Girl with a monocle

[Marionette]

A friend of mine was asking about a comic character. All the information I could glean was that she wears a monocle, may be in the fourth form, and was considered to be an extraordinary person by her peers. Possibly from the fifties or sixties.

Any ideas?

[Tammyfan]

I think you have to glean more information about this character because it looks like nobody has any idea. I certainly don't.

[Marionette]

That was really all she could tell me. There can't be that many monocle-wearing girls in British comics, surely?

I'll ask again, but I doubt I'll get anything more useful.

[philcom55]

...If there wasn't such a character (and I can't think of one myself) somebody really ought to invent her retroactively!

- Phil R.

[Marionette]

...If there wasn't such a character (and I can't think of one myself) somebody really ought to invent her retroactively!

- Phil R.

Once you hear about it, it's one of those ideas that's such a good fit that it seems obvious.

[Tammyfan]

Maybe she was one of those characters from the funnies or a funny regular cartoon character in a girls' comic (cf Do-it-yourself-Dot, Toots or Mighty Mo)? From the description, she ought to be!

[Tammyfan]

That was really all she could tell me. There can't be that many monocle-wearing girls in British comics, surely?

I'll ask again, but I doubt I'll get anything more useful.

We also have to bear in mind how accurate this person's memory is. It is possible that the recollection is confused or distorted.

[colcool007]

I hate to say it, but I vaguely recall such a character. Perhaps it was reprinted or I am suffering from false memory syndrome!

I think the character was a sort of guru to the year and would dispense useful information.

I do warn you that my memory could be playing tricks on me.

[Tammyfan]

I hate to say it, but I vaguely recall such a character. Perhaps it was reprinted or I am suffering from false memory syndrome!

I think the character was a sort of guru to the year and would dispense useful information.

I do warn you that my memory could be playing tricks on me.

You mean, a bit like Specky Hector from Buster who would give us doses of comic book history?

[Bunty Girl]

Hi, I have been reading the forums for a while but decided to register and post a reply as I think I might know the answer to this one.

Could it be Jemima Carstairs of the Fourth Form at Cliff House School (the Bessie Bunter stories)? It is a bit earlier than the fifties but there may have been reprints. She was a star character of the pre-war School Friend and later The Schoolgirl story paper. Jemima had an Eton-crop hair-do, wore a monocle and assumed an inane manner to conceal a razor-sharp mind.

She first appeared in School Friend in December 1925 and was around until the wartime paper shortage killed off The Schoolgirl in 1940.

I think a monocled schoolgirl character would seem very old fashioned in the fifties or sixties, so perhaps it is a dim and distant memory of Jemima.

[Marionette]

Thanks so much! That fits everything I was told (except the date, which was a bit vague). I shall happily pass on the information.

[philcom55]

That sounds spot on Bunty Girl! Interesting to see such a positive character portrayed in that way since monocled women seem to have been more commonly used as a shorthand for contemporary notions of decadence and sexual deviancy - typified by images of Radclyffe Hall and Sylvia von Harden.



- Phil R.

[Bunty Girl]

Glad to be able to help. Marionette's friend (and others) may be interested in the Friardale website which is devoted to the old story papers of pre-comic days. There are lots of Cliff House School stories available to read online and loads of other stuff too. I get hours of fun from this site.

http://www.friardale.co.uk/Story%20Papers.htm

[Phoenix]

Here are three more pictures of Jemima Carstairs, which appeared on free gifts, 16-page booklets that the girls had to make for themselves by cutting the pages out of larger pages, and then folding them as instructed. I have over 50 different ones that I got as a job lot in an eBay auction about six or seven years ago. Most of the early ones had the then well-known friends and classmates dispensing knowledge, suggestions and advice in roughly equal measure. These are some of the titles:- Leila Carroll's Book Of Names, Mabel Lynn's Book Of Party Games, Barbara Redfern's Book Of Etiquette, Bessie Bunter's Dream Book, Clara Trevlyn's Book For Girl Guides, Stella Stone's Book For Pet Owners, and Marjorie Hazeldene's Book Of Needlework.

[philcom55]

Fantastic! It strikes me that Jemima is a far better candidate for revival than Six Gun Gorilla ever was. Did anybody ever write 'whatever happened to' stories speculating on the later lives of Bessie and her classmates? I can't help feeling that Jemima would have made an excellent head of MI5!

- Phil Rushton