Here are the promised first pages of Puffin Post number 1 (in fact I don’t think it can really be said to have a number, but I have to call it something). It’s wonderful to read Kaye’s words in the light of the rebirth of the club. It’s very poignant considering the upcoming 70th anniversary of Puffin books.
Image from the collection of Ruth – Founder member 1487 – Restored S. Hassan Oct 2008
Very rare! This is the cover of the very first Puffin Post – pre Puffin Club – which was circulated in selected books in 1966. We are very lucky that Ruth saved this amazing piece of history. As you would expect, it hasn’t escaped some wear and tear, but it has been kept very well and restoring this has proved less eye-crossing than most.
To view the ENTIRE contents of this slice of Puffinalia, return to this blog in the weeks leading up to Christmas and I will endeavour to get it posted fairly regularly.
Thanks again Ruth!
Image from the collection of Ruth – Founder member 1487 – Restored S. Hassan Oct 2008
Those of you keeping up with events will recognise this image – the new Puffin Post has snipped Jills artwork out of this and updated the background. I must admit I have a soft spot for decoupage, and 1968 was a very good year for it on the covers of Puffin Post.
Those of you keeping up with events will recognise this image – the new Puffin Post has snipped Jills artwork out of this and updated the background. I must admit I have a soft spot for decoupage, and 1968 was a very good year for it on the covers of Puffin Post.
Another little treat for you. This is the original Puffin Club bookplate design. You would get a sheet of eight of these on pre-gummed paper. I think this has a lovely old school charm about it. It certainly felt like your books were safer when you lent them to friends (didn’t stop them from getting scuffed to hell though – you know who you are!!!!).
The design was created by the illustrator Roland Ferns, who had worked with Kaye Webb during her time at Lilliput. Some of his work was surreal and heading into more adult imagery, but this one image is probably his most enduring.
The new Puffin Post club has revived this design with a lot of colour and the addition of their puffin mascot – as yet unnamed.
I have to admit I’m a bit of a pedant when it comes to history – it comes from working in Film restoration and in the media. There’s a lot of revisionist thinking out there (re-writing of history).
So what was the ‘Puffin Club’ (not Puffin Post)? Well here’s a great little explanation by Kaye Webb herself, writing in the Puffin Diary of 1979:
The new club is called ‘Puffin Post’ – not the ‘Puffin Club’. The club is now the schools entity. I suppose this makes it easier to differentiate between the two. I can’t help feeling this may confuse a few of us older members, but I have to remind you – ‘It’s not for us! It’s for our kids!’
I have to admit I’m a bit of a pedant when it comes to history – it comes from working in Film restoration and in the media. There’s a lot of revisionist thinking out there (re-writing of history).
So what was the ‘Puffin Club’ (not Puffin Post)? Well here’s a great little explanation by Kaye Webb herself, writing in the Puffin Diary of 1979:
The new club is called ‘Puffin Post’ – not the ‘Puffin Club’. The club is now the schools entity. I suppose this makes it easier to differentiate between the two. I can’t help feeling this may confuse a few of us older members, but I have to remind you – ‘It’s not for us! It’s for our kids!’
Yes indeedy, it’s one of the few autographs I have bothered to get in my life – and it’s a good one! This is one of three autographs I got from Kaye Webb – The other ones are in ‘The Puffin Joke Book’ and ‘I Like this Poem’. You can see this image used again in one of my earlier postings used as the cover of the ‘The most gigantic tiny notebook in the world’ (a new version of which will be included in the new club members pack – not by Jill McDonald though!)
Yes indeedy, it’s one of the few autographs I have bothered to get in my life – and it’s a good one! This is one of three autographs I got from Kaye Webb – The other ones are in ‘The Puffin Joke Book’ and ‘I Like this Poem’. You can see this image used again in one of my earlier postings used as the cover of the ‘The most gigantic tiny notebook in the world’ (a new version of which will be included in the new club members pack – not by Jill McDonald though!)
I’ve promised these for a while, so here they are! I found myself sitting next to Kaye Webb at one of the Commonwealth Institute Puffin Exhibitions and was stunned to see her sporting not just one, but three badges! I asked her how I could get them and where they were from.
She told me that the Gold Badge (no.4) was for founder members or those who had done something particularly special.
The Green Badge (no.3) was the members badge in Australia (though Kaye was wearing her Founders Green Badge that looked a bit like her Gold Badge.
The remaining badges are the standard White Badge (no.1) that I have found in different versions – The earlier badges were genuine enamel made by the Davis Badge company of London. Later versions were made with a plastic insert instead of enamel. (You will see a lot of these on ebay).
The last badge is the Black Badge (no.2) that was earned for being a member for four years – these were only ever made in enamel and the quality varied from well finished and ground to rough and distinctly ropey.
The members badge was of course the Puffin Logo designed by Jill McDonald when Kaye Webb became editor of Puffin Books in 1961.
Other classic button badges were made for the various events. I collected a pile of these and some survived better than others. Watch for these in future posts.
As a small addition – I have since learned that there was one solitary badge of gold that was made for club President, Yehudi Menuhin. This was a special gift from Kaye Webb. I assume it is still with the Menuhin family.