Whom! Smash! Whoopee!

Press, 1 April 1989, Page 23

Whom! Smash! Whoopee!

The Children’s Annual: A History and Collector’s Guide. By Alan Clark. Boxtree, 1988. 160 pp. Index. $59.95. (Reviewed by Glyn Strange) Those old childhood annuals gathering dust in your loft because you could not bear to throw them out may be worth money. The abovementioned, being of fairly recent vintage, are not worth much (yet), but a wartime Dandy Annual or Beano Book can fetch hundreds of pounds in Britain.

Strangely, great granddad’s Ally Sloper Annuals, carefully preserved from last century, are worth very little. As generations of collectors disappear, the nostalgia-value lessens and prices drop accordingly.

Alan Clark, apart from being a collector, edits and publishes a magazine for enthusiasts, and this is his third book on the genre. He covers the 150-year history of children’s

annuals and shows how they have changed to meet new social and economic circumstances, yet in many ways remained the same despite two world wars, the advent of radio and television, and major social upheavals. Peeps behind the scenes at the great publishing houses and information on the many artists and copywriters who have fuelled the imagination of generations make this a fascinating volume. It is also attractively designed. The gaudy front-cover

illustration makes it look like an annual, as does the layout of the text, which is in two broad columns of largish print, just like Champion Annual and many others. The illustrations within are colourful and

copious. It is a book for anyone who fancies a nostalgic journey back to childhood days, or for the would-be collector, for whom there is a price-guide.