 Val Doonican who sang "The Special Years" One of the things I remember well from my childhood was the excitement of getting a new comic. My mother Peggy sometimes shopped at the newsagents “down at the Bridge”, O’Donnell’s, and If I had been extra “good”, or there was money to spare, I would be treated to a comic. It wasn’t every week mind you. Those weeks when I wasn’t getting one, I could only look wistfully at that week’s new comic sitting on the shelf in O’Donnell’s and imagine what the stories would be. Most of the comics in the 70’s came to Ireland from Britain and a lot were published by the same publishing firm D. C. Thompson & Co. Ltd. I remember the one that I loved the most at age 7 to 8 was Twinkle, "the picture paper specially for little girls," (the famous tagline). It came out weekly, supplemented each year with a Summer Special and a hardcover Annual (the first annual was dated 1970).  "Twinkle" Annual 1973 - when I was 8 years old The comics were introduced by Twinkle herself and featured comic strips, dress-up dolls, a Twinkle Club letters page, and, often, puzzles. Among the most popular comic strips were Nurse Nancy (a nurse in a hospital for broken dolls), Jenny Wren, Witch Winkle, Polly's Magic Paintbox, Goldilocks and Her Three Bears, My Baby Brother, The Three Pennys, Patsy Panda, Patty Pickle, Sally Sweet, Molly and her Dollies (which I particularly loved for obvious reasons, being a Molly 😊) and Dandy Lion.  The thing I really loved about Twinkle was that there was often a “free gift” included, often a piece of cheap plastic jewelry or a hair slide. I treasured those little trinkets. I’d hazard a guess there’s probably a beaded necklace or bracelet knocking around in a drawer somewhere in my family home still! 😂  A Free Ring! - "Twinkle" 21 Sept 1974 After Twinkle was outgrown, I remember graduating to Bunty (another comic) at age 9/ 11. It consisted of a collection of many small story strips, typically being three to five pages long. So, it took a bit more concentration to read but still had a lot of pictures. I remember that Bunty include The Four Marys (another namesake story!!), Bunty — A Girl Like You, Lorna Drake, and Penny's Place.  "Bunty" - 15 Oct 1977 After Twinkle was outgrown, I remember graduating to Bunty (another comic) at age 9/ 11. It consisted of a collection of many small story strips, typically being three to five pages long. So, it took a bit more concentration to read but still had a lot of pictures. I remember that Bunty include The Four Marys (another namesake story!!), Bunty — A Girl Like You, Lorna Drake, and Penny's Place. The average weekly issue of Bunty also contained letters pages (when people wrote physical letters!), competitions, featured readers, puzzle pages, promotions, next-week previews and advertisements. The back page in my time featured a cut-out doll and paper clothes, which I loved too. One of the great things I remember is that we used to borrow comics from our friends. Each comic would be read by two or three girls. I remember getting several from my buddy Anne-Marie next-door.  "Jackie" - 14 Jul 1979 (with Rod Stewart Poster!!) But, my Bunty reading coincided with the opening of a wonderful new public library at the Fair Green in my hometown of Carrick-on-Suir so I didn’t read that comic as much. I had graduated to “real books” without pictures. The best bit was I could borrow new books every week. I remember walking past The Forresters’ Hall each Saturday on the way to the library with bundles of books under my arm along with my buddy, Catherine. I didn’t abandon comic-reading completely though. I recall moving on to Jackie, another magazine for young teenage girls. It only closed in 1993 and was a really popular magazine particularly in the 1970s. Apparently, the title of Jackie was chosen from a list of girls' names, although it was nearly dropped in the early days due to the association with Jackie Kennedy following her husband's assassination in 1963.  "Jackie" 26 Mar 1977 (with Kurt Russell Poster!) Jackie was the best-selling teen magazine in Britain for ten years, with sales rising from an initial 350,000 to 605,947 in 1976. The best-ever selling single issue was the 1972 special edition to coincide with the UK tour of American singer David Cassidy. During the 1970s, Jackie published a mix of fashion and beauty tips, gossip, short stories, and comic strips. Both the comic strips and the short stories invariably dealt with either romance or family issues. The centre pages of the magazine usually contained a pull-out poster of a popular band or film star. In the days before MTV or the Internet, these were often the only way we could see what the pop singers we heard on the radio actually looked like! Jackie became very popular with young teenage girls, not least because of the Cathy and Claire problem page, which received 400 reader letters a week apparently and dealt with controversial issues that were nonetheless relevant to the readership. However, the subjects covered in the column by today’s standards were fairly innocent.  "Blue Jeans" 27 Aug 1983 (With "Wham" Poster!) The last magazine I remember reading as a young teen was Blue Jeans, a magazine first launched in 1977 amidst an era of teen culture that was starting to be influenced by music, fashion, and evolving social norms. Published each Monday, the magazine was designed to cater specifically to teenage girls, offering a unique blend of content that resonated with the interests and concerns of its audience. Blue Jeans’ success was rooted in its ability to blend various types of content that catered to us girls. The magazine offered an inside look into the lives of popular celebrities, including interviews with music and movie stars. It was a go-to source for fashion trends and beauty advice ….. even if the only make-up I owned at that time was my trusty blue eye-shadow!! Music was a significant part of teen life in the late 70s/ early 80s, so Blue Jeans included regular updates on new releases, band profiles, and concert reviews. This kept us readers in the loop with the latest in the music scene and provided a soundtrack to our adolescence. The best thing for me about that magazine though was each issue included full-page and centrefold posters of popular pop stars and bands, enabling us to hang them on our bedroom walls!!  "Blue Jeans" Annual 1980 One of Blue Jeans’ most cherished features was its romantic photo stories. Long before we had real love interests and romances, we were reading tales of love and heartbreak, often serialised over several issues, captivating us readers and keeping us eagerly awaiting the next instalment. A great sales technique! All of the above magazines brought out hard cover annuals usually in time for the Christmas market. I can remember being delighted to get one nearly every year. Either from my parents or from friends. All of those girlie magazines reflected the changing dynamics of society at the time. They also reflected the changes in me as I grew from reading about a doll’s nurse in Twinkle as an eight-year old to drooling over David Essex in Blue Jeans at eighteen! Most of those magazines eventually ceased publication in the 1990s. Their closure marked the end of an era but left behind a legacy of fond memories for us readers. They were part of our growing up from childhood to our teenage years, offering guidance, entertainment, and a sense of community. We couldn’t wait to grow up! This brings to mind The Special Years, a song by the late Val Doonican, a famous Waterford singer. That is my blog for this week. Enjoy! Lyrics of The Special Years From pigtails to wedding veils From pinafores to lace And in between are the special years Time never can erase. From play toys to college boys From little girl to wife And in between are the special years You remember all of your life. The special years are filled With sweet promises and pain But love will never taste Quite so wonderful again. So, slow up, don't rush to grow up You'll be a woman before long So stay awhile in the special years Their magic will soon be gone. Just stay awhile in the special years Their magic - will soon be gone... Bucket List Items Ticked Off in the above Blog post 139 Number 74(b) - Experiences - Pick 80 Songs/ Pieces of Music
Other Blog Posts Blog 11 - Sydney, Australia Blog 12 - Hong Kong, China Blog 17 - Beijing, Xi'an & Shanghai, China Blog 19 - California, USA Blog 27 - Scotland Blog 28 - Barbados Blog 29 - Canada If you liked this post, please share. Sharing is caring 😊
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AuthorMy name is Mary and this is my bucket list blog ...having survived a near-death experience. I hope it encourages you to "live your best life". See how I'm completing my own bucket list items. And let me know how you're getting on with yours! Archives
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