Previous letters pages can be found here.

Letters page from Volume 3, issue 8. April 13th-26th, 1955.

OUR

LETTER PAGE

 A letter from Hugh Morris, Aylsham, Norfolk.
Dear Enid Blyton,
In the holidays and on Saturdays, I go round with the Veterinary Surgeon in his car. I have been going with him for a long time. I hand him out the different instruments, and when I am at a farm with him, I sometimes run back to his car and fetch the drugs for the animals. One night I was out till half-past twelve watching an operation on a cow, it was very interesting. I am 12 years old, and a Busy Bee.
Love from,
Hugh Morris.

(How I would have loved to do this when I was twelve, Hugh! Are you going to be a Vet. when you grow up? I shouldn’t be surprised!)

A letter from Rosalind Jackson, Tisbury, Wilts.
Dear Miss Blyton,
I should like to know what the surnames of the “Famous Five”
are. I should like you to write “Famous Five” books as long as you live, because they are jolly interesting. Our class have dictation and compositions on them.
Yours sincerely,
Rosalind Jackson.

(Rosalind, you have asked me a question that hundreds of children ask. So now I will give the answer and set everyone’s mind at rest. The surname of the four cousins; George, Julian, Dick and Anne, is KIRRIN. That’s easy to remember, isn’t it, because of Kirrin Island. Please don’t ask me what Timmy, the dog’s surname is!)

A letter from June Hatherell, Swindon, Wilts.
Dear Enid Blyton,
Our Club has a very jolly time. We call meetings, and have a password. All our Club does the “Famous Five” puzzle in the Magazine, and we all have your Magazine, and we like it very much. We have a collection and each bring a penny and when we have saved up enough, we buy things for our Club, such as sweets, biscuits, drinks and so on. That is all for now.
Yours sincerely, June Hatherell.

(I have chosen your good little letter, June, because it is typical of many excellent ones I get, giving me news of F.F. clubs. Your Club seems a very jolly one indeed.)

I normally talk about the letters in order but today I will skip to what is quite possibly the most important thing written in any of the letters pages. The surname of all (human) members of the Five is KIRRIN. Rosalind is obviously too polite to say that she (and clearly the hundreds of other children) has noticed the Kirrin/Barnard confusion and wants answers. But what a public service Rosalind has performed, getting her letter, and the answer published. I shall now be able to respond to anyone asking that question with a definitive answer, fully referenced with Blyton, E. (1955) “Our Letter Page”, Enid Blyton’s Magazine, 3(8), p. 13.

Meanwhile, Hugh’s letter gives us a brief insight into the lack of health and safety in 1955 whereby young boys were allowed to go off with the local vet and handle the scalpels and drugs and get kicked by injured horses… I’m kidding (mostly). I’m sure it was very interesting and educational for him and it would be lovely if he did become a vet.

It is nice to see a letter which talks about saving up money and spending it on the savers for once. (The generous donation letters are nice, too, of course, but this one was a pleasant surprise.) I like the sound of June’s club – hopefully the leader is less strict than Peter as it does seem to have a Secret Seven influence too.