Friday 9 September 2011

Added Value: Things found in books part ten


A cutting advertising ‘Birds in Britain’ a magazine programme edited and introduced by James Fisher and produced by Desmond Hawkins.  I think this was cut from an edition of The Radio Times because on the back is a listing for Listen with Mother followed by one for Mrs Dale’s Diary. (Mrs. Dale, the doctor’s wife, records the daily happenings in the life of her family. Bob and Jenny had tea with Gwen and David, and Billy stood for the first time. Bob took David for a ride on his motor bicycle and they both fell off. Later in the week Bob met Linda Grant in the canteen at the airport. Isabel wanted Mrs. Freeman to be wardrobe mistress for the Operatic Society’s Christmas production, but Mrs. Dale thought it would be too much for her. Mr Fulton made ... that’s where it ends!)   

Mrs Dale’s Diary was a BBC radio serial drama, first broadcast on the Home Service on 5th January 1948. It was broadcast twice daily on weekdays. The lead character, Mrs Dale, was played by Ellis Powell until she was replaced by Jessie Matthews in 1963. The series ran for 5,531 episodes, culminating with the engagement of Mrs Dale’s daughter Gwen to a famous TV professor on 25th April, 1969.



Found inside a lovely dust jacketed copy of The Taming of Genghis by Ronald Stevens with illustrations by C. F. Tunnicliffe. 


Any Mrs Dale’s Diary fans out there know what year this was?


The taming of Genghis is now sold, thank you for your interest. We left the cutting inside the book as we thought the new owner might enjoy it.

10 comments:

  1. I didn't know about Mrs. Dale's Diary but for it to have gone on for over 5000 episodes, it must have been very, very good.

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  2. barbaraannefisher9 September 2011 at 16:28

    It was always on the radio when I was a girl and I know my mum loved it. I used to like the children's radio programmes the best.

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  3. Oh Barbara, this is a super blog that takes me into a real bookshop of the kind that are fast disappearing. As an ebook author, after being in March House, I feel obliged to say, 'DOWN WITH EBOOKS!!'

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  4. I love these things you find in books. The ducks are illustrated in a very detailed way.

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  5. What a lovely trip down a lane of memory. I don't know Mrs. Dale's Diary, but I do know the those wonderful hours listening to stories on the radio when I was a kid. These stories are still so vivid in my mind.

    Thank you for stopping in at the Write Game and saying hi. I'd love to hear the hedgehog story one day.

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  6. Hello Johnnie, thank you for taking the time to call in and comment I appreciate it.
    Where do I start with EBooks? I love books and everything to do with books and have resisted buying on E reader but trips to visit our son in Australia would be a lot easier without at least 12 paperbacks in my suitcase and 3 more in my hand luggage! I don’t want books to disappear so I will go on buying, collecting and preserving them for as long as I can, but progress won’t be stopped, however much I might wish it could be. I'm sure there must be room for Ebooks and 'real' books - well I hope so anyway.

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  7. Glad you like them. This had been carefully cut from a magazine not torn out so it must have been important to someone. I wonder why?

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  8. I remember those days too. They were really happy family times; mum would usually be knitting while my sister, brother and I would be busy with a jigsaw or some other ‘quiet’ occupation. If dad was in we would usually play cards – or roulette on a toy roulette wheel – we usually played to win matchsticks or sometimes pennies.

    I enjoy the Write Game very much and pop in often.

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  9. I love the Added Value posts, it's like you're making a personal connection with the people who read this book last.

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  10. That is exactly how I feel! I'm really pleased you enjoy them too.

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I really appreciate your comment. Thank you!
Barbara xx