Saturday 17 March 2007

Dewy-eyed nostalgia



Simmy's comment below got me digging out my old copies of The Book or Prayers, which is where I think the "yellow umbrella in April shower" picture comes from. Looking through the revised version of this and other prayer books is a striking reminder of how Ladybird images toughened up as the 1960s turned into the 1970s.

Gone is the soft-focus, pastel-hued world of sparkling kitchens and happy Doris-Day mothers greeting tweedy trilby-wearing Cary-Grant Daddies as they come home from the 9.00-5.00 in the office. The cherubic children flinging themseleves into parental arms before rushing off to help with the housework also disappear.

Did society really change so much at this point? Or did it just take Ladybird an awfully long time to get with the beat?

No comments: