The Beezer's Golden Years

Crossovers

2011-04-16T23:51:00.008+01:00

Occasionally 'The Beezer' would crossover into other D.C.Thomson publications. This was hardly surprising as artists didn't draw exclusively for 'The Beezer'. A couple of crossover examples can be seen here. The first example shows 'Oor Wullie' (drawn by Dudley D.Watkins, who also drew 'Ginger') for the 'Sunday Post. Here we see him trying to sell his old Beezer to use as wrapping for fish and chips instead of newspaper - What a sacrilege!

The next image is from the first issue of 'Bunty' (1958). Bill Ritchie (who drew Baby Crockett) has drawn a strip wherein 'Toots' is reading her favorite comic which is, of course, 'The Beezer'

While we're on the subject of 'Bunty' I'd like to take this opportunity in drawing your attention to the 'Bring back Bunty' blog which is a call for a revival in British girl's comics.

2010-10-03T19:58:00.002+01:00

Ken Davies from Penmon sent me this E-mail:

Thanks for an excellent site which has brought back many happy memories of my weekly 'Beezer Day' - the day the comic dropped through our letter box. The papers were always late on Beezer Day - I suspect the delivery boy was having a free read - and who could blame him?
Why can't comics like The Beezer still be around? Who could ever forget The Numskulls? These little chaps were way ahead of their time - fantastic idea - little people controlling your every move, controlled from within little compartments in your head? Simple idea but so effective - telescopes behind the eyes, spades used to shovel food down the hatch, and many others.......
Was Colonel Blink a fore-runner of Captain Mainwairing in Dad's Army?
Pop Dick and Harry - the twins - did they eventually drive their father to early grave?
I applaud your comments about 'tripe' - I actually quite enjoyed it - that was when I thought it was a type of fish though - once the truth came out, my 'personal' Numskulls had no more bother with it.
The names just remain in my memory - Baby Crockett, The Badd Lads, Ginger etc. Oh to have those days back again - or at least The Beezer back again. Wish I had the foresight to keep some / all my copies - thanks to your site, however many of these memories have returned.
Keep up the good work

Ken Davies

Ken has his own website with a special nostalgia page on http://www.penmon.org/page78.htm

Social History through 'The Beezer 3' : The Mangle

2010-02-17T10:45:00.012Z

The mangle was mechanical laundry aid consisting of two rollers in a sturdy frame, connected by cogs and powered by a hand crank or electrically. It was usually used to wring water from wet laundry.

Throughout the first two decades of the Beezer (the 50’s and 60’s) this was a common place household item and as such the source of numerous comic strip gags.

Here we see Boss of the Badd Lads (Beezer March 1969) instructing a pupil on how to forge notes with the help of ink and an old mangle.

Gradually, the electric washing machine rendered this use of a mangle obsolete, and with it the need to wring clothes mechanically, which no doubt was a relief to Baby Crockett's Mum as she no longer had to worry about him getting caught up in it (from the Beezer Book 1970).

Social History through 'The Beezer' No 2 : Tripe

2010-02-07T11:39:00.009Z

Our Man from 'The Numskulls' serves himself 'Tripe and Onions' from a canteen in 1968.

Could you get Tripe and Onions from any canteen in Britain these days? I very much doubt it. Definitely food from the past and a dish I would never want to see served before me.I can't remember ever having eaten this stuff though I remember my Mother saying that she gave it to us on at least a couple of occasions.

'What is tripe?' I hear many of you younger readers ask. It's truly revolting stuff: the rubbery lining of the stomach of cattle or other ruminants, white and gooey, the stuff of nightmares.

The Numskulls would have had one hell of a job shovelling this fodder down Our Man's hatch.

Bill Ritchie 1st August 1931 - 25th January 2010

2010-01-28T19:32:00.008Z

Bill Ritchie, prominent cartoonist with the Beezer, passed away on Monday.

He was born in Glasgow and studied at the Glasow School of Art. He was the comic's longest running cartoonist working with the publication from 1956 - 1990.

While serving in the army in Korea, he submitted his first cartoons to the publisher, which were printed in The Weekly News.

He started working with 'The Beezer' at the young age of twenty four and drew Baby Crockett, Dicky Burd, Smiffy and Hungry Hoss for the comic. He also drew for other D.C Thomson publications, namely: Sparky, Bimbo, Bunty, The Beano and The Weekly News.

He had a wonderful, fluid and totally unique style, drawing with thick jagged lines that showed exuberant confidence. His work was just genuinely sweet.

Reporting the sad news on the Comics UK forum, Beano sub-editor Iain McLaughlin wrote:

"It's with great sadness that I have to pass on the news that Bill Ritchie passed away on Monday of this week. Bill's enormous catalogue of work will be well known to every British comics fan. For those of us who worked with Bill, he was one of the folk you always looked forward to seeing. You knew you'd have a good laugh and an interesting chat with Bill. His knowledge of comics and artists was extraordinary. And he was just a really nice guy, always gracious and helpful. A genuinely nice man who will be missed greatly by all of us who worked with him."

Social History through 'The Beezer' No 1 : The Recording Booth

2010-01-26T14:37:00.013Z

1) Ginger and the 'Voice Recording Booth'

Here's a lovely Ginger strip a from a very early Beezer (1956 - it's first year) drawn by Dudley Watkins. In this story Ginger has been persistently kicking his football over his neighbour's fence. Aflter one too many scoldings he loses his nerve and has to resort to recording his voice in order to ask for his ball back. We see Ginger going to a recording booth in order to record his message

In the 1950s the only way many people could record their own voice was to use a voice recording machine which actually transferred your voice onto a record.

In those days your recording couldn't last any longer than two minutes and voices were laid down on a six-inch cardboard record that could then be played at home. Alot of real-life recording artists started out this way including a certain young singer called Elvis Presley.

The Voice-O-Graph was the most widley used record recording booth. It was similar to a photo booth and let the patron make an actual 6" record which could be played on any record player.

The International Mutoscope Company manufactured the last recording booth coin-ops in 1968. When portable cassette recorders caught on in the 70’s, the booths started to lose their novelty value. Besides, it was embarrassing when the whole arcade overheard your so-very-unlike-the-King Elvis impression.

Links:

Remembering Recording Booths

1957 Multoscope Voice-O-Graph

Production of gramaphone records

Beezer Free Gifts

2010-01-26T13:11:00.010Z

Most years 'The Beezer' gave out a couple of free gifts a year. This would usually to be to either soften the blow of a penny cover price increase, to herald the change of a couple of characters or to change the new front page title logo. In spite of price change the Beezer actually upped its page count a couple of times. From the late 50's to early 60's it increased from 12 pages to 14 and finally in 1964 it went up to 20 pages.

The Super Tootle Flute 1970
Now, here's a free gift I remember very well. In March 1970 (issue) 738 the Beezer Tootle Flute marked a change from a blue background title logo to a white one. New characters 'Tommys Tick Tock Twin' and 'Mighty Mik' replaced 'General Jim' and 'Hocus Pocus'

I am sure that there was a short television commercial advertising this free gift with an an animation of Ginger playing the tootle flute. Anyone else out there remember?

Balloon with stick-on funny faces 1970

A hugely disappointing free gift came one week later with these uncharming images that you were meant to stick onto a balloon. Funny faces? Not really. I remember feeling very cheated by this.

Pick A Prize

2010-01-22T22:30:00.015Z

The Pick A Prize Section ran for many years throughout the sixties and seventies. It consisted of readers' Christmas cracker style jokes or amusing anecdotes. Parents were always referred to as Mummy and Daddy when written about which suggests that letters were usually submitted by well brought up, middle class children

If your letter was published in the Beezer you could win one of the following; a pens and pencil set, a remote control aeroplane, roller skates, record token, teenage doll, motor car set, rotadraw (what's that?) or a magic drawing set. Two special prizes plus 10/- (50p) were awarded the to the best letters. The prizes never seemed to change: they remained the same for years.

I'll never forgive the author of the letter below and I remember it so well. He actually suggested that, to relieve boredom, readers should cut out the heads of Beezer characters from the comic and stick them onto the bodies of other characters. I did this, ruined dozens of my old Beezers and have regretted it ever since. Malcom King, wherever you are, I hate you!

The Beezer Blog Discussion on Comics U.K

2010-01-20T18:16:00.002Z

The Beezer's Golden Years is currently being discussed on Comics U.K http://www.comicsuk.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3337

Beezer Artists and their Creations

2010-01-17T18:07:00.003Z

Tom Bannister : Pop, Dick and Harry
Leo Baxendale : The Banana Bunch
Gordon Bell
Paddy Brennan
Bill Hill : The Banana Bunch, Roly Poly,
Ken Hunter: Mick on the Moon, The Jellymen, General Jim,
Bill Holroyd : The Voyage of the Bushwacker
David Law : Cap'n Hand
Joe McCaffrey
Tom Paterson
Bill Ritchie : Baby Crockett, Smiffy, Dicky Burd
Dudley D. Watkins : Ginger
Malcolm Judge : The Numskulls, The Badd Lads
Bob McGrath : Ginger
Hugh Morkey : Calamity Jane
George Martin : The Hillys and the Billys, Young Sid,
Bob McGrath: Ginger
James Walker: Kings of Castaway Island

2010-01-16T23:29:00.005Z

My collection of Beezers to date. I'm especially keen to collect the full years for 1969 - 1970 and if you have any of the issues that I'm missing do please contact me.

20 June 9th 1956,111 March 1st 1958,162 February 21st 1959,201 November 21st 1959,
202 November 28th 1959,204 December 12th 1959,205 December 19th 1959,
223 April 23rd 1960,296 September 16th 1961,344 August 18th 1962,441 June 27th 1964,
459 October 31st 1964,510 October 23rd 1965,516 December 4th 1965,
555 September 3rd 1966,581 4th March 1967,582 11th March 1967,625 6th January 1968,
626 13th January 1968,629 Feb 3rd 1968,634 March 9th 1968,638 6th April 1968,
649 June 22nd 1968,652 July 13th 1968,653 July 20th 1968,654 July 27th 1968,
671 November 23rd 1968,673 December 7th 1968,680 January 25th 1969,
681 Feb 1st 1969,682 Feb 8th 1969,683 Feb 13th 1969,686 March 8th 1969,
687 March 15th 1969,689 March 29th 1969,690 April 5th 1969,695 May 10th 1969,
696 May 17th 1969,699 June 7th 1969,701 June 21st 1969,702 June 28th 1969,
705 July 19th 1969,07 August 2nd 1969,709 August 2nd 1969,712 September 6th 1969,
713 September 13th 1969,719 October 25th 1969,720 November 1st 1969,
721 November 8th 1969,726 December 13th 1969,727 December 20th 1969,
728 December 27th 1969,730 January 10th 1970,731 January 17th 1970,
735 February 14th 1970,736 February 21st 1970,737 February 28th 1970,
739 March 14th 1970,740 March 21st 1970,742 April 4th 1970,743 April 11th 1970,
748 April 11th 1970,749 May 23rd 1970,750 May 30th 1970,751 June 6th 1970,
753 June 20th 1970,754 June 27th 1970,755 July 4th 1970,756 July 11th 1970,
757 July 18th 1970,758 July 25th 1970,759 August 1st 1970 ,760 August 8th 1970,
761 August 15th 1970,762 August 22nd 1970,763 August 29th 1970,764 September 5th 1970,
765 September 12th 1970,766 September 19th 1970,767 September 26th 1970,
768 October 3rd 1970,769 October 10th 1970,770 October 17th 1970,772 October 31st 1970
774 November 14th 1970,775 November 21st 1970,776 November 28th 1970,
777 December 5th 1970,780 December 26th 1970,782 January 9th 1971,783 January 16th 1971,
784 January 23rd 1971,786 February 6th 1971,787 February 13th 1971,
788 February 20th 1971,789 Feb 27th 1971,791 March 13th 1971,792 March 20th 1971,
793 March 27th 1971,794 April 3rd 1971,795 April 10th 1971,796 April 17th 1971,
797 April 24th 1971,801 May 22nd 1971,815 August 28th 1971,816 September 4th 1971,
821 October 9th 1971,832 Christmas 1971,833 January 1st 1972

The Main Players

2010-01-16T20:46:00.033Z

Ginger
Drawn by Dudley Watkins from 1956 until 1969. Ginger starred on the front cover for eight months in 1956 and returned to the cover in 1964. He was very similar to 'Oor Wullie' only taller and without the Scottish accent. Ginger had no special powers and he wasn't particularly badly behaved but at least he wasn't an anthropomorphic character like those that graced the covers of 'The Beano', 'The Dandy' and 'The Topper'.

Each of Watkins' Ginger strips started with Ginger getting out of bed, and ended with him getting back in it at the end of the day. This detail was dropped when McGrath took over, and while Jimmy Glen occasionally made use of this device, it tended to be more in relation to the storyline rather than a visual device.

Ginger actually grew older as the strip went on, though only until he became a teenager, which he remained as for the rest of the strip's life. In 1970 illustration of the strip was taken over Bob McGrath
The Badd Ladds

Fingers, Knuck and Boss were inept crooks. Always getting caught, escaping jail and then finding themselves incarcerated again. Fingers was your quintessentual spiv with the pencil thin mousthache, Knuck was the thick set, soft goon and Boss was the short but smart brains of the outfit. 'The Badd Ladds' was illustrated by the superb Mal Judge from January 19671 through to 1987. Later artists who worked on the strip were John Dallas, Mervyn Johnston and John Geering.

The Jellymen

The Jellymen were grey, five-legged humanoids who had suckers instead of hands. These suckers produced giant bubbles that could solidify and imprison humans. Science teacher “Potassium” Roberts knew of a chemical that would dissolve the incredibly strong “prisons” and with six of his students he set about releasing entrapped people and foiling the Jellymens' plans for world domination. The story was illustrated by Ken Hunter and it was reprinted in 1970.
Smiffy
Scruffy urchin; the product of his own upbringing. His parents were every bit as scruffy as he was and did nothing to smarten him up or keep him away from junkyards and backstreets. Although he was always getting into scraps and scrapes he was well meaning and resourceful, always finding a way to make an extra bob or two.

The strip was illustrated by Bill Ritchie and ran from 1968-1988.

Pop, Dick and Harry
Dick and Harry were always unkind to their fat but otherwise harmless oaf of a Dad. Twins, Dick and Harry, sported the most ridiculous hairstyles ever seen in a comic strip (not dissimilar to Mike Scores' of A Flock of Seagulls). They always made the most unreasonable demands on their poor father. Of course in every case he could never deliver and so the twins would always go ahead and do their own thing. For example, in one episode when they asked for a swimming pool and poor Pop explained that he couldn't afford one, they simply dug a crater in the garden and syphoned off the water supplies from all other houses in the neighbourhood. Invariably they would triumph though never deservedly so. The strip was drawn by Tom Bannister until 1981.

The Numskulls

Forget what you were taught in biology; according to the Beezer the human body is controlled by small people who live inside every one of us. The strip concentrated on beings who lived inside a man's head called the Numskulls. The man was never named, but the Numskulls referred to him as "our Man". There were six Numskulls, Brainy, who controlled the brain, Blinky guided the man with a steering wheel while looking through his huge eyes, luggy controlled the hearing and Alf and Fred worked in the mouth where they shovelled food down a hatch. Mal Judge drew the strip from March 1962 until September 1990.

Colonel Blink

Colonel Blink first appeared in November 1958. The strip was drawn by Tom Bannister for the majority of its run, with a few later strips being drawn by Bill Ritchie in the same style as Bannister.
He was disastrously short-sighteded and yet incredibly stubborn, utterly convinced at all times that he was heading in the right direction. With the usual comic disregard for foolish internal consistencies, every other story involved his driving down the road in an old, clapped out banger. He lived with an ever-patient "Auntie," who acted as housekeeper, and who, despite her name looked considerably younger than the Colonel. He had a dog called "Rover" who needed to be even more patient as he's often mistaken for lions, bears, rugs or insurance salesmen. His next door neighbour was called Cartright who was often the innocent victim of some misunderstanding or other.

The Banana Bunch

Brainy, Dopey, Lanky, Thatch, Titch and Fatty, collectively known as the 'Banana Bunch', lived out every kid's dream. Although they wore their school uniforms, we never saw them go to schoool. Instead they ate, slept and hung out in their wooden hideout in the woods. They were constantantly at war with Milligan's gang who lived in another hideout in the same woods but who were altogether a scruffier lot. Every meal the Banana Bunch ate was like a banquet and where they got their copious amounts of food from was never explained. Leo Baxendale drew the strip from 1956-1964 and from 1964-1987 it was drawn by Bill Hill.

Baby Crockett

One of the longest running comic strips that ran from the Beezer 34 (September 1956) t0 Beezer 1809 (September 1990). Baby Crockett also appeared in young children's comic 'Bimbo' from 1961-1972 and its successor Little Star 1972-1976. In both cases the strip was drawn by Bill Ritchie. Baby Crockett himself being a character derived from the earlier 'Wee Fella'; a strip drawn by Davy Law for Thomson's magazine/newspaper, 'The Peoples Journal' from 20.04.1946 to 6.02.1954

The History of 'The Beezer'

2010-01-16T17:02:00.005Z

From 1956-1981 the Beezer was a large format (tabloid newspaper/A3 sized) weekly British comic published by D.C Thomson in Dundee. Along with its sister comic the Topper it dominated the comic stands from the late 50's to early 80's until it was cut down to A4 size. For many years the comic retained a charming consistency. Fantastic artists like Dudley.D.Watkins, Bill Ritchie,Leo Baxendale and Mal Judge contributed to the comic. The characters rarely changed and when you opened up the comic every week you knew exactly on what page they were going to be. Sadly, when it was shrunk in size, alot of the original artists left and the characters and formats changed. The Beezer continued until 1990 when, after merging with the Topper, it eventually was incorporated into the Beano. This blog is solely devoted to the glory years of the Beezer when quality, style, consistency and above all size mattered.