Raymond Sheppard and the Girl Annuals #1-3

Hulton Press had a runaway success with their Eagle comic and felt that they should produce a girl's comic.  On 2 November 1951 the first issue of Girl was published and it ran until 3 October 1964 when it merged, in that typically British way, into Princess. By that time the cover photographs were of the burgeoning pop scene and on the 26 September 1964, for example, the Beatles appeared.

Emulating the Eagle, Girl also had accompanying annuals and Hulton's annuals are my favourites. As a child I hated the annual versions of the comic strips I enjoyed in my weekly comic (TV21, in my case) that appeared in the annuals and always found them disappointing. But even today I love looking through the Hulton family annuals. In the usual fashion, the annuals came out in the preceding year (i.e. in August/September 1952, the 1953 annual would appear in shops).

Raymond Sheppard contributed to six of the Girl annuals from 1953 to 1958 illustrating various stories and features. 

GIRL ANNUAL #1 [1953]
"Blizzard" by Rosemary Garland

Patsy really loved horses p. 44
Girl stands in stable doorway feeding horse by hand

Bill prodded the horse again and again  p. 45
 Man prods horse with pitchfork while girl on roof watches

He took the jumps with splendid gusto  p. 47
Man on horse jumps hedge with white horse with reins attached

I had a look at Garland's output and found the following which I assume to be the same author.

• 366 dreamtime stories    London : Hodder and Stoughton, 1976.
• A swarm in June    H. Hamilton, 1957.
• Adventuring with Brindle, H. Hamilton, 1963.
• Adventuring with Brindle ... Illustrated by Constance Marshall. (Second edition.).    Hamish Hamilton: London, 1964.
• Aladdin's magic lamp and other tales.    London : Young World Productions, (1964)
• Cherry goes to play school. Harrap, 1968.
• Donkey boy. H. Hamilton, 1958.
• Glass. London : Educational supply Association, 1952.
• Gulliver's travels. London : Young World Productions, (1964)
• Lighthouses. ([With illustrations including] drawings by F.W. Wentworth-Sheilds.). London, 1961.
• My bedtime book of two-minute stories. [with Tony Escott; Sally Wellman]. New York, Grosset & Dunlap [ 1969]
• Reading with Winnie-the-Pooh : material is derived from the Winnie-the-Pooh books written by A.A. Milne. London : Nelson, [1966]
• Robin Hood, London, Young World Productions (1964)
• Sing a song of everything, [with Mirko HanaÌk]    London, New York, P. Hamlyn [1968]
• The canary shop H. Hamilton, 1960.
• The country bus    .  H. Hamilton, 1960.
• The little forest. H. Hamilton, 1959.
• The mystery of Misty Creek. Ward, Lock, 1956.
• The secret curtains Harrap, 1959.
• The smiling sun : poems Hamlyn, 1961.
• Two-minute stories. New York, Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, 1969.
• Whirling Blue H. Hamilton, 1957.

GIRL ANNUAL #2 [1954]
"The King loses his crown" by Arthur Catherall

[No caption] p. 73
Girl below ledge watches 6 horses race past

King's eyes were rolling, but Tim hung on  p.75
Boy holds tight to lasso as girl watches

He lashed out with his hind hoofs, p.77Man kicked as boy holds lasso and girl (with back to us) screams and waves

Catherall was a British author who lived from 1906-1980 and apparently wrote under seven pseudonyms! His output appears at odds with writing a horse story in a Girl Annual until one sees one of his pseudonyms was Margaret Ruthin.

GIRL ANNUAL #3 [1955]

[Title page, p.3]
Show jumper comes over brick wall jump at show

"Clear round: Meet Pat Smythe, Britain's leading horsewoman" by  Kenneth Wheeler

[No caption] p. 33
Portrait of Pat Smythe

Pat and 'Price Hal' take a fence in magnificent style p.34(a)
Near side view of jump over striped poles and small brick wall 

Pat Smythe turned 'Tosca' into a champion in one year p.34
Back view of show jumper and picket fence jump

Young people from all over the world come to stay with Pat at Miserden House, p.35
Four children and two horses stand around  and a woman pats a greyhound

"The story of Britain's ponies" by Frank Jordan

[No caption], p.100
Three men mounted chasing herding horses and ponies

Time was when ponies in their thousands roamed the wilds of Dartmoor, p.101
Six ponies traipse through water

Some boys and girls are lucky enough to own a Fell or Forest pony, p.102
Girl mounted on pony heads towards reader down a lane

The little Shetland ponies are beloved of children and grown ups alike, 103
Girl and Mum stroke adult and small Shetland

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Sheppard's work appeared in the Annuals for 1956, 1957 and 1958, the year in which he died, which will feature in the next blog article.