The Chalet School

[ShellacB]

There seem to be plenty of old Chalet School Threads, but I can't find a current one.

In the middle of a re read. I have just finished the Tyrolean and Herefordshire ones. I loved them!

I do remember the Swiss books not being quite of the same quality, so not sure whether to read them all.

Could anyone recommend the best Swiss books if I was to skim through?

Bear in mind that Jacynth's Auntie was worn out and dying in her late thirties!

Did Jo tell Jacynth she should be grateful her aunt was dying so she could finally get some rest, or was that someone else’s aunt?

To be fair to Jo, I THINK she said that after Aunty had died, in a searching for the silver lining moment, not in anticipation of the death.

This was similar to Mary Lou's reaction to her mother's death in Reunion.

She almost indicated that she wasn't allowed to feel sad as it was better for her mother. A lot of pressure for a young girl recently bereaved.

I didn't realise that Jacynth's mother was in her 30s, she seemed much older. Although that was common in the way characters were written. Bill was written like an older stateswoman in Exile, with her hair turning white etc and she was only 30 then!

Come to think of it was Mademoiselle Lepattre even that old? She was written as an elderly lady, but I presume was no more than in her 50s at most when she died.

Yes, she’s only 36! Jacynth is 14 and her aunt became her guardian aged 22.

I was rereading Gay recently and was fascinated by how much more traditionally and formally Joey is bringing up the triplets than is generally suggested. It’s clear they live in the nursery, and only come downstairs at certain times to see Joey. Joey and Madge have a conversation about children being made too adult by overhearing adult conversation and Joey says (after an anecdote about something Sybil overheard and repeated to one of Jem’s patients) that this is why she’s keeping the triplets ‘to quarters’ and that in a couple of years, once they’ve learned not to repeat things, she’ll have them downstairs more, but that for the next year or two, she’ll be keeping them in the nursery.

As it’s implied in the same conversation that Anna is Joey’s sole servant at this point, it’s not clear to me how she cooks and cleans and simultaneously deals with triplets who live upstairs…?

Yes, Joey's early upbringing of the Triplets was pretty Victorian compared even to her own upbringing as a child! We are told that Madge has included her in everything from a young age etc.

Even the children calling them Mama and Papa was quite unusual at that time.

The Mama and Papa thing was Joey being pretentious I always thought, she always like to "cause a sensation" to borrow a Chalet School phrase.

on slang- what on earth did EBD think ‘pussystruck’ meant? And did no editor think to tamper?

Ah yes constantly noticing this one as rereading but reading the mainly unabridged versions on fadedpage 🙈😅 don't remember seeing it perse in the Armada versions

Oh yes! It doesn't read well now does it! It had a crude meaning even back in the 1920's so I guess EMBD and her publisher were pretty innocent.

Another line that hasn't aged well was the description of Gwensi Howell who was described as "the pet and plaything" of her uncle and godfather.

I’ve got to Switzerland and Jack really is ridiculously over involved in the girls’ welfare. Unusual to have such a prominent male figure (that’s not a figure of fun ) in a girl’s school story. The whole Joey family life thing feels like a wish fulfilment fantasy

Yes I am sure I remember reading in The Chalet School Companion that Joey was EBD as she would have liked to have been.

I would imagine that in reality Bill was more like EBD.

He's basically Dr Turner from Call the Midwife, isn't he

Oh god now you’ve said that I can’t unsee it

Anyone else composing a uniform list?
tussore shirt and gym tunic
brown velveteen frock with collar
skisuit
tweed climbing skirt and hobnailed boots
large scarf
handknit stockings
slippers / house shoes
boating gear- long knickers and sweater-tunic

Don't forget your coloured glasses or you'll be going snow-blind!

It wasn't too bad in the Tyrol years, or in the Armishire/St Briavel's era (clothing coupons would have seen to that) but the cost of fitting out a girl for the Swiss years must have been exorbitant. It was quite an unusual colour and the tunics were a specific design, so it's not as if they could buy the uniform anywhere.

And why did they all have to have umbrellas (that Mary Lou keeps losing)? They never use them.

Yes, but I assume by then the CS would have been ranked as an expensive choice of school, and attracted wealthier girls -- it would have had to once you factor in the travel, Swiss expensiveness, and the uniform, skis etc. And of course by then it has a finishing branch as well, which suggests something more UC.

In Gay, Jacynth's aunt chooses the Chalet School partly on grounds of cost -- she'd have liked Roedean or Cheltenham, but can't afford them. She also discounts some schools as being too cheap, so presumably the CS in the Plas Howell days is a midrange school by English standards. It must have moved way upmarket and begun appealing to a completely different set of people after the Swiss move (and Madge and co presumably thought that enough of the current CS pupils' parents would be able to afford the leap in fees and travel expenses to justify the move, otherwise they'd have had to set out to attract a lot of pupils from scratch for a school in a fairly remote Swiss location. I suppose the San will continue to deliver some, but has it moved away from being purely a TB institution by then?

(I mean, it's clear this decision was one made because EBD wanted the school back in the mountains, but it never makes much sense financially within the world of the books!)

The school would also have to compensate for all the Maynard-Bettany-Russell girls getting educated for free.

Yes, but I assume by then the CS would have been ranked as an expensive choice of school, and attracted wealthier girls -- it would have had to once you factor in the travel, Swiss expensiveness, and the uniform, skis etc.

Realistically it would, but most of the families seem to be from the professional middle classes. Well to do but not hugely wealthy. I think Emerence is the only child of super wealthy parents we hear of in that era.

And some of them have two or more daughters there at the same time, and in the case of the Ozannes/Chesters/Lucys, the Lamberts, and no doubt others, also have sons to educate.

The school would also have to compensate for all the Maynard-Bettany-Russell girls getting educated for free.

In lieu of a dividend on their investment I suppose, since it was Bettany family money that provided the initial capital for the school and they'd presumably reserve a larger proportion of the shares for themselves when the school became a limited company.

Simone (and her sister?) were also educated for free.

The umbrellas had to be carried when going on a Victorian ladylike walk with a mistress, instead of a normal walk/ramble, when they’d had a Big Row and been put in Head’s Report.

I think Joey had a succession of Mother’s Helps at some point - Beth Chester was one of them.

Do you suppose they did sibling discounts? DS’s school does a 50% discount for subsequent siblings, but only while both/all are at the school.

But of course the families who would get most benefit from this don’t need it!

Yes, you’re right that the same type/class of girls seem to keep attending the CS despite the fact that the cost must have soared once it moved to Switzerland. I mean, someone like Jacynth clearly wouldn’t have even been considering it, once it had moved out of the ‘mid price for England’ range.

Yes, because that’s an obvious next step after your Oxford degree! And wasn’t Maria Marani supposed to come as a mother’s help at some stage? Did she ever?

Yes, because that’s an obvious next step after your Oxford degree! And wasn’t Maria Marani supposed to come as a mother’s help at some stage? Did she ever?

Yes she did. I forget which books, but it was quite a way into the Swiss era. She must have been in her thirties by then. Why would she want to come and be dogsbody to Joey at that age? I don't think we're told what she'd been doing since Exile, when we last saw her.

I feel sorry for Beth. First she wanted to be a gardener, then she went to Oxford, then she ended up being governess to Barbara, then going to Joey's in case Barbara needed her. No life of her own.

Did the school actually become a limited company?

I think I missed that part….

In which case did Hilda Annersley become a part owner?

I had noted that there is less and less reference to Madge owning the school and being the ultimate decision maker as the books move on.

A shame that EBD effectively wrote Madge out. She was a brilliant character in the Tyrolean books and it would have made much more sense for her to be hanging around the school in and out of the staffroom in the latter years than Joey, given she started the school and still owned part of it!!