Old girls' annuals: Bunty for Girls 1982, Tammy Annual 1982

I've always loved the old picture-story papers for girls that were produced years ago: Bunty, Judy, School Friend, Tammy etc. They first became popular in the post war years but sadly died off in the late 1990s, with the last bastion, Bunty, finally giving up the ghost in about 2000. I think this is a sad loss, even if today's little girls are supposed to prefer boybands and fashion to picture stories about ponies and ballet schools.

I always particularly liked the artwork used, and as you could recognise some distinctive personal styles I had my favourite artists too; it's sad that they were anonymous. It's fascinating to spot the same artist's work in a late 1960s School Friend right through to an early 1990s Bunty. For a girl who enjoyed drawing, they were quite inspirational.

I've acquired various annuals over the years, some of which were my mother's, some of which were given to me as Christmas presents, and others which I picked up at jumble sales either as a kid or later on. They're still great fun! Recently I visited my mum and collected a couple of them from her house: Tammy Annual 1982, and Bunty for Girls 1982.


Out of the two, I prefer Tammy (published by Fleetway/IPC Media). The stories seem more sophisticated somehow, and there was a longrunning strip called "Bella" about a gymnast which always featured incredibly well-studied pictures of a girl doing gymnastic poses. Bella gets in trouble with the law at times and has been known to live in a squat, which seems a bit gritty for a girls' paper but maybe that's why it's quite enjoyable to re-read as an adult!

Other picture stories in Tammy 1982 include "Molly Mills", about a 1920s maidservant (drawn by my fave artist - possibly called Douglas Perry); "Backhand Billie", an extra-long story about a rude girl pupil at a tennis academy; various spooky "strange stories"; and a Bessie Bunter comic strip, which is a hangover from June which was taken over by Tammy in the 1970s.

Bunty 1982 seems a bit silly in comparison, and a lot of the stories seem to be written around contrived names: "Belle of the Ball" is about a girl called Belle who has acquired an alien ball which bounces around observing human life; "Girl Friday" is about Fran Friday who sorts out problems in a hotel; "Try-It-Out Terry" tests products for a local newspaper and "Rambling Rose" is a scatterbrained schoolgirl. They're not bad stories, but there are better ones: "Catch the Cat" is about a schoolgirl resister in wartime France and "Maid Marian" takes command of the Merry Men as effectively as Robin Hood ever did.

I really have to mention "Wendy's Wonder Horse" because it's an absolute hoot:




How fabulous is that?? Coming up with these stories for a living must have been the best job EVER.