Bill Woggon - 1960's Family Values

I had two quite tough and tiring days to end the working week so didn't think I would be putting out a post this weekend and then two corresponding things happened to change my mind.  First my dear friend Barbara from the fabulous March House Books Blog gave me the Very Inspiring Blogger Award.  Thanks so much Barbara - if I can manage it I will put together the prerequisite acceptance post although I have to admit I am becoming more and more aware of my limitations!  Then yesterday I noticed that Terence (Agman) from Aviator had dedicated a post to my last offering of the Nadir Quinto Star Maidens. (I had a fabulous response to that post ans would  like to thank everyone for your wonderful comments.)  Terence's words: 'If you've ever wondered? where children go when they dream visit this post'  kind of blew me away - if I had to put into words what I was trying to achieve with these posts, describing them as 'the place where children go when they dream' would be the highest accolade I could aspire to.

This week I'm not featuring a fairytale or particularly colourful post, but for a while I've been wanting to do the second of three offerings on the Bill Woggon Story of the Ballet Coloring Book  (first posted in January). I know a few people besides myself have very fond memories of this book (I hope Georgia comes back to find me again - I'm sorry it has taken me longer than expected to include these extra pages.)  I would have been a contemporary of these two little girls at the time the book was published and as I was a big fan of ballet I identified with them entirely.

Today though what I want to post is not the ballet aspect of the book but the family at the core of the story.  Those of us from the era will recognise the lifestyle it contains immediately and like me, I'm sure, will find it equally delightful.

'Mommy' is the quintessential 1960's home-maker.  She is beautiful and feminine, always immaculately dressed (with high heels and jewellery) and perfectly coiffed.  Mommy prepares tasty meals for her family, the table is artfully set and her home filled with flowers.  In the next post I'm planning from this book you will see she is also able to whip up a sparkling array of ballet costumes for her two girls without breaking a sweat.
 
  

'Daddy' is clean cut and handsome.  He is the breadwinner of the family.  Every day Daddy disappears to that strange and mysterious world called 'the office'.  Daddy is the decision maker of the family and everything must be deferred to him (although to my eyes now he looks impossibly young!).

The womenfolk of the family are however not above some clever feminine manipulation to ensure that Daddy makes the correct decision.

The family is rounded off with Fiddle Diddle the dog.  When I bought the book I knew it was used and not in perfect condition but was so happy to have finally found a copy I have no complaints.  Some of the pictures are coloured in and a few pages are missing.  Amongst them are Fiddle Diddle's antics at the ballet class so unfortunately I will not be able to include any of those.

This last picture is the one that produced the biggest reaction from me.  When Daddy gets home he is brought his pipe and slippers to relax after a hard day at work.  Here he is happily smoking away indoors with a daughter on each knee.  As a child I would have found this completely normal and not given it a second thought!

The Story of the Ballet, illustrated by Bill Woggon. Costume design by Cassie Bill. Published by Saalfield 1963/64.










Recently I've been mentioning how much my new extended commute eats into my day, leaving me with little time to pack in everything else I have to try to do outside of working and travelling - and as a result I'm feeling quite tired.  It is a bit of a conundrum though because the commute itself is through beautiful scenery and I often think to myself that many people spend a lot of money to experience just once what I get to see it all its changing moods every day.

It takes about half an hour to get me to the station and on to the train and twenty minutes to walk to my office when I get to town but everything in-between is by train.  I suppose I could spend the time more constructively if I bought a tablet or more portable laptop or even a book to read.  But for the moment I am still enjoying the landscape as it glides past and to be honest I value the downtime.  I suffered a nearly fatal dose of encephalitis when I was a teenager leaving me prone to migraines and my eyes extremely light sensitive.  Working in IT and staring at a monitor all day was probably not the wisest career choice!  So this chance to sit and do nothing is often quite appreciated, especially in the mornings when the train is empty before we reach the commuter belt.  (Coming home I've had to work out a strategy of juggling two different types of trains to have the best option of getting a seat!)

As Shakespeare so eloquently said 'had we both world enough and time'!

Leaving Rathdrum station

I took a few photographs to show my husband and son some of the parts of the trip I enjoy the most and thought I would also share them with my blog friends.

We start off through fairy forests and lovely farmland.

Then after Wicklow Town we hug the coast almost the whole way into town.

 

Bray Head

Bray Head (Between Bray and Greystones)

I was quite lucky to get the next photo as I don't usually have my camera with me and on this particular day a sailing ship just happened to be there as we went past.  They were moving and we we moving and I wasn't sure if we would get close enough before they disappeared around the corner (and we went into the tunnel) but I just managed to snap this shot.

Killiney Bay

Iarnród Éireann have recently introduced a new fleet of commuter trains that are very smart and it feels more like you are in a plane than a train.  There are glamorous sounding announcements first in Irish and then English throughout the journey.  The older trains are not as smart but they are possibly more comfortable and seem bigger.  

The 'station' at Kilcoole is quite unique - it is just a single platform on the beach!  (There is a car park but no station building.)

Sunrise at Kilcoole

Bill Woggon - Story of the Ballet Coloring Book (Saalfield 1963/1964)

Bill Woggon - Story of the Ballet

** More pages from this book can also be found here (posted 5 May 2013) ** 

I bought this book on eBay and it arrived on Christmas Eve, so turned out to be a very special Christmas present to myself!

Bill Woggon's most famous creation is Kathy Keene.  I also discovered while searching for this book that he illustrated the comics of 'The Archies', a favourite of mine during my tweenie years.  But for me his crowning achievement was this book - The 'Story of the Ballet' - a very special childhood memory.

As an adult I'm blown away by his technical ability and draughtsmanship.  This is a colouring book intended for children, but the quality of work on display is utterly sublime.  Much of the appeal is because they are monochrome line drawings - done with a precise but delicate touch.
  

Even as a woman myself I adore Bill Woggon's depiction of the female form.  These ballerinas are graceful, feminine and beautiful - but at the same time they are also quite sexy and alluring.  All of this is achieved with just a few (expertly applied) pen strokes.  

The Story of the Ballet was published by Saalfield in 1963/64.  Illustrations are by Bill Woggon with costume design by Cassie Bill.  I've decided to devote 3 posts to this book (although not necessarily consecutively) because it contains such a wealth of creativity.  Today I'm featuring some of the ballerinas.  There is also a storyline of two little girls who want to take ballet lessons.  I found the depiction of 60's family life and values so delightful (and at times hilarious) that I decided this aspect of the book deserved a post of its own.  And then finally there are paper dolls of the two children with ballet outfits to cut and colour - this will make up the third post.  

Previously I featured two other ballet colouring books on my blog that I sourced and bought because they were special childhood memories (I've provided links to both at the end of this post).  At the time I realised that a third book existed - this one - probably my favourite of the three. As so often happens to me I discovered a reference to this book by accident when I had forgotten all about it.  Since then it has taken me a year and a half to track down a copy.

Again I managed to do this by accident.  I discovered a job lot of paper dolls that were being auctioned by Mary at Best Paper Dolls  Have a look at the link to her shop - she has some lovely paper doll sets on offer (I'm trying very hard not to be tempted by a few of them including a stunningly beautiful set of American Colonial paper dolls that will be on auction for the next 5 days.)

The lot that initially attracted my attention contained three sets of used/cut ballet paper dolls and this colouring book.  I already have two of the other sets and was not interested in the third so I took a chance on the auction and waited until it was over.  Mary then very kindly placed the book by itself in a separate auction so I was able to buy it on its own.

My copy of the book was in a combined lot because it is not in perfect condition - some of the pages have been coloured in and from memory a couple are also missing.  Mary had given very specific details about the state of the book so I knew exactly what I was getting and was just thrilled to finally have a copy.  As you can see from the scans I've included many of the key illustrations are untouched and perfect so it has been an absolute joy to be able to feast my eyes on these drawings again.

Below are a few more of the ballet scenes.  Next time I'll include some of the family in the story.

I was about the same age as these little girls when I first owned a copy of the book.  For me it had the most wonderful magical quality.  I get exactly the same thrill of that magic today and these delightful illustrations are still capable of transporting me to that wonderful world of childhood dreams and imagination.

The two colouring books I've featured before are:

Watkins Strathmore Ballet Coloring Book of 1962

Merrill's Child's Ballet Book to Color of 1955

Thank you also for all the Christmas wishes and comments left on my last post.  I hope everyone had a truly wonderful Christmas and that the New Year has started well. Today (5th January) is Twelfth Night so the 12 Days of Christmas are now officially over!  Time to pack all the festive finery away and bid farewell to this special time of year.

As a parting memory I thought I'd show you a present I received that I wasn't expecting.  My best friend at work gave me this stunning candle holder, designed and made here in Ireland:

   

I love the beautiful glow it gives to the candles and the red colour of the glass 'blooms' is both festive and sumptuous.  I don't usually light candles in the chandelier above the table but for a special occasion it was nice to have the whole effect - and on a winter's day there is nothing nicer than the comforting glow of all these little twinkling lights!

    

Today I also discovered that Donna at Donna's Designs has posted details of the Christmas card she made for me!!  You can see it here at Evergreen Tree.  It was such a wonderful surprise getting this card (Donna is incredibly talented - the cards she makes are beautiful). I was thinking of including it somewhere on one of my own posts - but being able to show you how it was made with this link is even more special!!