Puffin Post Vol.11 no.1

A great one for anniversary fever! This issue included a brief history of the club up till that point as well as Jill McDonalds memories of drawing Fat Puffin (previously posted). Also included was a short birthday story by Elisabeth Beresford, a piece about Ponies by Flambards author Kathleen Peyton and an interview with Jan Pienkowski.

Bundled in with the magazine was the 10th Birthday Exhibition announcement with a special board game called 'Swoop' designed by Merlin Southwell printed on the back - not many have survived!

Sorry I've been away...

It's been kind of hectic of late - non Puffin related. This was a sticker that was handed out to old Puffineers. This is another example from Ruths collection. If I can sort out the current stresses, normal service will be resumed shortly.

Image from the collection of Ruth - Founder member 1487 - Restored S. Hassan March 2009

...and something for the younger audience. The Egg no.28

Sadly this august publication has not (as yet) been resurrected as this is a real favourite of my five year old. The cover, illustrated by Captain Pugwash creator John Ryan, features the mascot of the Junior Puffin Club - Smudge! Fat Puffin was supposed to be the Uncle of Smudge, though I remember this as something I was told at a Puffin event rather than in the pages of Puffin Post itself.

Apropos of the Puffin events, I remember a very nice little play area that had been set aside for the younger Puffineers and a very nice sounding lady inside a Smudge costume wandering around near it. Fat Puffin was of course doing the same elsewhere at the event, but it's an image that has stuck with me.

I would be very interested if anyone out there has any Junior Puffin Club magazines and members memorabilia, as it is incredibly rare to find in any state of preservation - I only have a few copies and nothing else!!

A cheery puffin from the early days

I can't tell you the year this handsome chap appeared - but he is one of the early exhibition flyer puffins that decorated a Puffin Club Exhibition. There have been quite a few that Jill McDonald designed over the years with a kind of evolution that becomes easier and more stylised with every passing event and exhibition. It makes me wonder what she would have produced if she hadn't died at such an early age. Something marvelous!

Image from the collection of Ruth - Founder member 1487 - Restored S. Hassan Jan 2009

You want badges? OK then...

Yes, it's a Puffin Explorer badge - one of the old ones. I've sadly mislaid one of the fifteen badges in this collection - it'll probably turn up when I least expect it. Never mind, I've still got the rest of them to share with you all.

Again, these are the work of Jill McDonald. One of my earlier posts showed one of the designs used as a rubber stamp. All of these badges were given away at Puffin exhibitions in the late 70's.

This is an example of the badges that followed Jill's death - The work is very slick, and obviously follows Jill's example, but it doesn't quite reach me in the same way. If you are the illustrator, please don't take offense! I'm a big fan of Jill's work, and I may be a bit blinkered.

...and now I do requests!

A little while ago, I had a lovely email from an old puffineer who was kind enough to tell me a little of her affection for the club and also asked if I had a copy of Puffin Post with her in it. The clues were a bit cryptic, but I vaguely remembered the picture and went in search.

Anyway, here it is Candida! I hope it was worth the wait!

This is a picture of Candida with Bernard Cribbins at the 9th Puffin Show in 1976. The Robot was made by Candida and her sister (although her sister was too big to fit in it!).

It's fitting that I should put up a picture of Bernard, as he is just approaching his 80th birthday! Many Happy Returns on the day!

A Flight of Puffins... (an obscure joke I'm afraid)

Dear Blog reader, I must apologise for the lack of posting for the last week - it really has been a bit busy. What I can promise you is a Halloween special with some of my favourite Autumn covers. In the mean time, please enjoy a lovely throwaway decoration that festooned the walls and ceilings of the Commonwealth Institute at the Puffin Exhibition.

At the end of the show I saw them being pulled off the walls and stuffed into rubbish bins. This horrified me, even at a tender age, and I asked Kaye Webb if I could take one home. The pink one lived blu-tacked to my wall until it found its way to the safety of my portfolio - as far as I know it's the only one left.

Another stamp

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!)

A Puffin Explorer

Goodness! What's got into me, more than one post in a week! This was a lovely rubber stamp that I vaguely remember being stamped onto the back of the hand of visitors to the 12th exhibition. I asked nicely if I could have one stamped into my Puffin Thinkbook - and I got it!

This was one of a whole set of Jill McDonald designs that appeared on button badges that were also doled out - yes, you guessed it, I'm going to post these as well.

Another sticky thing...

One of the better preserved exhibition stickers - not by Jill McDonald, and I'd love to know who did do it! This was a brilliant event that for the time was pretty epic. I still remember the twelfth show as being something pretty special.

I met Spike Milligan at this show and had my hero worship bruised by his confusion and anger that a Half-Irish boy could have an Islamic name. He is still a hero to me, and I have come to understand his views - however uncomfortable they make me feel - RIP Spike - Greatly missed.

Puffin Thinkbook

How many of you have one of these? This is the full spread artwork of the Puffin Thinkbook - designed, as always, by Jill McDonald. These blank paperback books were given away as prizes for competitions, and more importantly, on sale to members at some of the Puffin Exhibitions. That's where I bought my copies.

I must have had a premonition that I would need a pristine copy to use nearly a quarter of a century later, because I kept one copy back from scribbles.

The spine of the book is the fountain pen which wraps around nicely. I've been toying with the idea of laser printing the design onto Duralabels and sticking it onto my Moleskine notebook - I think it would look pretty smart!

Puffin Post Vol.8 no.2

Since the summer sun has finally decided to show it's face, I thought this cover would add to the mood.

This issue contained:

Short stories:
The Most Beautiful House - by Paul Biegel
Question Mark and the Wosbos - by Carolyn Sloane

Featuring:

Pictures from the 7th Puffin Show at the Commonwealth Institute
Building a Castle - Penelope Farmer tells how she came to write 'A Castle of Bone'
Witches and Witchdoctors I have met - by Ben Lucien Burman
Volcanoes - by Rupert Furneux
Old Jokes by Bronnie Cunningham
Meet your Author - Ursula Le Guin - by Susan Stanley Wolk

and of course - Norman Hunter's Magic Corner

Something sticky...

Not a cover this time, but a sticker that was handed out at the early 70's events. I'm lucky these survived for me to do the restoration bit on them. Badly yellowed and faded but still with a great deal of charm. I can't tell you what it feels like to bring this one back to life!

Puffin Post Vol.9 no.1

This is a work in progress. The copy I have in my collection is badly printed (the magenta isn't in register) This makes the original look very pink. I have been tweaking it on my Mac to realign the magenta part of the image and then retouch the damage of the years. It's nearly there, but I thought I'd share it with you. I wonder if every copy in the print run was printed this badly? Was yours in a better condition?

I got hold of this when the club had a clear out and made them available to members - I sent off my pocket money as fast as I could!! Some of my others were grabbed at the Exhibitions - again with most of my saved up pocket money.

Jill McDonald did a few of these ensemble covers - a mass of puffins all symbolising different personalities, moods or activities. They were a story in their own right.

The Most Gigantic Tiny Notebook...

Something a bit different. I got this notebook at one of the Puffin Exhibitions - I can't remember if they were free or not, but I ended up with two or three of them. The print registration was pretty poor on the original, with the orange leaving gaps of white around the left hand edges. I've tidied this up and kept the texture of the card (about 240gsm for the pedants out there).

As an added point of interest, Kaye Webb had a rubber stamp of the same design without the text, that she used to stamp autograph books and fly sheets of autograph hunters.

This is a pretty rare item as many kids ended up throwing them away after filling them with scribble. I remember seeing loads of them being swept up at the end of the exhibition, sans cover or contents. There may be a few out there that were used as impromptu autograph books - if so, I would love to hear from you.