when the posh children in Enid Blyton have an "ice", I always thought it meant "ice lolly"...

[sadpapercourtesan]

...but I was reading "Five Go To Billycock Hill" last night, and they talked about having an "ice" in a tub with a little wooden spoon...surely that's an ice cream?!

Yes, I have too much time on my hands. I should be doing stuff

I rather liked Alison when she invited Eileen and Claudine our for half term. They were bitches to her too for being a ‘feather head’ and a bit of a crawler, when in fact she was probably quite kind

Wasn't Alma's surname Pudden? (Not that that excuses the bullying.) And eventually they discovered she did have some sort of medical issue, and she'd get an operation which would sort her all out.

Actually yes, I liked Alison too. They were horrid to her.

I quite liked Doris too. Apparently she wanted to be a doctor, but she was hopeless academically, so how she would achieve that was something of a mystery.

Yes, there's a tiny margin of acceptability at EB schools. You can't either try too hard at lessons (Ellen Thingie the scholarship girl), or not enough (Gwen). You have to be mischievous to the correct extent, or you're 'pi' and goodygoody ('St' Catherine), but not too much and your pranks have to be the Ordinary Jolly Schoolgirl kind (Alicia's tricks, Bill sneaking out to see her horse), not breaking bounds to sing in a 'common' talent content (Mavis). Good at sports (Darrell, Felicity), but not obsessive (Amanda). You have to be generous, but not too generous (Jo Jones 'buying' her classmates' liking with feasts). You're not allowed to be 'sensitive' or homesick (Gwen, Maureen), but you're also not allowed to be too 'hard' like Alicia and June. You have to be humble or you're forcibly humbled (poor Sheila, the O'Sullivan twins), but not too humble (St Catherine again). You have to have the 'right' kind of fault it's OK to be Darrell with a temper that makes her repeatedly assault people, but not to send anonymous letters or pretend to be ill to get out of games or exams.

You can have a governing talent that makes you eccentric, but only if the other girls recognise and 'allow' it to be genuine (Irene and Belinda -- but if Irene was composing gloomy post-Schoenberg atonal stuff, rather than catchy dance music for the school panto, or Belinda was a monochrome cubist rather than a caricaturist, would they have been allowed to get away with so much?) And what if unpopular, show-offy Maureen turned out to have written excellent songs, or good costume designs, for the pantomime, would the others have admitted it, or even recognised they were any good?

Actually, I think Belinda's caricatures and the fact that she stalks dislikeable characters to draw their scowls, as well as her continual depictions of the well-meaning but irritating Catherine as a saint in a stained-glass window, which she puts up publicly, are some of the cruellest forms of bullying in the series.

And you are not allowed to breathe a hint of criticism of your parents ever, unless of course you have the Wrong Type of Parents like Gwen or Jo Jones or the Honourable Angela, in which case you are supposed to recognise this and not follow their example at all.

Dizzying!

You can have a governing talent that makes you eccentric, but only if the other girls recognise and 'allow' it to be genuine (Irene and Belinda -- but if Irene was composing gloomy post-Schoenberg atonal stuff, rather than catchy dance music for the school panto, or Belinda was a monochrome cubist rather than a caricaturist, would they have been allowed to get away with so much?) grin And what if unpopular, show-offy Maureen turned out to have written excellent songs, or good costume designs, for the pantomime, would the others have admitted it, or even recognised they were any good?

You've reminded me of Anne Marie the poet. I don't think her poems were as bad as everyone thought they were. If she'd written funny verse everyone would have thought she was a genius.

I always had a wee fancy for Inspector Jenks!

@ilovepixie

I always had a wee fancy for Inspector Jenks!

You perv!

@SerenDippitty, which book was the bad poet in? I have only the vaguest memory of her.

Yes, EB was so successful from pretty much the very start herself, it's clear she doesn't have any time for someone who believes in their own talent, but isn't necessarily believed in by other people.

I mean, it's a bit much for Miss Hibbert to tell Zerelda she has no acting talent at all and will never have any on the basis of her massacring one Shakespeare speech in a rehearsal. (I mean, I really rate Christopher Ecclestone as an actor, but thought he was a pretty poor Macbeth.) Even someone else later in the novel thinks that Zerelda's talent is for being funny, and her real interest is in film rather than the stage, so it's perfectly possible Zerelda might have the makings of a good comic actress. But whoever it is decides not to tell her in case it gives her ideas above her station!

Whereas it's fine for Darrell to start dreaming about being a 'well-known playwright' on the basis of writing a pantomime for her form!

@RedNun Fifth Formers at St Clares. The same book featured Felicity the musical genius who really was away with the fairies and did geniusy things like sleep walking.

I meant to add, Felicity was genuinely considered to be a genius by the girls and Anne Marie was jealous because nobody appreciated her poetry. She decided to try some sleep walking of her own in the hope that her genius would be recognised.

Was the " bad poet" girl the one who got her own back on the horrible teacher who was making fun of her poems, by handing in an obscure poem by a famous poet as if it was hers? The teacher pulled the poem to bits, then was mortified when the girl informed her in front of the class, that it was by a famous poet (can't remember who !) Of course then the whole class decided the poor girl had behaved disgracefully by tricking the teacher!

I suppose it's of its time. The teachers were much more brutal and direct, no positive praise or damage to self esteem of pupils

I remember the Naughtiest girl and EB was so mean about Kathleen? Who was spotty and had greasy hair, she was going through puberty, it wasn't necessarily her fault

Yes that was her! The teacher was Miss Wilcox a pretentious poser who herself had had a volume of poetry published. And she pretended her first name was Deirdre when it was in fact Doris. Alison thought she was wonderful and imitated her style of dress and mannerisms and so did Anne Marie at first.

I always assumed ice cream

The knicker leg reference reminds me of our gym mistress , who always kept her hanky there. She wore bloomers and stockings under her (long) shorts, and was rumoured to be titled, which (thanks to Wikipedia) I recently found out to be true. This was at a girls' grammar in the 1950s.

n I join... I was always crap at lacrosse.. ? Is that good enough to be in your club

Oh god.....I've just this afternoon bought myself a set of the first 10 famous five books. When dh saw them he said " you're 48 for goodness sake!"

@RedNun what a great summary! Spot on!
I’ve read all the MT books so many times.

My one pondering to add - how did Bill’s parents afford boarding school for EIGHT children?!

Oh and the story about the candle that bent into a C shape was called Connie’s Curious Candle.

I've read that one too. My DM has a few of the Sunny Stories annuals and they're in there.

There's a lovely one about pussy willow being fairy kittens.

Was the " bad poet" girl the one who got her own back on the horrible teacher who was making fun of her poems, by handing in an obscure poem by a famous poet as if it was hers? The teacher pulled the poem to bits, then was mortified when the girl informed her in front of the class, that it was by a famous poet (can't remember who !)

Mathew Arnold - Despondency

how did Bill’s parents afford boarding school for EIGHT children?!

Boarding school was a lot cheaper in those days. Facilities were really basic (mass group dormitories, little heating or hot water) and teachers were not paid an awful lot, especially women teachers.

@RuudGullitOnAShed

I think this is the one you mean? I remember being 5 years old and picking it out at a hospital shop when my mum was having my brother. The pictures are what made this story so memorable, I recently found a copy in a charity shop along with “Timothy’s tadpoles”, exciting times!

I've got a load of original Enid Blyton books in my parents house, think i will go and recover them all. Secret Seven, Famous Five & the Magic Faraway Tree. Loved Mallory Towers too.

Btw people keep mentioning 'Finniston Farm' im sure it's Conniston Farm.

Unless there's loads of different farms which wouldnt surprise me.

A few posters mentioned they always wondered when the characters used the toilet i used to wonder that too haha!! Especially with the Narnia books too!

Btw people keep mentioning 'Finniston Farm' im sure it's Conniston Farm.

Definitely Finniston Farm. (I have spent this evening going through my series of books to see what gaps I have.)