free gifts. I did send off for one – the “Two Frog Chuck Gliders” which lasted no time at all, as we lived five floors up and that balcony was so attractive!
Taken from a December 1964 Gold Tokens comic:
FREE GIFTS for YOU! Every Super-Mag brings you exciting Gold Tokens, each worth two units. Be sure to cut them out and save them. You just send them to the address at the bottom of this page for wonderful FREE gifts. And remember that Gold Tokens are to be found in all Gold Token Books, which are in the shops now, and you can add these to your collection to earn your free gifts quicker! These are free gifts which you can send for by collecting Gold Tokens from Super-Mags and books:—
A quality painting book ==12 tokens (and the opportunity to enter exciting painting competitions every month)
A detective magnifying glass==12 tokens
A wonder cut-out and games book==16 tokens
Your own set of quality colouring pencils==20 tokens
Two ‘FROG’ Chuck Gliders Balsa construction. Stunt and fly like a real plane==20 tokens
An artist’s all-colour paint box==24 tokens
Wonderful book of ‘Record Breakers’-32 big pages of full colour, showing records and pictures of land, air and water record breakers==30 tokens
A luxury folding bookcase for all your Gold Token books==40 tokens
I would love to see pictures of these gifts but to date I’ve found known. And what on Earth is a ‘folding bookcase’? I wondered at first if it was like this school bookcase but suspect for 40 tokens (approximately £1 -i.e. 20 shillings- spending in comics) it’s the latter but maybe just one shelf!
FROG MODEL KITS
Besides comics and books, Gold Tokens also appeared in FROG Model aircraft kits. This advert ran in Meccano magazine from May 1964 to February 1966.
The history of FROG can be read on Wikipedia, and elsewhere, “Adaey M” quoted from FROG Model Aircraft 1932-1976 The Complete History Of The Flying Aircraft & Plastic Kits by Richard Lines and Leif Hellstrom (published by New Cavendish Books, 1989) saying:
In my FROG Model Aircraft history book it says that the Gold Token scheme only ran from mid 1964 to December 1965. In the Gold Token kits, Gold Tokens were printed on the instruction sheets and once enough had been collected, they could be exchanged for gliders or a booklet.During the transition period when the Tokens were withdrawn, some kits still came in Gold Token boxes but with a GOLD TOKEN SCHEME NOW DISCONTINUED sticker on the box front.
It is worth noting with the exception of the 1966 releases all the Trail Blazers carried ‘Gold Tokens’ a reward scheme introduced in April 1964 which when collected could be redeemed for gifts 15 tokens for instance would get a “Chuck Glider” 30 a book on speed record breakers and 45 a Junior sailplane kit. The tokens were printed on the instruction sheets and had to be cut out. When the scheme closed in December 1965 a lot of models appeared with stickers on the boxes stating “Gold token scheme now discontinued”.
So what did the boxes and instruction sheets look like? Well I’m grateful to enthusiasts who freely share information on the Internet, too many to mention.
FROG Catalogue from1965
Here’s an example of one of the kit boxes – in this case the Submarine S6B (kit number F164)
SUBMARINE S6B
Notice for our purposes the box cover proclaims”Save the 5 gold Tokens inside for free gifts” + “UK Only”. Inside the instruction sheets has the tokens
It’s worth noting too that the text states:
SAVE GOLD TOKENS FOR EXCITING FREE GIFTS! Every time you buy a FROG Construction Kit with a GOLD TOKEN on the box you will find FROG GOLD TOKENS inside which are worth exciting free gifts to you. You will find your TOKENS on the back of this leaflet. Save your FROG GOLD TOKENS. Look out for other FROG Construction Kits with GOLD TOKENS inside. They are fun and easy to collect and when you have enough you can send for any of these free gifts — Two FROG “Chuck” Gliders. Balsa construction. Stunt and fly like a real plane ==15 tokens. Book of “Record-Breakers”. 32 pages of full colour showing records and pictures of land, air and water record breakers ==30 tokens. FROG Junior Sail Plane Kit. 20″ semi-scale Glider. Balsa wood and tissue construction. All shaped parts pre-cut. Outstanding flying characteristics ===45 tokens. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO. Just cut out and save your FROG GOLD TOKENS on the back of this leaflet. When you have collected enough for the free gift you want, send them with your name and address together with a 3d. stamp, to help with the postage of your gift to — GOLD TOKEN (DEPARTMENT F), LONDON, N.W.1. Due to the cost of postage and duty the FROG GOLD TOKEN GIFT SCHEME has to be confined to the United Kingdom Only.
Here we have a different selection of gifts – including uniquely a balsa wood and tissue glider model. I couldn’t find any cross-marketing between the comics, books and kits.
And not all boxes had just 5 Gold Tokens. F167 (Westland Wallace) had 6 tokens, F320 (Hawker Hunter) had 7 tokens, the F177 (Heinkel He 219) had 10 tokens but the F170 Northrop Black Widow had 12 tokens! Whether this was due to the pricing of the kits, I don’t know, but I feel sure it wasn’t due to inflation in the mid-1960s. I’ve found evidence of the FROG model ship kit, HMS Exeter, and the car model FROG-MG1100 “quick fit car with electric motor” having 12 tokens!
The FROG car series from a 1965 catalogue
As the articles above mentioned when the Gold Tokens scheme ended in December 1965, a sticker was placed on all kits to indicate this. Interestingly this December 1965 advert says nothing about Gold Tokens but does show them on each box!
Below you can see an example of before and after the closure of the Gold Tokens scheme
Adverts appeared on the back of the Gold Token Action Series highlighting the FROG kits and the one below shows a six shilling kit would get you 12 Gold Tokens.
And again it’s interesting to note, no mention of Gold Tokens in this advert…but then the prizes here seem a lot more exciting
This advert from Lion 27 March 1965
If you are interested in the box art, there’s a great site which unfortunately does not mention artists by name, but BoxArtDen does. Alan Bussie’s Old Model Kits site has loads of artwork, but little in the way of credits. Fancy buying a FROG kit? Try KingKit as they have reasonable prices.
In a previous article I wrote about the Gold Token Comics which were produced in the mid-1960s. I owned a few – long gone – and was curious about the publisher and their output. As an ex-bookseller myself I always wanted to keep the physical catalogues and brochures I received from publishers but space constraints meant I threw away materials rich in historic information (some incorrect, as books announced does not equal books published!), but ephemera only became valuable recently with the nostalgia industry. Hey-ho!
So what I’m trying to say is, it’s difficult reconstructing a publisher’s output. I have used eBay for a lot of images on this page and various places for information. I hope you enjoy this romp through children’s books. I have NOT attempted to list all Young World Productions output, merely to record an overview of their beginnings.
In May 1963 the Bookseller and also The Scotsman (and others), using a standard press release from Thomson which stated that “As part of the Thomson Organisation, Ltd.’s, rationalisation of book interests, a new holding company, the Northwood Book Publishing Company, has been formed. Its board, […], is responsible for the operations of three subsidiary companies—Heron Books, Ltd.; Young World Productions, Ltd., and Direct Mail Marketing, Ltd. […]Young World Productions, Ltd., is an entirely new company. Its productions – picture books, story books and novelty material – will be aimed at children up to the age of 12 years. Development work is already well advanced and selling will start before the end of the year.”
On the 1 June 1963 it was announced that the well-known author Rosemary Garland would become Chief Editor, mentioning erroneously she had been “editor of Robin, Swift, Girl and Eagle”, where in fact she had written for the comics and been Assistant Editor for Robin . The advert below shows that by September 1963 things were in full swing. By the 16 November 1963, titles were being added to Whitaker’s listings in the Bookseller beginning the timeline for Young World Productions Limited.
The 28 September 1963 Bookseller has a full page advert which ran almost weekly until the 16 November 1963. Note the generous terms – 40% (usually 33.3%) sometimes children’s novelty books did not attract as generous terms as 33.3%. And also invoices which used to be “payment within 30 days” were not payable until January – certainly very attractive terms back then, during the days of the Net Book Agreement, as one could sell the books and then pay the supplier.
The adverts will have been accompanied by press releases to be used around the country in local newspapers – always on the look out for filler materials.
The first full page advert Bookseller 28 September 1963
A SPECIAL RANGE OF CHILDREN’S BOOKS
Young World Productions Ltd. are going to make Christmas shopping easy for many parents, uncles and aunts. The Gold Token books for children brought out at the beginning of the winter, should prove very acceptable presents. The books will appeal to children because of their attractive lay-out and pictures, but they also have another fascination. All children like collecting and they will love collecting the Gold Tokens which come with the books because so few tokens entitle them to a top quality free gift. The publishers are bringing out series of books for children well within the pockets of children. The first set covers 44 titles priced from 1s to 6s 6d under the brand name Gold Token, and each carries tokens which the publishers will redeem for gifts such as a cut-out and games book or a luxury fold down book case. Look out for the Gold Token books in your bookseller’s shop or at newsagents, chemists and supermarkets that sell books. You will be delighted at their value. Furthermore, by giving them as Christmas presents you will give children an incentive to buy worth-while literature. ~Pontypridd Observer 14 December 1963
The following week an advert appeared which gave children 2 tokens to get started on their collections, the advert took up two of the six columns in the paper.
1963***1963***1963
In the 16 November issue of the Bookseller we get the first listing of the titles produced by the ‘new’ company, all with publication dates of October 1963:
GOLD Token Books. Cadet Series: The Adventures of Tiny Tom; Alice and the White Rabbit; The Arrow and the Apple; Candy Wore Shoes; The Cat Who Wore Boots; The Glass Slipper; The House in the Woods; Little Red Hood; The Magic Bird; The Musical Animals; My Friend the Wolf; The New Windmill; The Pig That Tricked the Wolf; Red Robin; Scruffy and the Wolf; The Secret of the Ugly Duckling; The Snow Queen; The Sugar House. Each of these were approximately 20 x 6 cms and priced at 1/- and had 24 pages. On the reverse – top-right corner- the series name is written, the only clue! 2 tokens were included.
GOLD Token Books. Captain Series:Book of Animal Land; Picture Book of Animal Land; Story Book of Animal Land; Tales from Animal Land. 29 x 22 cms with board covers 16 pages and cost 3/6. In March 1964, the series also added Aladdin’s Magic Lamp and Other Tales: Alice in Wonderland; Gulliver’s Travels; Robin Hood and Rosemary Garland is credited at the editor, with no credits for the author or artist. 7 Gold Tokens were included.
GOLD Token Books. Commodore Series:A Camp of Their Own; The Friendly Squirrel; A Horse of Their Own; MacBunny; Telltales; Wonder Stories. These were hardbacks with 24 pages – sized at 31 x 25cms. They cost 5/- each but you did get 10 tokens in each book.
In March 1964 were added ABC; Big Top Ballet; Little Lamb Lost; Merlin’s Magic; A Pony for Me (illustrated by Joan Thompson); Speed. – the latter having artwork by Roy Cross – famed for cutaways in Eagle comic and for his model kit box art
The late David Slinn sent me some scans of one of the Commodore series he owned, so here they are for you to enjoy. All artwork by Francis Marshall and story edited by Rosemary Garland.
GOLD Token Books. Gift Series:Cinderella; Sleeping Beauty; Snow White; Tom Thumb. 28 pages costing 6/6, size at 31 x 25cms and with 12 tokens – a very high number considering you could immediately send off for a “Quality Painting Book” with the opportunity to enter competitions! Interestingly each book credits “Originated by Robert Borghi, Copyright Young World Productions Ltd., London and Europea Editrice, Milan (Italy) Printed by Streb, Bologna, 1963”, so I’m guessing this might have been a co-edition to reduce overall costs.
GOLD Token Books. Pilot Series: Adventures of Tiny Tom; The Brave Kitten; The Cat Who Wore Boots; Columbus Kitten; Debbie; Dressing Up; Little Red Hood; Peter the Donkey; Pig Tale; Rabbit Holiday; Rocky and Biddy; Tony the Woodland Boy. Each book cost 2/6 and inside were 4 tokens. 25 x 19 cms, and were hardbacks.
In March 1964, a further 8 titles were added suggesting the “Pilot” format worked well for them: Cubby; Ginger’s Bright Ideas; Kate and Katie Doll; Magic Bugle; Our Own Circus: Ozzie and the Woodman; Peter Pipkin (illustrated by the Johnstone twins) ; Podger’s Day (this last one illustrated by Romain Simon)
On the 10 April 1965 these were added: The Clock Strikes One; Donald and the Robots; Mickey Minstrel. I should point out the odd book in the grouping above – Mary Poppins. This was illustrated by the twins Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone, published in May 1965 and makes it extremely collectable.
In March 1964, YWP began adding titles to the existing series (mentioned above). They also started three more series:
GOLD Token Books. Compass Series: Looking for a Ladybird; Magic Feather; Magic Roundabout; Monkey Tricks at Feeding Time. These were 20 x 16 cms and cost 1/6 for these hardbacks with 3 tokens. As can be seen this Roundabout has no similarity to the later Serge Danot created TV series. These are the first books in which I have found artists credited. Magic Feather is illustrated by L. S. Goodall and the Magic Roundabout by Jeannetta Vise – both “Edited by Rosemary Garland”
GOLD Token Books. Ensign Series: Baby Animals; Cowboys and Indians; Dabble Duckling Learns to Swim; Dilly’s Picnic Party; Dumpy; Little Red Bus; Magic Goldfish; Pirate Penguin. They cost 1/- and were 20 x 16cms. Dilly’s Picnic Party was illustrated by Elizabeth Skottowe and I found it contained 2 Gold Tokens.
GOLD Token Books. Hullabaloo Series: Dotty Book; Get Well Book; Nursery Rhymes; Rainy Day Book. These hardbacks appear to be 24 x 19cms and cost 2/6. I’ve found no images of the books nor how many tokens they contained (although at that price it was likely to be 4). They apparently featured the “popular kangaroo characters” according to one advert. I assume these were the BBC1 (the mother kangaroo being the BBC1 mascot) and the “baby” – or should I say “Joey” called “Custard”? BBC2 which was launched on 20 April 1964.
Two other series that were published were the “Disneyland” series (with 8 titles) and the “Miki” series (with 12) which are illustrated by Tony’s Trading. The publication date appears to be around September 1964 (the above appeared in 15 August issue of the Bookseller). So the display boxes would have had 48 assorted “Disneyland” titles, and the “Miki-Books” would have had 72 books. What did they look like? Well, here’s an image of the Compass series mentioned above in a stand-up point-of-sale “counter dispenser” box.
GOLD Token Books. Nursery Series: ABC Animal Book; Twibble’s Farmyard Friends and Sing a song of Playtime – the latter again illustrated by Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone. The series was added in May 1965 and cost 2/6d with 24 pages and 4 Gold Tokens.
You may have noticed that “Sindy” was mentioned in one of the above adverts. In June 1964, Young World publicised that the range of “Sindy Doll Cut-out” books had been a complete sell-out and they were reprinting 200,000 copies. They retailed at 2/6d (with 4 Gold Tokens included) and have a full colour cardboard doll with accompanying clothes. The Sindy Museum website has a list of the books plus a look at the art and clothes inside. The artwork is by Rab Hamilton, better known for work at Fleetway publications during the 50s and 60s and for TV21 comic. The same size “Sindy Story Book” (illustrated above) had only 2 Gold Tokens
I also found one example of a further cut-out doll book which appears to be have been in a series – “A day in the life of a model girl” – inside the word ‘girl’ is missing! This one is #3 of a “Cut-Out Series”. The art is not by Rab Hamilton though. They appear to have been 2/6d with the accompanying 4 tokens.
The Sindy Museum site says: “Sindy’s 1965 Sindy Set Style leaflet featuring Sindy & Paul refers to these Gold Token publications referencing “Sindy Cut-out Books” and “Sindy Keep Busy Books”, both priced at 2/6d [sic].” This latter gets mention in an advert in the Bookseller (25 July 1964) which advertisies three series, 1) Sindy Cut-Out books at 2/6; the Hullabaloo series at 2/6 and finally ‘KEEP BUSY’ Series (2/- each retail) 80 pages of paintings, puzzles and games. The Sindy Museum site seems to think these are ““Sindy Keep Busy Books”, both priced at 2/6d”. I couldn’t find any images to help me clarify but I would be very surprised if the advertising omitted the bestselling doll’s name in the title!
In the same way quite a few Gold Token books were flimsy card covers and a small number of pages, another series I’ve tripped over in my searches was the Walt Disney ‘shaped’ books (24 pages , 16″ x 7″). The titles I found are: Donald Duck takes a trip; Mickey Mouse Goes Hunting; and Mary Poppins Picture Book (the latter illustrated by Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone). They were published in May 1965 at 2/6d with 4 Gold Tokens. I also found a reference to Bramble comes to stay; Day at the Seaside; Goff the Little Guardsman, two of which are illustrated below.
In the 8 May 1965 Bookseller Thomson Children’s Publishing announced “In future, activities of the Thomson Publications company, Young World Productions Ltd., are to be more closely co-ordinated with those of Nelson. The Young World editorial office will be moved to 95 Mount Street. Young World Productions, which has the exclusive Walt Disney book rights in Britain, will continue its policy of producing material of wide appeal, such as its Sindy Doll and other Gold Token projects.”
CONCLUSION
Young World Productions went on to produce many other book titles but I can’t find any evidence that the Gold Token concept lived on past 1966. By that time the company’s relationship with Disney led to them producing books accompanying the film “Winnie The Pooh” and there is no mention of Gold Tokens. “The Jungle Book” film tie-ins appeared in November 1967.
In the same year YWP opened a new warehouse in Storrington, West Sussex, two new books launched in 1968 have the following footer:
By late 1969, they advertised storage and distribution services from their new warehouse in Storrington. Also in 1969 they issued several “Cut-Out doll” books and lost the Disney licence which returned to Purnell for at least eight years.
1970 seems to be a prolific year for new publications – and in 1971 the Bookseller published its table of Book Publishers’ Output for the preceding 6 months July to December – YWP only published 7 books during that run up to Christmas the busiest time for booksellers.The next report shows 34 books being published – many at only 30p!
1971 saw another success with “Scratch and Sniff” books- The Enchanted Island and Granny Bear’s Birthday each with 14 pages containing embedded smells.
Bookseller 8 January 1972
The Bookseller in October 1972 has an advert for “Nelson Young World” and a note that from 1 July Thomas Nelson & Sons will handle the marketing for YWP – perhaps it was felt YWP didn’t warrant a separate company any more?
Bookseller 25 November 1972
1973 saw some books published under the imprint. In January 1974 a senior position was advertised for “Nelson Young World” – a new imprint name. In March 1974, a new series should have been published called “Beanstalk Books” – 24 books for differing age groups, unfortunately there was a month’s delay. The same happened in July 1974 with the new “Young World Library” set of books – they were pushed back to September. Were they experiencing troubles?
In August 1974 there is a few large adverts for Nelson including a page for Nelson Young World titles:
The last mention of Young World I could find was in 1976 and that is a sad notice of remainders being made available to the trade.
Young World Productions Limited was incorporated on 24 May 1963 and despite disappearing from the Bookseller after 1976, was finally dissolved on 1 March 2016. I, for one, am grateful to the fun of Gold Token collecting whilst reading some great children’s materials. An interesting experiment.
***UPDATED 17 January 2026 – Thanks to Shaquiand Tony’s Trading***
I can’t remember how in the 1960s I first encountered the Gold Token comics. But having tokens which could be collected and gifts acquired was not something DC, Marvel, D C Thomson or IPC did – admittedly the latter pair would attach gifts to key issues – Number 1s, amalgamated comics “Great News for all readers” etc.
The company who produced these gems was Yong World Productions Limited, a subsidiary of Thomson Organisation Ltd, whose addresses were 115, Bayham Street and Thomson House, 200 Gray’s Inn Road, London W.C.1. Their UK Distribution was by Vernon Holding and Partners Ltd. There were quite a few people involved in running the company over the years when the company began in May 1963 and was dissolved in March 2016.
The line that caught my childhood imagination was “”Send Name and address and 3d stamp for free gift to: GOLD TOKEN BOOKS 115 Bayham Street, London NW1” and “Win a super holiday in Disneyland Closing date: Monday 20 April 1964” – so exciting in a comic. This also gave me the first date I found for the comic range.
Then they also stated:
“All Gold Token books (and there are many to choose from) contain valuable tokens which are worth exciting free gifts to you. You will find your token inside the book. SAVE your Gold Tokens—They are fun to collect, and when you have enough you can send for any of the following:
A quality painting book 12 tokens (and the opportunity to enter exciting painting competitions every month)
A detective magnifying glass…12 tokens
A wonder cut-out and games book….16 tokens
An artist’s all-colour paint box….24 tokens
A luxury folding bookcase for all your Gold Token books….40 tokens
All you have to do. Just cut out your Gold Token from each book. When you have collected the right number, send them with your name and address together with a stamp (3d.) to help with the postage of the gift to:—GOLD TOKEN BOOKS YOUNG WORLD PRODUCTIONS LTD. 115-123 BAYHAM STREET. LONDON N.W.I
Gold Token Super Mag #14: Lady and the Tramp – NOTE: The token, bottom right
The gifts changed – I suspect – according the date of the comic as the one I sent off for is listed below! You might have guessed by now that these comics appear to be reprints from Gold Key (Western Publishing) in America, who had many TV series adaptations plus Disney properties.
Interestingly Gold Token presented Walt Disney commenting on titles as if he were the Editor. Alongside a photo portrait of Walt himself “he” writes in #5:
One day — as long ago as 1932 — a man who was working in my film studios in Hollywood recited ‘Mary had a Little Lamb’ to me. He was supposed to be giving an impersonation of a little girl, but when I heard him I thought he sounded just like a duck talking! ‘I might use that voice in a film one day,’ I told him. And, sure enough, I did. In fact, out of that voice grew the most famous Duck in the world — Donald.
So I am very happy to introduce the latest adventure of my fine feathered friend, Donald, in this the first Super-Mag. In fact, both Donald and I are very proud to welcome you and your friends as Super-Mag readers. We know you will enjoy all the many titles which will be coming your way soon. For, with the help of my artists, Super-Mags will take you into the wonderful world of the cinema screen, bringing you complete stories of many of our real-life and cartoon films
The Bookseller magazine shows that the launch date of these comics was 7 March 1964 and I believe this will have been met because:
Walt Disney Super-mags with GOLD TOKENS will be launched on 7 March 1964, backed by massive advertising on all TV stations, in Radio Times, TV Times and all TV publications. Free Gift Gold Tokens are contained in every publication. Thousands of children are saving them, and they write straight to the publishers for gifts ..no trouble to you! Great extensions to the gift range are planned for 1964.
SUPERMAGS (1/-) + 2 Tokens – (First published 7 March 1964 – Bookseller 11 Jan 1964)
NUMBER + TITLE
COMMENTS
SM1 The Sword in the Stone
[Western: Gold Key: Walt Disney’s the Sword in the Stone, 1964]
SM2 Pollyana
[Dell: Four Color #1129 Walt Disney’s Pollyanna, 1960]
SM3 20,000 Leagues under the sea
[Western: Walt Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, 1963]
SM4 The Flight of the White Stallions
[Western: Gold Key: Walt Disney’s the Miracle of the White Stallions, 1963]
SM5 Donald Duck – Test Hopper
[Western: Gold Key: Walt Disney’s Donald Duck – Test Hopper, 1963]
SM6 Uncle Scrooge
SM7 Big Red
[Western: Gold Key: Walt Disney’s Big Red, 1962]
SM8 Parent Trap
[Dell: Four Color #1210 Walt Disney’s The Parent Trap, 1961]
SM9 Treasure Island
[Dell: Four Color #624 – Walt Disney’s Treasure Island, 1955]
SM10 Mickey Mouse and the Giant Air Serpent
[Western: Gold Key: Mickey Mouse – The Monstrous Air Serpent, 1963]
SM11Terrible Ten
(June 1964) Art by Daphne Rowles
SM12 Space Patrol – [The Water Bomb?]
(June 1964) [Story title mentioned in advert inside #SM18]
SM13 Summer Magic
(July 1964) [Western: Gold Key: Walt Disney’s Summer Magic, 1963]
SM14 Lady and the Tramp
(July 1964) [Dell Four Color #629 – Walt Disney’s Lady and the Tramp with Jock, 1955 OR Dell: Four Color #634 – Walt Disney’s Lady and the Tramp Album, 1955]
SM15 Champion the Wonder Horse
(August 1964) – with 4 tokens found [Likely to be one of “Gene Autry’s Champion” series by Dell]
SM16 Black Mask – Secret Revenge
(August 1964)
SM17 A Tiger walks
(September 1964) [Western: Gold Key: Walt Disney’s A Tiger Walks, 1964]
SM18 The Absent-Minded Professor
(September 1964) [Dell: Four Color #1199 – Walt Disney’s The Absent Minded Professor, 1961]
SM19 Sindy Takes Over
(October 1964) Art by Michael Strand?
SM20 Dirk of the Legion
(October 1964)
SM21 Kidnapped
[Dell: Four Color #1101 – Walt Disney Robert Louis Stevenson’s Kidnapped, 1960]
SM22 Dr. Syn
[Western: Gold Key: Walt Disney’s The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh, 1964]
SM23 Terrible Ten – Bush Rescue
(December 1964) Art by Daphne Rowles
SM24 Space Patrol- The secret formula
(December 1964) Art by R. Paul Hoye
SM25 Mary Poppins
(January 1965) [Western: Gold Key: Walt Disney’s Mary Poppins, 1965]
SM26 The Moonspinners
(January 1965) [Western: Gold Key: Walt Disney’s the Moon-Spinners, 1964]
I’ve compiled this list myself and included any additional information I found which might help spot the publication dates – mostly 1964 and where the original comics appeared. I have never seen evidence of any issues beyond #26 except in #23 it mentions The Incredible Journey to be published in January 1965 – (but I’ve never seen one), along with the published Mary Poppins and The Moonspinners. Some were reprinted in 64 page comic books – see below. I’ve added dates of which I’m certain in the notes together with my guess as to where the stories originally appeared. I’m grateful to Tony of TonysTrading for his helping me clarify some of my thinking – and subsequently pointing out that “SM#1 states inside the comic it is #1 (and that White Stallions was #4, Pollyanna was #2). Many thanks again Tony.
SINDY is one the outliers in the series as she was a British doll – a version of the popular American doll Barbie. She had 6 novels based on her adventures plus Gold Token produced other books – that’s for a later date.
TERRIBLE TEN: The Adventures of the Terrible Ten was produced by Pacific Films in Melbourne and first broadcast in 1959-1960. I couldn’t track down the comics’ first appearances. However Daphne Rowles was a comic artist and children’s book illustrator mostly known for her comic work in Swift – where she drew “Nicky Nobody” and the “Ladybird” adverts on the rear cover of Swift.
SPACE PATROL: Both appear to be by the same artist – he signs himself R. Paul Hoye in #24. He drew some Enid Blyton “Mary Mouse” books by Brockhampton Press and also for them some Henry the Helicopter – where I see he is credited as R. Paul-Höye. He also drew “Bom” the little toy drummer’s adventures for Blyton as well as other books for Blyton. It appears that he also drew an icon of my childhood: 1966 World Cup lion mascot (World Cup Willie)!
64 PAGES DOUBLE FEATURE COMIC BOOK (2/6d + 4 Gift Tokens)
The ones I discovered have 2 comics in each and were the following titles:
Champion+Black Mask
Mary Poppins+Moonspinners
Summer Magic+Lady and the Tramp
Terrible Ten: Bush Rescue+Space Patrol: Secret Formula
Sindy takes over + Dirk of the Legion
Interestingly I have discovered an odd one, which reprints two of the first SuperMags – 20,000 Leagues under the sea and The Flight of the White Stallions. It has YWP branding but no Gold Token branding – perhaps a later reprint? It’s likely that these all appeared from mid-1965 onwards as The Moonspinners was first published in January 1965 but see below.
A YWP Book – part of the Double-Feature Comic Book series
Thanks to Shaqui Le Vesconte (for the above images) we now know “Double-Feature Comic Books” were published April, 1965 for 2/6d each and as the image says, that Shaqui kindly supplied, these were: “The first six titles available now”:
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea + The Flight of the White Stallions
Treasure Island + Big Red
The Terrible Ten + Champion the Wonder Horse
Mickey Mouse and the Giant Air Serpent + Donald Duck — Test Hopper
Pollyanna + The Parent Trap
The Sword in the Stone + Lady and the Tramp
and there were “MORE TO COME!” but I haven’t found evidence of them. Interestingly they are also all different from the Gold Token equivalents!
Shaqui states: “They are also listed in June 1965, so were these the reprints with the YWP Book branding, not the ‘Gold Token’ versions?”
I know as an ex-bookseller and librarian that the “Organ of the Book Trade” – the Bookseller could only work with what it was given and publication dates did move due to all sorts of circumstances. Therefore, even looking at both entries in the Bookseller, these could be the same – just moved on in date. BUT I do like Shaqui’s thinking here. Until I get any other evidence…..you decide!
GOLD TOKEN ACTION SERIES (1/3 + 2 Gift tokens)
Gold Token Action Series #1
Gold Token didn’t just produce ‘normal’ American sized comics but also digest comic books, which came from comic strips – supplied by King Features in America and others.
Here are the gifts listed:
12 tokens – A detective magnifying glass
20 tokens – Two FROG Chuck Gliders Balsa construction. Stunt and fly like a real plane.
30 tokens – Wonderful book of “Record Breakers” 32 big pages of full colour, showing records ans pictures of land, air and water record breakers.
40 tokens – A luxury folding book-case for all your GOLDEN TOKEN books.
AS#12 Brick Bradford: Journey to Atlantis (October 1964)
Action Series began in July 1964 and two titles were introduced each month according to blurb within. Interestingly the price dropped after issue 8. Although the Grand Comics Database indexes the Action Series there are no reprint credits. Tim Tyler = Tim Tyler’s Luck. Brick Bradford’s “Adventure in Andromeda” was published first 20 May 1963 – 19 October 1963 and “Operation Chaos” from 21 October 1963 – 28 December 1963. The Flash Gordon certainly looks to me to be drawn by Dan Barry and some of the Agent X9 by Ross Andru, although the credits for this period are Bob Lubbers (story and art) from 1960-1967. This doesn’t rule out assistance by Andru but I’m happy to be corrected. Issue #7 Ripcord has no internal title, but the narrative tells of the “Red Rocks Gorge Adventure”. Could the last Brick Bradford have been “Journey to Procyon” (26 October 1964 – 23 January 1965)?
Action Series #3-Flash Gordon p.42
The leaflet added into the July 1964 comics show the new series starts with four titles.
GOLD TOKEN GIANT SUPER MAG (2/6d + 5 Gift tokens)
These looked well worth collecting at the time but half a crown (2/6d) was a lot of money for a comic. That was the price I paid for a Famous Monsters of Filmland in August 1965 in the UK! The first issue was announced to be published on 19 June 1964 (I found it in Super-Mag #7 “Big Red” plus #8 “The Parent Trap” and #10 “Mickey Mouse and the Giant Air-Serpent”) and interestingly says “Walt Disney presents the first BUMPER Super-Mag” – so no suggested title for the first issue and a name change for the series!
GOLD TOKEN GIANT SUPER MAG Listing
GSM/1: Donald Duck and His Friends (June 1964)
GSM/2: Donald Duck and Other Stories (Sep 1964)
GSM/3: Donald Duck’s Album (Nov 1964)
GSM/4: Li’l Bad Wolf and Other Stories(? 1965)
I hope to share some information on books – not comics in another article soon.
“Deadline for Danger” p.10, Super Story Book for Girls – Art by Mike Hubbard“Hester and the Highwaymen” p.37 Super Story Book for Girls – Art by Mike Hubbard“The Assignment” p.58 Super Story Book for Girls – Art by Mike Hubbard“One Good Turn” p.88 Super Story Book for Girls – Art by Mike Hubbard“Pam’s Predicament” p.116 Super Story Book for Girls – Art by Mike Hubbard“The Blue handbag Mystery” p.220 Super Story Book for Girls – Art by Mike Hubbard“Phillida to the rescue” p.260 Super Story Book for Girls – Art by Mike Hubbard“The Guide in Paris” p.292 Super Story Book for Girls – Art by Mike Hubbard“Looking after Johnny” p300 Super Story Book for Girls – Art by Mike Hubbard“The Haunted Valley” p.314 Super Story Book for Girls – Art by Mike Hubbard“Calling Nurse Jones” p.322 Super Story Book for Girls – Art by Mike Hubbard“Christmas at the Crazy K” “The Haunted Valley” p.332 Super Story Book for Girls – Art by Mike Hubbard“Penny Proves Her Worth” p.342 Super Story Book for Girls – Art by Mike Hubbard“The Black Stones” p.388 Super Story Book for Girls – Art by Mike Hubbard“The Honour of the Macphersons” p.420 Super Story Book for Girls – Art by Mike Hubbard
That brings us the end of the SUPER STORY BOOK FOR GIRLS.
STILL UNIDENTIFIED
But I’m left with a few images I can’t account for.
“The spy” (p.5) “I snatched the sword and pistol and faced him saying “back with you ..or you are dead!”“The Blacksmith and the Baron” p.6, “He had gone but a few paces further when a sound from the trees above made him glance upwards”“The Sea-robber” p.5, “As they rounded a headland Scougald uttered an exclamation that caused the girl to swing about”“The Black Knight” (p.1) “[?] into view leapt the robbers some clad in mail, some with breastplate and helm”
I wondered if the “Super Story for Boys” published the same year was the source of the 4 illustrations above, but no. I have a copy and that contains an assortment of artists and none of them Hubbard.
Could it be Super Book of Adventure Stories, Hamlyn 1977, but this was published after Hubbard’s death? Let me know if you have a copy and can match any of the above.
Or could it be any earlier publication?
Advert for Hamlyn compilation books appeared in Princess 19 November 1966 and presumably in other places? And the advert tells us they are illustrated.
That’s it. The end of the quest. More questions raised and unanswered. But that’s the fun and frustration of seeking out sources
Here’s your Christmas bonus
JANE BOND ORIGINAL ARTWORK
“Jane Bond” Princess Tina 7 February 1970 – Art by Mike Hubbard
and how it looked in Princess Tina
“Jane Bond” Princess Tina 7 February 1970 – Art by Mike Hubbard
and here’s the following page
“Jane Bond” Princess Tina 7 February 1970 – Art by Mike Hubbard
So I recognised Mike Hubbard as the artists and searched for where this work was published. Eventually I found it was “Super Story Book For Girls”. But that wasn’t the end of the search.
The artworks shown below are not owned by me, but I took the photos of the artworks to help me identify where mine were published.
“Anna’s First Job” from Super Story Book for Girls, p.28 – Artwork by Mike Hubbard“Pound Cottage” from Super Story Book for Girls, p.80 – Artwork by Mike Hubbard“Anyone can swim” from Super Story Book for Girls, p.106 – Artwork by Mike Hubbard“Her Perilous War-Time Task” from Super Story Book for Girls, p.125 – Artwork by Mike Hubbard“The Gales of Glentor” from Super Story Book for Girls, p.146 – Artwork by Mike Hubbard“Sandie in Switzerland” from Super Story Book for Girls, p.152 – Artwork by Mike Hubbard“Heroine in the desert” from Super Story Book for Girls, p.163 – Artwork by Mike Hubbard“Dangerous Voyage” from Super Story Book for Girls, p.170 – Artwork by Mike Hubbard“Just Jackie” from Super Story Book for Girls, p.212 – Artwork by Mike Hubbard“All for father” from Super Story Book for Girls, p.226 – Artwork by Mike Hubbard“Patsy’s Princess” from Super Story Book for Girls, p.246 – Artwork by Mike Hubbard“The Great Pentreven Plot” from Super Story Book for Girls, p.276 – Artwork by Mike Hubbard“Peregrine Peak” from Super Story Book for Girls, p.358 – Artwork by Mike Hubbard“The Valley of the Wild” from Super Story Book for Girls, p.368 – Artwork by Mike Hubbard“Golden Ballet Shoes” from Super Story Book for Girls, p.380 – Artwork by Mike Hubbard “Mystery of Deast Grange” from Super Story Book for Girls, p.402 – Artwork by Mike Hubbard “Mystery of Deast Grange” from Super Story Book for Girls, UNPUBLISHED – Artwork by Mike Hubbard“Valley of the Eagles” “Mystery of Deast Grange” from Super Story Book for Girls, p.442 – Artwork by Mike Hubbard“The Fisherman’s Daughter” “Mystery of Deast Grange” from Super Story Book for Girls, p.470 – Artwork by Mike Hubbard “Brother, Dear Brother” from Super Story Book for Girls, p.478 – Artwork by Mike Hubbard“For her King” from Super Story Book for Girls, p.483 – Artwork by Mike Hubbard“For her King” from Super Story Book for Girls, UNPUBLISHED – Artwork by Mike Hubbard“Facing the Stampede” from Super Story Book for Girls, UNPUBLISHED – Artwork by Mike Hubbard
That’s the lot for this article. I hope you enjoyed seeing some masterful artwork – and some that look a bit rushed to me. I don’t know what Hubbard died from, but if this was some of his last work, what a shame he “wasted” his time doing two pictures for some stories only for them never to appear in print…to my knowledge.
In PART FOUR, I’ll round up the loose ends with more mysteries.
Visual Rants 