A fête worse than the Chalet School

[EmilyAlice]

Roll up, roll up!
Bid for a mortgage on the doll's house! Pin the tail on the St Bernard! Guess the weight of the handsome doctor! (Or pin the tail on the doctor and guess the weight of the St Bernard). Knit a lime green liberty bodice against the clock!
The Chalet School fête is open.....

My lambs, I've found you all again! I used to be an Obligatory New Girl, but as you can see, since Jeffrey-gate I've had a sex change... do you think I'm Good Looking enough to be a doctor now?

Mais j'oublie, c'est Francais jour maintanaint, n'est pas? Mon Francais n'est pas as bon as mon Deutch, alors j'irai plus quiet until Vendredi, oui?

"Clarion" to me is the name of James Wilson's newspaper. Thus thoroughly mixing up two series in the most mindboggling way. (Lone Pine)

Mind you, I think I'd like to see the twins meet Joey.

Jenny Wren?

Est-ce que le fait qu'aujourd'hui est la journee francaise? Je vais rappeller - les lundis et jeudis sont francias; les mardis et vendredis sont allemandes; et des mercredis et samedis sont anglais; et les dimanches sont toutes les langues? (What is the subjunctive for etre again?) Ce soit correcte, oui?

Guy, la question est si vous etes un docteur, pas si vous etes beau (beau ou belle? Et faut-il a dire beaux ou belles avec "vous" pour agreer avec le plurale, ou est-ce je me confusee?). On ne care pas si les docteurs sont beaux.

Vous êtes beau to one man who you don't know very well.
Vous êtes beaux to more than one whether you know them well or not.
My neighbour asked why we are always formal in England and only ever say you. I replied th'art wrong missus.
Et oui ça soit le subjonctif.

Ooh, is it the one who was ostracised by the Townees for accidentally cheating at Maths (a plot line EBD shamelessly stole for Ruth Barnes was it) ? Can't remember her name though.

If anyone does have any books to lend, please could you PM?

I am going to post the 3 La Rochelle books that aren't on OneDrive to Nell as soon as I find Seven Scamps. I posted a list upthread of the others I have - I also have Mary-Lou and Leader, which I don't think are on OneDrive either, if anyone wants them. My copy of Leader is part of a 3 in 1 with Ruey and Wins the Trick - it's an Armada copy, but everything else I'm offering to send out is unabridged. Let me know what you want to borrow!

I am watching the French TV programme 4 mariages pour 1 lune de miel.
The bride is very large and the other brides have said that her dress is not "well adapted for her morphology".
Is that what Joey would call fat?

I don't think she would be so subtle Emily!

Ah, a sonsy bride no less. She's probably all of 10 stone. I would kill to be 10 stone

"Clarion" to me is the name of James Wilson's newspaper. Thus thoroughly mixing up two series in the most mindboggling way. (Lone Pine)

I've never read Lone Pine, but I always associate 'clarion' with early c20th socialism. Wasn't there a socialist clarion newspaper? And I've heard of clarion vans, which I think might have been the precursors of the vans with loudspeakers that used to drive through the streets pre-elections.

No, not Jenny Wren, Cheddar, not anyone from the Abbey series. Think closer to the Alps. I've forgotten the name of who it was from Girls of the Hamlet Club who cheated at Maths - I want to say Ruth, but it might not be right, I might just think that because of Ruth Barnes. I'm going to have to look now! Nell, I'll knit a lime-green twinset for a prize but it'll have to wait until I've finished darning socks and sewing sheets sides-to-middle.

Book-lending: CS World, CS Christmas Story Book and Taverton High are all winging their way to Cheddar, other people v welcome to borrow once she's done with them. I also still have Bettanys on the Home Front.

Is it the case that doctors are so desirable in EBD-land that it doesn't matter whether they're attractive or not, or is it even the case that less attractive doctors are particularly wonderful? Thinking aloud a bit... Jack is described as being 'no filmstar' or something, isn't he? Is that EBD demonstrating how wise and un-shallow Joey is in her choice of man, is it EBD trying to be realistic.. Is it a bit like the 'not beautiful, but interesting to look at' trope (see also Joey herself) and therefore a sort of positive aspect of Jack's character?

Are some of the men described as attractive? I vaguely think some of them might be. Does Dick have 'boyish good looks', or is that just my interpretation? I also imagine Eugen Courvoisier to be fairly handsome. This is probably the first time I have actually considered this though.

Also, a propos of the various associations of 'clarion'... I could rather see OOAO finding her calling in some sort of direct political action. She would get involved in some campaign or other (CND? My sense of recent history and also CS timescales towards the end of the series are too weak to make other sensible suggestions), be very bossy and annoy many long-standing activists, but actually be an extremely successful organiser of practical things like coaches and leaflets, and drummer-up of large numbers of attendees. She'd probably use her CS connections to try to further her cause, in a very earnest, authentic, slightly trying way. I can imagine her sending loads of educational materials to Hilda, or repeatedly suggesting to Joey that she ought to feature the campaign issue in one of her books, or something. Indeed, I can quite well imagine her standing outside Tesco's shouting "Socialist Worker" on a Saturday morning.

I am reading the La Rochelle's at the moment. I wonder why some of the characters made it to the CS books...The Temples their and children and in a way the Atherton's with Blossom and Judy Willoughby, but why don't the Raphael's or Willoughby's (except |Nigel) ever make it across? I would like to know what happened to Heather must remember these are not real life

Right, parcels are packed and waiting for DH to take them to the post office tomorrow! Nell, I haven't found Scamps, and my sister hasn't looked properly yet, but I needed to post a couple of other things tomorrow anyway, so I'm posting you the other two and I'll send Scamps on when I find it.

Ooh, exciting! Thanks Cheddar.

hels my lamb what do you mean - not real life?!

I'm reading Bluestockings at the moment (it's a social history book about the women who fought for education) and I see that the first woman to study philosophy at Cambridge was called Constance Maynard. She was one of five women students who lived and studied at Benslow House in Hitchin, and male professors would take the train from Cambridge to give them lectures/tutorials. Would EBD have known about them? It seems a bit too much of a coincidence to actually be a coincidence IYSWIM.

Gosh, now I think of it, I can't remember any of EBD's men actually being described physically, at least, not in terms of attractiveness. The only physical descriptions I can call to mind at the moment are of size, like Julian Lucy, and the inevitable scratchy-bearded-ness of peasant rescuers.

I think Mary-Lou might have been at university in 1968, in which case she would have been organising the sit-ins. Her clarion tones would have been just the thing for galvanising the apathetic and keeping order in the ranks.

Was she really? I went to university in 1968. Have always thought OOAOML was older than me. I don't remember her on the barricades.
Wasn't Jem blond and blue-eyed with an attractive smile?
Is Jo to the Rescue the one with the baby she nicked after the train crash? I think that is the only one I haven't read.

Ah, I used to have a mental list of People From History With Chaletian Names about whom I thought exactly that ("can this really be a coincidence?"). And I've forgotten most of it. It did include Constance Maynard (I think I may have come across her in another book as well as Bluestockings, although I'm away from home and not 100% sure of this) as well as Constance Stewart. I think also Marjorie Burn (Hilary's daughter). It often seems a bit 'is this seriously obscure?' vs 'but isn't this sort of name symbolism/referencing just exactly the sort of thing EBD went in for?' and 'didn't EBD quite happily plagiarise whatever she felt like from other people's books, so doesn't it stand to reason she'd borrow people from real life too?'
I wish I'd written the lot of them down though.

Have I read (quoted, obv, due to never-yet-read LR status) that there is a quite weird passage in which Janie is struck by how attractive Julian is whilst disciplining a child? Someone please correct me if I'm wildly misconstruing that! I suppose the point of it is that she has a vision of what a marvellous father he'll make? A more authoritarian version of that Athena poster.

I have the vague impression that physical description of male characters - especially the doctor men - is v much lacking. But I'm also mindful that it's something I would totally skip over if it was there! I guess there are actually incredibly few occasions when she offers the courting woman's perspective (I can really only think of Gillian Linton, and to some degree Madge herself) - and I think those moments are largely phrased in those sort of 'something in his eyes' expressions.

Emily my lamb I believe Rescue is the one with Phoebe thingy in it. And Reg. I haven't read it. I sort of would love to, but Phoebe thingy and Reg aren't entirely selling it to me.

Oh Phoebe and Reg - no haven't read that either. I don't think Reg works as a name for that age group. I didn't know any under 50 when I were a lass.

The other phrase I associate with EBD is jorum of milk.....which people regularly boil up when some kind of adventure happened.

My parcel from Cheddar has arrived!! I literally squealed with girlish excitement (DH looked then realised it was a MN thing).

My parcel from Nell came! Yippee! Thank you so much!

Elisaveta, I selected one of the books in there based on your RL name! I also have a confession to make - I intended to include Jo to the Rescue and I quite thought I had, only to finish wrapping the parcel and turn around and find it at the end of the bed. And I didn't have any more wrapping paper, so I left it. The parcel felt rather on the heavy side as it was.

Loving them already. Can't wait for DCs to go to bed so I can immerse myself!

Was Dickie Christy the "my hat" person?

Just thinking back - surely it was 1958 OOAML was at university, not 68? She started school as a stocky 9 year old at the end of the war. I think she's the same age as my mum. Emily you were a mere Junior when she left!

Two other good EBD phrases - arguing from cause to effect, and suiting the action to the word. I don't think I've come across them anywhere else. I love the staffroom discussions where various history mistresses are outraged that the latest thing in new girls has never been taught to argue from cause to effect, as if it's the very bedrock of education, like not knowing how to count to 10. I think maybe Kathy says it of Yseult in New Mistress and I'm sure it crops up elsewhere. As for suiting the action to the word, I think it's most often applied to Bill, she being a dynamic kind of person.

Have I read (quoted, obv, due to never-yet-read LR status) that there is a quite weird passage in which Janie is struck by how attractive Julian is whilst disciplining a child?

Gosh, I think I'll have to check that this evening. Which book is it in?

I'm in the minority that has read Jo To the Rescue complete with Phoebe thing and Reg thing! I have to admit to rather enjoying it. The plot is mad in a Redheads sort of way, but the scenery's good, and the relationship between the women is quite well done, I think. Nell, I've a feeling you might like it for that reason. Wasn't Reg (or Reginald) a reasonably current name for that age group? I'm basing this on Reggie Kray and Reginald Bosanquet, both of whom would have been about the same age as 'our' Reg. And a few years younger, it's also Elton John's given name. Anyway, Jo hasn't quite grown into her unbearable adult self, so there's no stealing adoption of random babies nor games of slidey mats.

Nope, 'my hat!' isn't Dickie Christy. One more clue - it's an EJO book set in the Alps, but it's not properly part of the Swiss series because the characters (including the my hat girl) are now young women living in the hostel in the grounds of the school. This is no doubt complete gobbledygook to anyone who doesn't know EJO's books, so if no-one guesses by tomorrow I shall reveal all and get to keep the lime green twinset. Ha, mine, all mine!

Just thinking back - surely it was 1958 OOAML was at university, not 68?

Doesn't that depend on which book/s you're using for dating purposes? Going by Prefects the triplets were 18 in 1970, so it's quite feasible that OOAO was at university in 1968. I agree, though, that if you're dating from Three Go then 1958 is a more realistic date. Sometimes I think the most rational thing to do is stop the clocks after the war, and date everything according to the age of the characters in Three Go rather than according to when they were written/published. It mostly works, apart from two things. First, EBD isn't terribly consistent with the ageing process, and different girls age at different rates! Second, there's the wonderful scene towards the end of the series when (Althea?) is being escorted to school on the train, possibly by Len though I might be wrong, and they sit opposite some beatniks who are 'people in need of a capable nanny and a good tubbing' or words to that effect.