TEDDY TAIL ANNUALS from 1956-1960 and the later Teddy Tail Fun Book (continued)
.Christmas 1959
TEDDY TAIL ANNUAL.
Teddy is on a go-cart, blowing a bubble bigger than himself. His friends are round him. The background is yellow. There are 81 pages.The price 7/6 is printed inside.
On page 22 there is a picture showing a “new train engine for 1959”. This tells us the year.
The inside cover features the Whiskertown Flyer. The Flyer appears again on page 18 in a story called “Trains Cross”.
The first story in the annual is “ Whiskertown’s Bridge in the Sky” and has Arlington Green as background, and the fireplace in the cottage features as well on page 5 and pages 7 and 10. +
Donnatilla illustrated :
R.W.R's poem on page 25-”The Day I get my Bicycle.”
A poem on page 32 “School Days” .
A Picture to paint on page 39.
A poem of R.W.R’s “Have you a budgie in your House?” on page 65.
The characters that appear on the inside covers are nearly all characters created by Glenn. The original Teddy Tail had far fewer characters.
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Christmas 1960.
TEDDY TAIL ANNUAL.
Teddy is coming out of a sweet shop and his friends are waiting. Yellow background. There are 81 pages. The price is 7/6 inside.
This annual seems to be illustrated only by W. St.J.Glenn and Donnatilla.
The Daimler that Glenn finally bought from Illingworth in the spring of 1958 is on page 23,
Donnatilla illustrated :
A Page for very Young Readers-page 17.
Gone with the Wind-page 33.
A page to colour based on Spain-page 59.
Picking Flowers-page 65.
Blowing Bubbles on the Green-page 71.
This annual also has a story with Father Christmas who has a daughter called Merry. She appears in the later Fun Book. The story is called “With the Help of the Rebrab.”
There is also a story about Princess Prunella on page 41and she too appears in The Fun Book published later.
These are reasons for thinking that this is the last Teddy Tail Annual.
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THE TEDDY TAIL FUN BOOK.
TEDDY TAIL ANNUAL
Teddy Tail and some friends are greeting the Whiskertown Flyer vintage steam train. The background colour is yellow. On the back cover there are more characters having fun.The cost is 7/6. There are 81 pages. Inside it says:”A YEAR OF FUN with Teddy Tail and his Whiskertown chums- and including picture stories from the Daily Mail.”
W. St. J . Glenn was still working for a Teddy Tail Annual in September 1960, but the newspaper stopped the character in the paper in December. In June 1961 a letter shows he was giving Associated Newspapers the rights to use characters he had invented so that further publication could continue. This included, among a long list of characters, the Whiskertown Flyer, veteran railway loco, and Mrs Whisker's cottage, based on a real one in Gloucestershire.
In June 1963 in reply to a letter from W.St J.Glenn, the Daily Mail said that “The last Teddy Tail Book produced was called Teddy Tail Fun Book. We omitted the word annual.”
It is unclear whether the Fun Book was produced in late 1961 or late 1962.
Why a copy of the Fun Book from New Zealand should have a dedication as late as Christmas 1964 is strange. Maybe the Daily Mail reissued it.
The Fun Book has a story about Little Miss Merry who featured in the last Teddy Tail Annual and a story about Princess Prunella who also featured in the last Teddy Tail Annual.
Donnatilla illustrated five pieces.
“If I were a Boy. If I were a Girl” on page 25.
“Doing Things” on page 35.
“Make this the Best Picture...”on page 59.
“Home”
“Me and My Homework.”
The Fun Book was bright and jolly and was a “FUN” way for Teddy Tail to stop .
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