Cathy and Claire - Jackie magazine

[Redvelvet73]

Inspired by another thread.

Does anyone remember this advice column? Did anyone ever write to them and actually get their letter published? Always wondered if the letters were genuine.

Yes, I remember it! Jackie was great.
I don't recall ever writing to Cathy & Claire though.

Ah the memories, used to love reading that

I wrote and received a reply, but it wasn't published.

I remember Cathy and Caire!! Me and my school friends used to eagerly await the weekly Jackie, and devour it from cover to cover 😀I never wrote to Cathy and Claire but my best friend and I used to play "agony aunts" , write heartfelt teenage problems to each other and the other would write a reply containing advice 😀😀😀we were about 13 .Thanks OP for evoking a long forgotten memory 🤩😍

my best friend and I used to play "agony aunts" , write heartfelt teenage problems to each other and the other would write a reply containing advice

😀Same!

I remember C&C didn't talk about "shagging" <shudder> it was called "going all the way"!

Advice along with adverts for Anne French cleansing cream. I feel positively Jurassic now.

Shaders and Toners was another advert that was often included.

We're Shaders & Toners hair colour thingys?

Maybe "Cathy" and "Clarie" are on mumsnet and would like to respond?!

Were you real?? Or the figment of the editor's imagination?

Ah I remember Cathy and Claire! I loved Jackie but my sister preferred Blue Jeans.

Yes, shaders for blondes, toners for brunettes. Toners gave a slight reddish sheen to your hair; not sure what the shaders did.

Just saw this on Amazon.
www.amazon.co.uk/Jackies-Dear-Cathy-Claire-Favourite/dp/1853756032

The blurb says there wasn't actually a Cathy and Claire - which has left me very disillusioned!

Darn! Was hoping one of them would pop up and say " I am Cathy!" (Or Claire).

Thank you for posting that.

Anyone else out there worked for Jackie magazine? Go on, someone must have!!

Cathy and Claire were a huge team. I used to work with someone who was in the team of responders.

Maybe not a huge team, but more than just Cathy and Claire (who were fictional by the time my ex colleague worked there)

Ooh, I wonder if your colleague responded to my letter. The advice was quite helpful.

I wrote and received a reply. Was very miffed that they agreed with my mum on the subject of a boy I was 'in love ' with.

Oh and there handwritten signatures from 'Cathy'and 'Claire' in different handwriting.

My schoolfriend wrote to them when she was about 14, saying she thought she was pregnant. Luckily she wasn't, but they didn't reply until about six months later and then just attaching a photocopy of places she could go to (eg her mum and the GP!) I remember thinking they left it long enough so that they couldn't advise her on getting an abortion.

Yes, shaders for blondes, toners for brunettes. Toners gave a slight reddish sheen to your hair; not sure what the shaders did

Ah yes, I went reddish with them.

Things went downhill imho when the newer mags started using photographs of lumpish teens for their stories instead of illustrations of improbably attractive characters.

Omg yes!! There was always one or another whispered rumours at school that someone had "gone all the way"😅

Signing in!!

Truthfully though I didn't work for Jackie but I was an agony aunt for another teenage magazine for many years.

Factoid: a very young Fiona Bruce featured in one of their 'Photo Love' stories, circa 1980!

Correct me if I'm wrong but was Nina Myskow the editor of Jackie for a time?

The Cathy and Claire page was what my friends and I read first.

Once there was a letter describing a difficult family situation which was uncannily like my own. To this day, I occasionally wonder what would have happened if I’d followed its advice.