Sunday, October 25, 2015

Out with Mummy

A bit of a curio that I came across in the mid-eighties.  The sixty-two page book has reprints from Teddy Bear, a weekly comic aimed at the under fives.  It was published by Fleetway Publications in 1968, 10.75 by 7.5 inches and printed on cheap paper, the price was seven shillings and six pence  (around 37 decimal pence).  
    The book shows the activities of a white middle-class family, living in a typical suburban semi-detached house with a garage (not yet added to with an extension) covered porch, small front garden, TV aerial.  Could this residence be in Acacia Avenue somewhere in the Home Counties?  
     What intrigued me about the book were the illustrations across the top of each spread.  They seem to cleverly capture the lives of the Brown family living in Britain around 1960.  The children, Anne and John, have a super active life with Mummy (was she an ex-model, looking so slim?) exploring their town and the surrounding countryside.  The only thing they don't seem to do is go to church. 
     The illustrations are quite workmanlike with just enough detail to suggest reality.  Have a look at the supermarket with three checkouts or the airport with no jets.  Though the Brown's have a car but they go on holiday by train.