Manners maketh the man: Correspondence

Manners and etiquette with regard to young ladies was high on a young gentleman's agenda.

ETIQUETTE – 1. Pray take your hat off every time you see the lady. It is a graceful exercise and it keeps the head cool. 2. It is not an invariable nor desirable custom to grunt out “granted” when your pardon is begged; but it is considered civil to say something pleasantly as a sign that the apology is appreciated, and that there is nothing much amiss after all.
(SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1886)

WOULD LIKE TO KNOW. – Take your hat off to the lady each time you meet her. The interval that has elapsed makes no difference in the mark of respect you should pay to her.
(SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1886)

Correspondence: Debts, the Queen and Crape

An interesting reply here revealing that the Boy's Own Paper would receive several varied enquiries from curious boys.

W.C.N. – 1.No man’s debts are paid by his staying away from a town, and no man with any sense of honour would think of doing such a thing. 2.The name of Her Majesty was the same after her marriage as it was before, as the slightest knowledge of history would have told you. 3.We really cannot decide questions as to the amount of crape you should wear for your grandmother.(SATURDAY, JULY 23, 1887)

Louis Wain: Boy's Own Illustrator

The artist Louis Wain - famous for his pictures of cats - was a regular illustrator in the early years of the Boy's Own Paper. Some of these pictures are less well known than his later works, some don't even feature cats! In later years Louis is believed to have developed schizophrenia and his pictures became in many cases what we would today think of as psychedelic (well, I would, but I know precious little about art).

Anyway, here I present some Boy's Own works of Louis Wain.

Weird Correspondence: Madness and Dogs

A. B. A. – Banish madness from your mind and leave the dog alone.
(SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1886)

Naturalist's Shop, Plymouth: Correspondence

RATS (Large Rat). – What an awfully (!) long letter. Boys would greatly consult their own interest by studying brevity and coming to the point at once, and not writing in pencil. Write to Sumner, 135 Oxford Street. We are astonished there is no naturalist’s shop in Plymouth.(SATURDAY, JUNE 11, 1892)

Explosive Correspondence

You probably won't believe this, but this is advice given to teenagers in the 1890's in a popular publication.

ELECTRICITY (A. Beynon). – 1. You can ignite gunpowder etc. by using an induction coil which is made to give a spark, and so arranging the wires from the ends of the coil that the spark must pass across the gunpowder. Or, if you have two insulated wires, one point on one side of the gunpowder and the point of the other coming down to the other side, and connect one wire to the ball of a charged Leyden jar, on bringing the end of the other wire to the outer coating of the jar the spark will pass between the other ends of the wires and light the gunpowder between them….
(SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1891)

Gordon Stables

To describe Gordon Stables and his contribution to Boy's Own Paper in a brief way is an impossible task. This Scottish eccentric was integral to its character throughout the Victorian period. When BOP began in 1879, Stables was already a published author (Jungle, Peak and Plain). The man was irrepressibly versatile, his contributions to the paper included medical advice (also to the sister paper, Girl's Own), fiction tales, articles on pets, factual articles giving moral guidance; but most distinctive of all were his uniquely forthright and often caustic replies to readers in the BOP Correspondence section. For a fuller appreciationof his personality go to our Correspondence page and you will find most of the replies on matters of health and appearance are his.

Doctor Gordon Stables studied medicine at Aberdeen University, yet during this time was trapped on a whaling brig threatened by pack-ice. Reported lost, he returned to find his family still mourning his death. Following University, Stables became a qualified surgeon with the Royal Navy. His time tavelling the world informed his adventure stories bringing added realism. After less than ten years service he was finished with the Navy, invalided out due to "jungle fever."*

In time Gordon Stables settled down and used his expert knowledge in dogs to support them, rising to the giddy heights of Kennel Editor of the Livestock Journal. His love of writing meant that he developed non-fiction about his passions with titles like Our Friend the Dog.

Dr James Macaulay, first editor of Boy's Own Paper, was a friend of Stables from earlier times and introduced him to his assistant Hutchison who was drawn in by recollections of life on a whaling vessel. It was within a short time that this was published as an adventure filled serial The Cruise of the Snowbird, and a career with BOP had begun.

Wherever Stables went - he was much travelled - he promoted the ideals of Boy's Own and would make no secret of his involvement. His love of travel sent him tricycling through Scotland and touring Britain in what was reputed to be the first purchase of a commercially built, all purpose caravan. After a prolific 30 years writing for the BOP, Gordon Stables died at his family home in Twyford in 1910.

Science Correspondence

Dear Editor

If there was no atmosphere would we still be able to see the sun?

W. H. G. – If the earth’s atmosphere were removed the sun would still illuminate a hemisphere – but there would be no one here to see it.
(SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1886)

Pets Correspondence: Goldfish, hawks.

R.E. – 1. Keep your goldfish in a regular aquarium with water-plants; you may give tiny worms now and then, or meat shredded very small, insects, etc. 2. We will not tell you how to train your hawk to catch birds; it is cruel in the extreme.
(SATURDAY, APRIL 16, 1887)

Editors of the Boy's Own Paper

James Macaulay (Ed. 1879 - 1897)
The first editor, Dr. James Macaulay was a fairly old gentleman when appointed. At the age of sixty-two he took a senior, father-figure role within the organisation and retained his position until 1897 when he retired. He had previously worked on other Religious Tract Society publications Leisure Hour and Sunday At Home. Fortunately he was assisted by the more than able George Andrew Hutchison who was both assistant and acting editor during Macaulay's tenure at the helm.

George Andrew Hutchison (Sub Ed. and Acting Ed. 1879-1897, Ed. 1897-1912, Consulting Ed. 1912-1913)
Hutchison became BOP acting editor at the age of thirty-seven was already an experienced printer and practical editor. Working on the Social Science Review when only twenty-four he developed warm friendships with doctors and medical workers which were to prove useful in future work with the Boy's Own publication. When assuming his role with the BOP he already had twelve years under his belt working as editor of Dr. Barnardo's magazine, Night and Day.

A family man and member of the Baptist church, Hutchison displayed a practical outlook and much good sense. He was actively supported by his wife Elizabeth who, on occasion would handle as many as 400 letters in a week from readers anxious for answers within the paper's Correspondence section.

The last editor of BOP, Jack Cox, wrote of Hutchison:

This kindly, stocky man, spectacled and bearded, quiet and unassuming, yet a speaker of rare quality vibrating with enthusiasm, was the foundation of the BOP's success. He set tremendously high standards for succeeding editors to follow...He knew how to attract authors. Writers who could write did so gladly, however modest the fees, and the magazine flourished...In my opinion his sheer versatility and capacity for work dazzled people who had no experience of the demands and pressures of Fleet Street, pressures based on the intensity of the competition and the need to make publishing pay.*

In 1912 the Religious Tract Society appointed a younger man Arthur Lincoln Haydon to the role of Editor and Hutchison, now aged seventy was made Consulting Editor. Within a year "Hutch" as he was affectionately known, had died, still working on the morning of his death.

When writing of the BOP under Hutchison, Jack Cox said it was a "paper of character." Whether displaying works of famous contributors or anonymous works all were "subordinate to the paper itself."*

Correspondence: The Benefits of Cycling

CYCLING (F.J. Gardner). – Cycling in moderation is perhaps the best exercise out or in, if you sit erect on your machine and not lean your chin on the steering bar, squatting like a cat on a garden wall. Such a position results in rolled shoulders, contracted chests, and general ill-health.
(SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1891)

Today's Correspondence

The B.O.P. seem to have often been a source of careers advice, especially if this meant entry into the services, the Navy being the most sought after branch (developing from their nautical hobbies no doubt).

M.S.N. – If a correspondent asks for the nearest marine office of any other office, and does not give his address, his letter is not answered. Your present letter has no address; probably your former letter was on the same plan? Perhaps you will send a third and ask how we are to tell you the nearest place to nowhere!
(SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 1887)

A short history (continued)

Popularity
Selling at just a penny, and "selling like hot-cakes" the BOP was trumping its less respected rivals, but what made it so popular? With an original intention to contain strong moral and religious guidance, one would hardly expect such a powerful impact on young people. A major player in the success of the paper was its "acting editor," George Andrew Hutchison (1841-1913) who when appointed stated that it would do well as long as it "appealed to boys and not their grandmothers." Although eschewing the "pernicious literature" of the penny dreadful and answering to a deeply Christian commitee, Hutchison managed to publish many pieces of outrageous and sensational fiction. For example, the two part adventure Nearly Eaten appeared in March, 1884, a tale of a kindly professor replete with butterfly net escaping from a tribe of cannibalistic Voodoo lovers.

Endurance
The BOP went from strength to strength through the Victorian and Edwardian period up to the First World War (1914-18) and had an offspring in the shape of Girl's Own Paper. The initial BOP had advertising on its outer covers and page one as well as containing a masthead, designed by Edward Whymper, featured the main fiction serial and an illustration. Every year an annual compilation of all 52 weeklies could be purchased with the addition of several beautiful colour plates. Many children created the annuals themselves, buying large binders from the publishers and still having the opportunity to buy the additional plates. Seasonal special editions were released in the Summer and at Christmas all maintaining the winning formula of fiction, non-fiction,competitions and correspondence. In the 20th century the BOP started to have full page illustrated front covers reflecting interests, values and the British Empire.

Correspondence

Many boys would hear tales from afar believing them to be true. Sometimes the BOP could dispell these myths. Here they wryly appear to confirm an erroneous belief, but end their reply with tongue firmly in cheek.

H. LOWE. – See No. 392. The longest shark known to exist is the Rhinodon, which is seventy feet long. Your friend must be careful; sharks able to throw ships over have not yet been discovered. It is however, a fact that sharks will follow a ship on board of which there is a dead body; but then, they often follow a ship on board of which there is none.
(SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 1887)

Short History of BOP continued

The BOP is Born
On Saturday, January 18th, 1879, a new magazine appeared on the railway bookstalls of WH Smith and Son. The Boy's Own Paper, a sixteen page publication from the RTS' London offices at Paternoster Row, with its regular format of fiction and non-fiction, pastimes, natural history and competitions quickly became a favourite with young males (many girls too). The popular paper would soon become known familiarly as the BOP, and within five years its sales would top a quarter of a million every week.

"Leave the dog alone?"

By now you are probably wondering why this site is called Leave the Dog Alone. The site itself has little relevance to dogs. The term comes from a response to a young reader of Boy's Own in the 1880's. The curious nature of replies to letters in the correspondence section of the paper is that the original letters were never printed due to lack of space. Therefore we are left to draw our own conclusions, the original entry is...

A. B. A. – Banish madness from your mind and leave the dog alone.
(SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1886)

A Short History: The Rise of the Penny Dreadful

The Rise of the Penny Dreadful

In the mid - late 1800's, the standards of literacy in Great Britain were improving following the Elementary Education Act of 1870. The act brought a basic standard of education to the majority of children. The provision of elementary schools, set up as Church schools or Board schools, was implemented guided by regional school boards.

With the spread of literacy came a demand for more reading material for young people, and concern was growing at the quality of literature being distributed. Many publications contained lurid images leaving little to the imagination, and sensationalist stories often based on real life criminals such as highwaymen or murderers. This reading matter was cheap and widely read by the masses was termed the "penny dreadful," descriptive of both price and standards. People of influence, professionals and clergy demanded that something be done about the situation.

Action took a positive course when the Religious Tract Society (RTS) was approached with the proposal of publishing a rival paper or magazine. The RTS was well established and already had a monthly publication. The periodical "conveyed instruction and amusement to many youthful minds."* Eventually, by 1879, the society were ready to unleash the Boy's Own Paper upon Great Britain and, ultimately, the Empire.

Boy's Own Paper

My name is Gavin Lockey. I'm a writer, poet and public speaker living in the South West of England.

I'd like to invite you to the world of the Boy's Own Paper, which was published for over 100 years from 1879. Within the site is a history of the BOP and sections outlining key elements of the paper, in particular through the Victorian period. You will find many original illustrations here from Boy's Own which I think reflect the wonderful content of the publication.

I give presentations on the subject of the Boy's Own Paper and will be only too happy to arrange a talk with you or your group/faculty/institution.