Stafford Books and Comics, sellers of vintage books, UK comics and more through their eBay shop, have turned up an unusual gem among a recent purchase of classic British children’s annuals – an Amalgamated Press Annuals Order Form, for the publisher’s planned 1941 annuals.
Sent to retailers, presumably, sometime in mid 1940, the catalogue offers a fascinating snapshot of what children might look forward to for Christmas 1940, annual dates of course one year beyond their on sale date, just as they are today.
The Titles for 1941 listed as follows (listed here in alphabetical order, links to the respective ComicsUK gallery pages):
• Baby’s Own Annual
• The Book of Good Needlework
• Boy’s Cinema Annual
• Bubbles Annual
• The Chicks’ Own Annual
• Chips Annual
• Chums Annual
• The Champion Annual for Boys
• Crackers Annual
• Film Fun Annual
• Funny Wonder Annual
• Girls Crystal Annual
• The Greyfriars Holiday Annual for Boys
• Jingles Annual
• Knock-Out Fun Book
• Modern Boy’s Annual
• Picture Show Annual
• Playbox Annual
• The Popular Book of Girls’ Stories
• Puck Annual
• Radio Fun Annual
• The Rainbow Annual
• School Friend Annual
• The Schoolgirls Own Annual
• Sexton Blake Annual
• Sunbeam Annual
• Tiger Tim’s Annual
• Tiny Tots Annual
• The Triumph Annual
As far as we are aware, all the annuals listed were published, even though paper was rationed and there was little to cheer. (Although introduced at the start of the war in September 1939, newspapers limited at first to 60% of their pre-war consumption of newsprint, paper rationing didn’t really begin to impact many regular publications until the following year. For example, as Historic Newspapers notes, for a 1939 newspaper from the Daily Mirror or Sunday Pictorial, the normal number of pages was between 16-20 for the Daily Mirror and 20-28 for the Sunday Pictorial.
Germany invaded Norway, a principal supplier of wood pulp for paper to Britain, on 9th April 1940, ensuring the protection of Germany’s supply of iron ore from Sweden and had obtained naval and air bases with which to strike at Britain. As supply became short, paper rationing began to bite, and more stringent measures introduced on 1st July 1940.
Again as an example, the Daily Mirror went down to 12 pages (three sheets) and the Sunday Pictorial went down to 16 pages (four sheets). A further reduction was introduced on 10th April 1941 when the Daily Mirror went down to eight pages (two sheets), but the Sunday Pictorial stayed the same at 16 pages (four sheets).
Comics underwent significant reductions too, of course. The Dandy and The Beano went from 28 pages to just ten – two spreads, plus a single page glued in. The Amalgamated Press tabloid comics reduced their sizes to a smaller format and Radio Fun, always a smaller size comic, had its full colour cover replaced by red spot colour during World War Two, and never went back to full colour covers, even up to its merger with Buster (issue cover dated 25th February 1961). Somehow, its companion comic, Knockout, did maintain a full colour cover throughout its run
An item here by Susan Hill for the Welwyn Garden City Network notes paper supply came under the No 48 Paper Control Order, 4th September 1942, and was controlled by the Ministry of Production. By 1945, newspapers were limited to 25 percent of their pre-war consumption. Restrictions were not lifted until the 1950s, meaning publishers had to come up with some clever ways to maximise print runs, such as for the launch of Eagle in 1950.
(As Steve Holland notes on Bear Alley, when an announcement that paper was to come off the ration, Hulton Press wanted to launch Eagle in April to benefit from the increased supplies and establish their new title, before other publishers launched their own new papers).
“Carried Over” Annuals
Presumably conscious of possible shortages, on the Order Form, Amalgamated Press included a page of undated annuals published in 1940 they noted had no printed date, so could be sold again…
The “carried over” titles were The Big Top Circus Annual, Etiquette And Entertaining, Modern Boy’s Book of Fire Fighters, Modern Boy’s Book of Pirates, Pictorial Practical Gardening and Tuck-A-Bed Tales.
Annuals End for Some
Although the full catalogue of 35 titles saw print, sadly, this would be a “last hurrah” for many of the annuals offered. Almost all the Amalgamated Press annuals ceased publication after these 1941 editions for the duration of the war, Bubbles continuing until its 1943 edition (Chick’s Own one exception, along with titles such as Champion, Film Fun, Girls’ Crystal, Radio Fun and Tiger Tim).
Rival DC Thomson annual titles – The Beano, for example – also continued through the war.
Even though Adventure kept going as a comic, they never bought the annual back, even after the war (paper rationing continuing into the 1950s), so 1941 saw the last of annuals for titles such as Chips, Chums and Adventure Land. Some however, such as Baby’s Own and Chicks Own did return later.
Children wouldn’t be likely to have received these annuals wrapped either, in paper, anyway, as wrapping paper for most goods was prohibited.
Meet the Dust Jacket Detectives…
Run by Adam Teitge, who also runs Dust Jacket Detectives, a group dedicated to researching old books and their elusive dust jackets, mainly early children’s books and annuals, Stafford Books and Comics has been selling a broad variety of fabulous vintage books, signed first editions, UK comics and local history on eBay since 2007, alongside a sprinkling of eclectic miscellaneous publications.
Adam acquired this rarity as part of a job lot, an unexpected find, while seeking a copy of the 1924 Pip Squeak Wilfred Annual, complete with protective wax jacket.
He’s recently acquired his first ever Victorian annual complete with dust jacket, too – a very rare edition of the 1898 Girls Own Annual. Incredible that such items have survived.
• Check out Stafford Books and Comics full catalogue on eBay | Follow Stafford Books and Comics on Facebook | Instagram
The Stafford Books and Comics team love a brightly decorated spine on vintage books. To quote the great George Orwell from Inside the Whale and Other Essays on these type of publications and their equivalent weekly comics, “festooned from floor to ceiling with viley printed twopenny papers, most of them with lurid cover-illustrations in three colours.”
Head downthetubes for…
• The Children’s Annual: A History and Collector’s Guide
By Alan Clark | ISBN: 978-1852832124
• Buy it from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)
Published by Boxtree back in 1998, this is a fascinating and varied history of the UK Children’s illustrated annual, from the 1800s through to the 1980s, as told by Alan Clark. Features black and white illustrations and three colour sections. too.
• Historic Newspapers: Paper Rationing in World War Two
• British Geriatrics Society: As We Once Were: Wartime Rationing
My thanks to Adam Teitge for sharing the rare item, and Lew Stringer for extra information, more added in quick updates!
- About the Author
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
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