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matrix wrote:How much from this era survives? Was a lot of it destroyed or is it stored away somewhere?
Book Palace have quite a few highly-priced Blasco pieces from this era advertised on their website, though they tend to have been cut up into single panels when they were reprinted in a storybook format.
Unfortunately I don't think there is any central archive of Fleetway's old nursery art and a lot would have almost certainly been chucked away in skips to save space during the 1970s and 1980s!
One other example of recycling that has puzzled me for a while is the numbered run of small 'Jack & Jill' books that were published during the early 1960s in the style of the popular 'Ladybird' series. As you can see from the 'Gulliver Guinea-Pig' examples shown below the majority of these were based on earlier centrespreads from Fleetway's weekly comics:
However, these are clearly not straightforward reprints as a great deal of redrawing was required (presumably by the original artist) in order to fit the new page format. Of course it could be that Mendoza et al simply redrew their panels from scratch, but I strongly suspect that the original panels were remounted and painted over instead.
- Phil Rushton
I thought that may be the case with the artwork, what a shame I guess they had so much of it. Maybe they thought it was dated and had no more use for it, so in the bin!
My wife feels the same way about my comics, and if she had her way they would all be in the recyclying bin
In respect to the Jack and Jill book artwork it does look as if they used the same artwork but like you say slightly altered.
I only have the one although not in the same series as yours the 'Harold Hare' below, I had wondered if it is reprinted mainly becausce it has no signature from Hugh Mcneill, where all the other examples I have do have a signature?
That's a nice-looking Harold Hare book Matrix, though it seems a little later than the series of numbered Jack & Jill books. Does it have a publication date?
It's sad to think that classic sets like that first Gulliver centrespread were cut up and thrown away (though, contrary to what you may have read, it wasn't his first ever appearance). One never knows what will turn up however: a couple of years ago I bought a piece of mystery artwork by Ron Embleton for £10, only to find out just last month that it was an original page from Jack & Jill Book no.11 - 'Jack & Jill and the Baker's Nightingale'. It'd be fascinating to know if this tale had also made a previous appearance as a Playhour centrespread.
philcom55 wrote:That's a nice-looking Harold Hare book Matrix, though it seems a little later than the series of numbered Jack & Jill books. Does it have a publication date?
Phil Rushton
The publication date is 1966, and it is in what I would call an unread condition, as I would say I'm the first to read it? When it first arrived I thought it was a reprint from the nineties or there abouts, but if that was the case I believe that would be mentioned?
philcom55 wrote:
It's sad to think that classic sets like that first Gulliver centrespread were cut up and thrown away (though, contrary to what you may have read, it wasn't his first ever appearance). One never knows what will turn up however: a couple of years ago I bought a piece of mystery artwork by Ron Embleton for £10, only to find out just last month that it was an original page from Jack & Jill Book no.11 - 'Jack & Jill and the Baker's Nightingale'. It'd be fascinating to know if this tale had also made a previous appearance as a Playhour centrespread.
- Phil Rushton
I have never seen that in a centrespread Phil, although that doesn't really mean much!
Anyway here's one that did his 'Arabian nights'.
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Last edited by matrix on 12 Aug 2013, 14:28, edited 2 times in total.
Thanks Matrix (er...were they meant to be the same page?). That's clearly the basis for Jack & Jill Book no.15 - 'Judar and the Magic treasure', though in this case I suspect that Ron Embleton's original artwork has been touched up by someone else.
Didn't see your reply before I changed it Phil, it's getting late here in Brisbane and had a busy day at work, posting when tired never a good combination!
Have you an example of the 'Baker's nightingale' maybe there was a name change with that as well?
'Baker's Nightingale' is an interesting book with a 3-page framing sequence by Lupatelli or one of Jack & Jill's regular artists in which the two schoolchildren meet their friend the village baker and persuade him to tell them the story of the nightingale. The resulting tale is then illustrated in a series of 20 illustrations, unmistakably painted by Ron Embleton.
In the examples shown below the cover reproduces one of the introductory pictures while the nocturnal scene in which the baker and his cat listen to a nightingale's song from their doorstep is the page for which I own the original painting (it's hanging framed on my wall at the moment!).
I've never seen that before Phil. What a nice story book, more hidden gems! The original must look good on the wall.
I have always been amazed at artwork that distribute light like that (which I take is from the Baking bread)? To me it looks difficult to achieve, but probably not to the experts?
Here is another 'Playhour' character 'Peter Puppet', a surreal piece drawn by Hugh Mcneill. I like his 'Peter Puppet' work, It's a shame he didn't draw it for longer.
Peter Gray wrote:Looks like he got the wrong outfit in the parcel...But he wore it and everyone had fun anyway...wearing the wrong clothes..
It is very funny though
It must be by Gordon..
love the extra details in each picture..
Nothing like a little harmless cross-dressing.
Here's Mr Toad again, this time doing a bit of cross dressing! I think he can be forgiven though as he has escaped from prison dressed as a washerwoman. Lovely work again from Peter Woolcock. Could this 'Wind in the willows' be his best work, what does anyone else think?
Wonderful! I do think that Woolcock's skill with characterization and storytelling continued to improve throughout his career, but the colouring on that 'Wind in the Willows' strip is really gorgeous and far subtler than the rather flat colours he tended to use later on.
Coincidentally I picked up some of his early 1960s Mr. Toad artwork for Harold Hare only this afternoon. Here's a nice sequence which shows how much more adventurous he'd become with viewpoints and visual pacing by then.
...I really love the blank space in that middle frame!
Mr. Toad's wild west adventure originally appeared in 1963. Here's the printed version of the artwork shown above.
Those early Playhour covers are really fantastic - I wish I had more of them myself. Also, it's interesting to see Billy Brock getting a mention as there was a nice page of original art featuring Billy and his friends in the batch I acquired yesterday.
It did cost more than a can of beans - but not much!
Very nice to pick that up as well. As we have mentoned before 'Billy Brock' is a lovely strip, with good story lines as well. Your piece looks like annual art although it doesn't look like Fred White or am I mistaken?
I agree about the 'Playhour' covers, of course as many know Lawson Wood did a lot of them with his I think quite strange animal art, it is good to see some of the characters on there as well.
I'm not sure how many you have Phil you may have seen these? But in case you have not I thought you might like them. 'Mr Toad' again, comparing himself to famous heroes, and 'Winnie the Pooh'.
No worries Peter. These scans are from the cover example above .
There is also an example on page three that has got lost in the depths of this thread.
Phil mentioned that these may be early Peter Woolcock examples? I thought I could see Hugh Mcneill involved in this one? Phil.
I know they look dated but love these early examples.
