This week’s Ladybird Tuesday looks back at a book that was originally featured over on Being Mrs C – The Story of Newspapers.
The story of Newspapers is the sort of Ladybird book that I really love. It really shows its age, yet I love that glimpse into this frozen period of time. Published in 1969 this book explains how newspapers came into being and also how they were produced and run at the time of publication.
It’s fair to say that the newspaper industry has changed a crazy amount since this book was published. Broadsheet newspapers have slimmed down, internet based news has changed how newspapers work, there are daily freebie papers available across the country and then there’s all the more recent news surrounding the Leveson Inquiry and the closure of the News of the World. Whilst some things have stayed the same, it’s fair to say that you could easily fill another Ladybird book with changes that have taken place.
All the illustrations in The Story of Newspapers are done by Ron Embleton and they are beautifully detailed, having a great 60s look about them. They all seem to really easily take the reader back to that time.
The one above showing the Evening Standard being delivered to a London street corner really does just speak volumes to me of London rush hour back then.
As was the case with many Ladybird books from this era there is a clear reflection of what the role of women at the time was. This meeting if newspaper management deciding what should be going in the next morning’s edition features just one woman and it’s pretty clear that she’s there as a secretary, rather than an editor.
There’s one thing that’s a bit strange with this particular Ladybird book though – you don’t see many children’s books with a copy of Playboy on the front cover, but if you look closely below that’s exactly what there is!
Now, I’m told (not being an expert on this subject myself!) that Playboy was a different kind of publication in those days – possibly more like GQ today – but I can’t say that that stops me being surprised though.
Ladybird Tuesday is a regular feature here on Penny Reads where I delve into my Ladybird book collection and choose a title to share with my readers. The weekly series originally started on my old blog, Being Mrs C, and this post originally appeared on there. I’m now in the process of moving all those posts over to Penny Reads and also adding titles that I have acquired since then. A list is currently being compiled here of all the titles I have in my collection.
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