I have been waiting all week for this. The Guardian has been giving away, for reasons I am not fully aware of, a free classic comic every day since last Saturday. I now have a copy of Jackie, The Beano, Roy of The Rovers, The Dandy, Tammy and Bunty. But today was the one, the best comic of the lot. Because today was the free copy of Whizzer and Chips!
For those who do not know, Whizzer and Chips was two comics in one. Whizzer was the outer layer and Chips was meant to be pulled away as a separate read. The reader was supposed to pledge allegiance to one of the titles, although I doubt anyone actually did.
If millions of children had actually pulled the comic into two and thrown half away, then you would be able to hear the sound of a million adults kicking themselves when eBay was invented. As my own comic collection fell victim to a much-regretted visit to a second hand book trader (£50 the lot, which to a seventeen-year-old student in 1992 was akin to a lottery win) I regularly scout eBay for old comics of my youth. I simply will not go on holiday without Whizzer and Chips Summer Special.
It was nice to see that the comics being given away were not some copy and paste ‘best of’ collection, but an actual copy of the original comic taken from an archive.
Whizzer and Chips, along with Buster, Monster Fun, Whoopee and all the other IPC Magazines titles, were always that bit edgier than the offerings from DC Thompson. Yes, I did buy The Beano and The Dandy, but they were hardly rock n roll were they? If DC Thompson was Swap Shop, IPC was TISWAS!
In IPC comics, the bad kids got away with it. While Dennis the Menace was being slippered by his dad, Junior Rotter was swindling money from smaller kids. It wasn't parents and teachers who dished out revenge it was older brothers, or big snakes, rubbery balls with eyes, magic pop up books or the ability to ‘scrunge’ your face into something scary.
Another bit of nostalgia for me was the postal address, which I still remember off by heart: IPC Magazines, King’s Reach Tower, Stamford Street, London SE1 9LS.
This was the postal address for both Sid’s Whizz Kid Page and Shiner’s Chip-ite Page. I do not know how much pocket money I spent on stamps and envelopes sending jokes for publication, or entering competitions, but I bet I did not break even when I finally got a joke printed on Chalky’s Joke Pad in Buster. The two-pound postal order could not have covered it. However, according to my CV/biography, that is the date I became a published comedy writer! Sadly, I do not still have the comic, but I do have the letter to inform me it was going in. Now I know whom the archive belongs to, I will have it again some day.
By the way, before I go on, this was the two quid earning gag:
Doctor: You say you've had this 50p coin in your ear for a week, so why are you only coming in today?
Patient: I didn't need the money until today!
To think, at one stage in my life I was a paid comedian and comedy writer!
The King’s Reach Tower address is special to me in a way, because once I had graduated from comics to the NME I realised I was staying loyal to the same publishing company. When I started writing letters to the music mag of choice for the young grunge kid, and eventually submitting articles and reviews, my typed up efforts were being posted to the very same King’s Reach Tower. I was heartbroken when the NME moved to the Blue Fin Building and have never forgiven them.
What ruined my enjoyment of Whizzer and Chips today was the idiotic advice they had printed in small type. It is obvious that the appeal lie with the adult who read the comics as children, to ride their Raleigh Grifter down memory lane. Was there any need to write 'Facsimile of vintage 1978 advertisement, please do not respond' on every page that carried an advert or a postal address?
This did get me thinking though. The Guardian has missed a trick during the run of the classic comic giveaways this week. Why didn't they make any effort to contact the people who had published letters and jokes in the various comics/magazines all those years ago?
What A Pong!
My mum and I have quite a collection of perfumes. Between us we have:- 12 sprays, 10 mini sprays, 4 purse sprays, 3 roll-ons, 33 ordinary bottles of perfumes and 8 jars in cream form.
All these add up to 70.
Oh, sorry, my mother’s just told me she’s bought another mini spray, so that makes a total of 71! Sue Foster
Barrow-On Humber
Sue Foster felt the need to share this with her fellow Jackie readers in the issue dated February 15th 1975. I for one am curious to know how she turned out. Assuming the average Jackie reader was 13, she will now be 44 years old. Does she still have a ridiculous amount of cosmetics in her house? Did her and her mother die of asthma due to inhaling too much spray perfume?
Dear Dennis,
I am going to Spain on holiday and am taking a pile of Beanos to have a laugh on the beach.
Viva el Beano
Yours sunbathingly
Barry Roberts,
Shipley, West Yorkshire
Barry’s letter came from the 2000th issue of The Beano, dated November 15th 1980. Using the assumption he was ten when he wrote this, he will now be 39. Maybe he could go on a date with Sue Foster. If you know either of these people, then get in touch with me and I will fix it.
This whole idea of writing to people and finding out something about them as people came to me a while ago. Last year I bought several old copies of Smash Hits for research. They all came from the early 1980s, and were useful to me at the time as I had never actually read the magazine as a youngster. Having seen a programme about it on television, I figured I would use its cheeky style as a template, as I was starting a magazine at the time. Although it never came to anything.
What struck me, as a classic case of ‘how times have changed’ was the pen pals page. These days we are warned about letting children loose on the Internet, do not give your address, or arrange to meet anyone. Do not trust anyone, as they are all paedophiles. However, on the pen pal page, the young reader published their full home address!
So just to see if this experiment works, I have chosen two people at random from Smash Hits, dated July 21st- August 3rd 1983 and written to them. On the envelope next to their name, I have written in brackets (last known address). If you are playing along at home, write on the back of the envelope your name and address, as a ‘if not resident please return’ safety net.
Hi! My hobbies are collecting earrings and pop posters. My name is Hayley and I’m 11 and mad on Wham! FGTH and Madonna. Write to Hayley, 117 Knowle Hill Road, Netherton, Dudley, West Midlands DY2 0HW
Boo! That woke you up didn't it???! Hi, my name is Jane, I love TFF, Spands and Paul Young. I hate CND, worms and dissecting things. If you’re male, female or in between, write to Jane, 7 Peartree Walk, Yaxley, Nr Peterbourgh, Cambs, PE7 3HQ
I will of course report on my success or lack of, please do the same! There might be a Dave Gorman style book/film/tour in an experiment like this. If I wrote to every single pen pal address in all my old Smash Hits and could arrange to talk to them about the response they got at the time. You never know, some people do not move too far from home, and their parents might still live in the house.
