Previous letters pages can be found here. It appears that I added the wrong letters page last time! The cover and dates were from 4.2 but the letters were the ones from 4.3. To fix this I have retitled that post as 4.3 and uploaded the cover from 4.3. This post will then the slightly out of order as we go back to 4.2. Confused yet? I know I am…

NB this letters page uses wording that is considered derogatory and offensive in the UK (and potentially elsewhere) today. As I am transcribing these letters exactly as written by the child authors I will therefore be using it, though I wouldn’t be using it in any other circumstances.

Letters page from Volume 4, issue 2.
January 18th – 31st, 1956.

OUR

LETTER PAGE

A letter from one of our readers, who is herself a spastic child. It is such a nice letter that I have awarded her my letter prize this week.
Dear Enid Blyton,
As a member of your Magazine Club, I would like to send 15s. to help the spastic children for Christmas. I have collected it by saving stamps, and some is my own pocket-money, which my Daddy gives me every week for doing my music lesson and my exercises. I am a spastic too, but one of the lucky ones that can live at home with Mummy, Daddy and my brother. I go to the local school and the children are very kind to me. I am also in the Brownies. It is only my legs that are affected, and my walking is not so good sometimes. I feel very lucky to be as I am, when I hear of other spastics much worse off than myself.
Love from
P. T. (aged eight)

(I am very touched by your letter, which is beautifully written, and I think you are very kind to think of other children as you do. I am delighted to award you my letter- prize this week.)

A letter from Pamela Daniels, Morecambe.
Dear Enid Blyton,
My Daddy is the manager of a store, and every year Father Christmas comes and someone has to help him with the parcels he gives the little children, so this year Daddy chose me to help in the grotto. I went every Saturday, and there were really lovely gifts. All the parcels were wrapped up, so the children got a lovely surprise when they opened them. I did enjoy helping Daddy like this.
Love from
Pamela Daniels.

(A very interesting letter, Pamela. I think any child would enjoy being Father Christmas’s helper!)

A letter from Ross Jellicoe, Higher Bebington, Cheshire.
Dear Miss Blyton,
I have had great pleasure in making models of islands and so on out of your Famous Five books. I have made Kirrin Island and also Castaway, on which Smugglers’ Top stands. I made a model of the Cornish Coast and put in the Wreckers’ Way to Tammeron Farm. Yours sincerely,
Ross Jellicoe.

(I felt that I must print your interesting letter, Ross, because other boys may like to use your idea!)

I know many people look back on the 1950s as a halcyon era where everything was jolly, everyone worked hard, children were respectful to their elders etc etc… but imagine living in a time where you’d feel lucky to be able to still live with your family if you had cerebral palsy. It’s heartbreaking, really, when you think about all the children (and therefore, later, adults) who had physical or mental disabilities and lived in institutions because of (amongst other things) shame around disabilities and a lack of support for parents with disabled children.

I find it interesting that unlike almost all other letters there is no name and location given for that first letter, just P.T. I wonder if the author withheld that information or if the magazine chose not to print it.

Pamela sounds very generous in giving up her Saturdays to help at her father’s work – I hope he rewarded her for it as it sounds like a lot of free labour otherwise! I wonder, if, reading between the lines, her father himself was Father Christmas though of course she wouldn’t want to spoil the magic by giving that away!

Ross’ letter sounds very Blue Peter and I’d love to have seen photos of his islands. Strangely Tremannon is misspelled – I’d expect the magazine editors to pick up on that, but perhaps they didn’t fix mistakes in letters (or it was a typing error made by the magazine that was also missed?). I’d like to think that despite Blyton’s note plenty of girls were inspired to create models too. I’m surprised she put boys, actually, as she generally encouraged all children to be creative!