AIBU To Think Joey Maynard (Of Chalet School Fame) Was Insufferable

[TheShellBeach]

.............with her eleven children, infuriating husband and bizarre tendency to move house (and country) to live next door to the school her sister inexplicably started when Joey was a child.

She also managed to write (at least) two books a year, have a series of multiple pregnancies and poke her nose into the Chalet School's business on a daily basis.

I suspect that there was a much higher tolerance for body odour and greasy hair back then.

3 minutes in a cold bath isn’t much time if one’s to thoroughly wash all the sweat off one’s body. Especially given all the descriptions of school sports in the books.

Did they have to include teeth brushing in that 3 minute bathroom slot?

YABU Joey is on a God-like tier 😂 I jest lol. Loved those books, I read my mams old books so most people of my generation probably would have found them stuffy but I loved them. Much better than Enid Blyton but nothing will ever beat Just William in my eyes for “old” books

I can't imagine anything worse than cold baths every morning.

I think Matron wouldn't approve of how I loll around in a hot bath, reading, every evening.

There's one bit where I think it's Mary-Lou explaining the baths to a new girl and she says you can have it cold or 'chill off' which I guess means a tiny bit of hot. She then goes on to say she prefers it cold herself. WHAT SORT OF TEENAGER PREFERS A COLD BATH??

It would explain the need for recurrent trips to Herr Von Francis.

I think in general people smelt worse and had worse teeth than now.

In one of the Peter Wimsey books set in the 1930s - The Nine Tailors, I think - there’s a mention of it being normal for village wives to have missing teeth. I was never certain whether that was down to violent husbands or poor dental hygiene.

1930’s was pre-NHS, so I’d guess good dental care was a lot less affordable back then. Not saying violent husbands weren’t a factor, but I’d guess dental hygiene would be a bigger problem for teeth (the current state of things with NHS dentistry could see a lot of us back there, although that’s a whole other thread)

On the topic of cold baths and BO, think about how few clothes they have. The girls used to change their collars and cuffs but not their actual dresses. I know there are references in the books to the laundry but I was never sure if that was just for tablecloths, napkins & bedding rather than for the girl's personal items.

Actually maybe they were onto something with the cold baths. Today many people follow the Wim Hof method and there is lots of research to show a cold plunge is good for the immune system and reduces anxiety etc. Not sure I want to give it a go though, especially in winter.

Do we think Thrush was something different, or was Jo misunderstanding it 😁
“Dr Jem scowled at her portentously. ‘Mutiny in the ranks, eh? Why can’t you be obedient, you scaramouche? How do you know you’re not sickening for something awful?’ ‘Like—like thrush?’ said Jo unexpectedly. ‘Well—er—no; not quite that. Still, that’s not the point.”

Excerpt From
02 Jo of the Chalet School
Elinor M Brent-DyeR

oral thrush

I think it says in one of them that they were allowed 2 uniform dresses per week. Clean knickers & stockings every day, surely. I wonder how often Liberty bodices got washed though?

It used to be fairly routine to get your teeth taken out quite young if you couldn’t afford dental care. If you think that someone even now can die of sepsis from a gum infection, and how painful toothache is, it makes a lot of sense to avoid it by removing the teeth preemptively.

This entertaining article on the history of dentistry mentions it near the end. www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/history/brace-yourself-painful-terrifying-history-25906

A classmate in the mid 70s (small town and rural Ireland) had had all her teeth removed as a 16th birthday present from a much older neighbour who expected to marry her when she left school. The girl concerned was horribly self conscious about her lack of teeth, and clearly not enthused about the 'arrangement', but I have no idea whether she managed to escape. I must ask a friend who was in the same form whether she knows how that played out.

Not sure I want to give it a go though, especially in winter.

I wouldn't want to give it a go in summer, either.

I think EBD was misunderstanding it. You can get oral thrush, of course.

I cannot see EBD mentioning vaginal ailments in the CS books.

Or in any books, actually. She who was too embarrassed to mention lavatories and menstruation would absolutely not have mentioned problems in women's downstairs bits.

Oh it was clearly meant to be oral thrush. Jem was often getting them to stick their tongues out

It’s ironic. There are multiple occasions where the pupils are described as looking ‘fresh’ or ‘smart’ but anyone in modern times would look at them and think they needed a good wash with their greasy hair and lack of washing in hot water.

Maybe that’s why Len wasn’t allowed a pony tail - greasy hair is much easier to conceal in plaits.

The pony tail was raised in Ruey Richardson at the Chalet School - Matron was very firm that pony tails were not allowed.

Joey told Len off for asking if she could have a ponytail in one of the later books and finally gives in.

There was some kind of reason given for this but I cannot recall it now. I'll have to go and search.

I think it was 'Joey & Co in Tirol' where they first meet the Richardsons. Len asks about a ponytail then, and Jo eventually gives in, but the implication is that it's difficult to keep tidy.

I had oral thrush during the first lockdown following a horrific toothache episode. It wasn't pleasant.

Swollen cheek is a response to infection - probably a molar. No wonder Matey gasped, it's pretty serious. If the swelling spreads to your airway it can be fatal.

And no effective deodorant. I wonder if they had dress shields.

On the hairwashing, in one of the early books there is a prank with flour in the girls’ hair, and the perpetrators are punished by spending all afternoon brushing the victims’ hair dry. It does suggest that they only ordinarily washed their hair when they went home for the holidays.