Revaluing British Boys’ Story Papers, 1918–1939

220 Pages·2014·6.925 MB·English

by  Helen A. Fairlie (auth.)

Critical Approaches to Children's Literature
Series Editors: Kerry Mallan and Clare Bradford
Critical Approaches to Children’s Literature is an innovative series concerned with
the best contemporary scholarship and criticism on children’s and young adult
literature, fi lm and media texts. The series addresses new and developing areas
of children’s literature research as well as bringing contemporary perspectives to
historical texts. The series has a distinctive take on scholarship, delivering quality
works of criticism written in an accessible style for a range of readers, both aca-
demic and professional. The series is invaluable for undergraduate students in
children’s literature as well as advanced students and established scholars.
Published titles include:
Cherie Allan
PLAYING WITH PICTUREBOOKS
Postmodernism and the Postmodernesque
Clare Bradford, Kerry Mallan, John Stephens & Robyn McCallum
NEW WORLD ORDERS IN CONTEMPORARY CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
Utopian Transformations
Alice Curry
ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS IN YOUNG ADULT FICTION
A Poetics of Earth
Helen A. Fairlie
REVALUING BRITISH BOYS’ STORY PAPERS, 1918–1939
Margaret Mackey
NARRATIVE PLEASURES IN YOUNG ADULT NOVELS, FILMS AND
VIDEO GAMES
Critical Approaches to Children's Literature
Kerry Mallan
SECRETS, LIES AND CHILDREN’S FICTION
Andrew O’Malley
CHILDREN’S LITERATURE, POPULAR CULTURE AND ROBINSON CRUSOE
Christopher Parkes
CHILDREN’S LITERATURE AND CAPITALISM
Fictions of Social Mobility in Britain, 1850–1914
Michelle Smith
EMPIRE IN BRITISH GIRLS' LITERATURE AND CULTURE
Imperial Girls, 1880–1915
Forthcoming titles:
Elizabeth Bullen
CLASS IN CONTEMPORARY CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
Pamela Knights
READING BALLET AND PERFORMANCE NARRATIVES FOR CHILDREN
Susan Napier
MIYAZAKI HAYO AND THE USES OF ENCHANTMENT
Critical Approaches to Children's Literature
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Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England
Revaluing British Boys’
Story Papers, 1918–1939
Helen A. Fairlie
© Helen A. Fairlie 2014
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2014 978-1-137-29305-3
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
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in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2014 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke,
Hampshire RG21 6XS.
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and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-45106-7 ISBN 978-1-137-29306-0 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137293060
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Typeset by MPS Limited, Chennai, India.
For dad, with love
In memory of Brian A. Fairlie, 1932–2012
Contents
List of Illustrations viii
Series Preface ix
Acknowledgements x
Introduction 1
1 Setting the Scene: Critical Perspectives, Producers
and Consumers 18
2 The Moral Code of Inter-War Story Papers 42
3 Understanding School Worlds 67
4 The Imperial Hero: Story Paper Hero-Figures 92
5 Inter-War Story Papers and the Rise of Children’s Cinema 116
6 Story Papers as Cultural Artefacts: Contexts and Content 146
Conclusion 181
Appendix: Boys’ and Girls’ Story Paper Reading 189
Bibliography 195
Index 206
vii
List of Illustrations
0.1 Example of an advertisements page from The Magnet,
18 October 1924, p. 28. IPC Media Syndication 12
2.1 Opening illustration from Red Circle story, The Hotspur,
11 April 1936, p. 36. D. C. Thomson & Co., Ltd 61
5.1 Film/reality continuum 129
5.2 Story paper/reality continuum 129
6.1 Internal advertisement, The Magnet, 2 June 1934, p. 20.
IPC Media Syndication 160
6.2 Internal advertisement, The Hotspur, 26 August 1939, p. 3.
D. C. Thomson & Co., Ltd 161
6.3 Internal advertisement, The Hotspur, 30 September 1933,
p. 94. D. C. Thomson & Co., Ltd 162
6.4 Quaker Oats advertisement, The Hotspur, 13 July 1935,
p. 51. D. C. Thomson & Co., Ltd 164
6.5 Fry’s advertisement, The Magnet, 5 May 1934, p. 21.
IPC Media Syndication 166
6.6 Wrigley’s advertisement, The Hotspur, 8 April 1939, p. 9.
D. C. Thomson & Co., Ltd 167
6.7 Extract from editor’s column, The Magnet, 28 November
1936, p. 27. IPC Media Syndication 169
6.8 Editor’s column, The Hotspur, 23 March 1935, p. 1.
D. C. Thomson & Co., Ltd 170
6.9 Front cover of The Hotspur, 4 April 1939.
D. C. Thomson & Co., Ltd 174
6.10 ‘When the Fifth Form Went Crazy’, The Magnet,
4 April 1936, p. 7. IPC Media Syndication 175
6.11 Mr Smugg and the wrestler, The Hotspur, 6 April 1936,
p. 8. D. C. Thomson & Co., Ltd 176
6.12 Front cover, The Magnet, 9 June 1934.
IPC Media Syndication 178
viii
Series Preface
The Critical Approaches to Children’s Literature series was initiated in
2008 by Kerry Mallan and Clare Bradford. The aim of the series is to
identify and publish the best contemporary scholarship and criticism
on children’s and young adult literature, film and media texts. The
series is open to theoretically informed scholarship covering a wide
range of critical perspectives on historical and contemporary texts from
diverse national and cultural settings. Critical Approaches aims to make
a significant contribution to the expanding field of children’s literature
research by publishing quality books that promote informed discussion
and debate about the production and reception of children’s literature
and its criticism.
Kerry Mallan and Clare Bradford
ix
Acknowledgements
Thanks are due to the staff of the following institutions, who were
unfailingly helpful in the course of my research: The British Library;
The British Film Institute Library and Film Archive; The Trustees of the
Mass-Observation Archive, University of Sussex; and The University of
Warwick Library.
Special thanks are also due to: Dr Christine Wilkie-Stibbs, for her sup-
port, advice and understanding during the research process of my PhD;
to my internal and external examiners, Dr Hilary Minns and Professor
Jean Webb; to the series editors Professor Kerry Mallan and Professor
Clare Bradford, and the publisher’s anonymous reviewer, for their
detailed and insightful comments on the draft script; to Ian Rudge, for
having the (mis)fortune to be working on a thesis at the same time as
me; and to Mark, for everything.
Thanks to IPC Media Syndication and D. C. Thomson and Co. Ltd
for permission to reproduce illustrations from the story papers; to Paula
Kennedy and Peter Cary of Palgrave Macmillan for their help and advice
as the project developed; and to Monica Kendall for her exceptional
efficiency in steering the manuscript through the production process.
x