[crashryan]

Do you mean to tell me that girls in the US wouldn't know Baseball terminology?

I'm thinking not so much of understanding the terms as using them in casual conversation. We're talking the 1950s, when the lines between "girls' stuff" and "boys' stuff" were more rigidly drawn. To use a baseball phrase as an example, I speculate that a boy would have been more likely to say, "You really knocked it out of the park!" when praising another boy than a girl would when talking to another girl.

In the Schoolgirls' Picture Library context I was curious whether "We've got to bowl him out before he can cause more harm!" is the sort of thing that British boarding school girls would say in everyday conversation.

[Captain Audio]

Whenever I see the Totle "Schoolgirls Picture Library" I picture a disreputable looking guy in a raincoat rushing home from a magazine stand hiding said book under his coat, then being massively disapointed when he opens it.

[K1ngcat]

Christmas in the Highlands

In the matter of all Scottish inquiries I defer to our esteemed colleague paw broon. Do Scotsmen in kilts wear overcoats? What does haggis taste like? Ask the expert! Although my Father took me to visit the home of the laird of the Sutherland clan, and assured me my lineage entitled me to wear the tartan, I have no hands on experience of being a Scotsman.

I think the same applies to the writer and artist of this tedious tale, which exemplifies all that I rejected about British comics when I was a Marvel-worshipping teenager training at a London art studio. I agree that Hector has more personality than all the humans depicted herein, but I'm still not sure what breed of dog he is. Or why the picture that reveals the identity of the missing member of the Kilburnie clan has arrows and name tags attached, unless it was to cover for the inadequacies of the artist assigned.(it's okay, we can work out which one's the dog!)

It really encapsulates all the worst of UK comics at the time: the lack of imagination or inspiration in the plot and artwork, the overbearing wholesomeness, the dullness of the Black and White format, all were anathema to me at the time and to a greater extent still are. And yes, I'm as annoyed by the over-use of the word "jape" as everybody else, but I suppose the words "practical joke" were too long-winded? There's a reason Batman never had a foe called The Japer.

But (rant over) thanks for the Xmas offering, Panther. I enjoyed the Spirit sections and all the group discussion, I wait with bated breath for the next holiday selection.

All the best
K1ngcat

[Morgus]

Geez, Q-Q, I almost forgot to say how much I envy someone who gets to see vintage Eisner for the first time. You wind up looking at a LOT of mediocre stuff as the years go by, and those first occasions reading an acknowledged master should be savoured.
Lucky for us, there is lots of his work that is available at a very decent cost. Sometimes, like this site, free. MOST libraries here in Canada and the US will stock COMICS AND SEQUENTIAL ART (1985, updated 1990) A lot of it comes from articles in THE SPIRIT magazine. You get the master taking you behind the canvas as it were, to tell you how it’s done.
Which brings us to THE SPIRIT magazine by Warren. They were  the guys who brought you CREEPY and EERIE and VAMPIRELLA magazine size black and white comics mom wouldn’t let you buy. They put out a magazine size collection of The Spirit from ’74 to ’76 and finished up with a colour SPIRIT special. REASONABLY priced.
Yes, yes, Denis Kitchen put out some reprints before those started, and Harvey comics (yup, home of Casper the Friendly ghost) did the same in the 60’s. But those magazines from Warren are usually better priced and on better paper IMHO.
Okay, Denis Kitchen ran Kitchen Sink Press, made comics and picked up THE SPIRIT MAGAZiNE and ran with it until the middle 80’s. Much better paper than a typical comic. Bigger too. After that folded, Kitchen ran THE SPRIIT beginning to end in standard comic book format, until ’92. First issues are in colour.
Tip; there is a SPIRIT JAM that he made for the magazine towards the end that has contributions from 50 artists. The comic series are usually around dirt cheap.
But you can get as expensive into this as you want. Wait until you look up the recent DC reprints. Have a defibrillator ready.
The CHRISTMAS SPIRIT stories have been collected and there are lots of anthologies you can get. He had Wally Wood working for him to do THE OUTER SPACE SPIRIT and it’s amazing.
This is simplifying the man’s work, but not by much. It will allow you to get a taste of his genius and have some fun at the same time.

[The Australian Panther]

the Captain wrote;-

henever I see the Title "Schoolgirls Picture Library" I picture a disreputable looking guy in a raincoat rushing home from a magazine stand hiding said book under his coat, then being massively disapointed when he opens it. 

Try this Japanese mag.
Weekly Young Magazine
https://comicvine.gamespot.com/weekly-young-magazine-202302-03-no-2-3-2023/4000-959797/
No further comment?

[The Australian Panther]

Morgus,
my introduction to the Spirit was the two giant-size colour reprint comics that Harvey released, I think in the late  60's (?) At the same time they reprinted a Fighting American anthology, which was my introduction to that character.   

[paw broon]

The Spirit stories are so well done and hugely enjoyable.  Eisner's work is a feast for the eyes and, in these cases, a mood lifter.
The SPL has a lovely cover.  From time to time SPL came up with really good cover illos.
As for the story, well, it's pretty typical of the series and of the serials in many of the girls' comics and story papers of the time. Not sure about some of the art though.  That train, and the engine on the splash page, simply looks wrong. I have no problem with the use of jape and japers.  Not words I have often used but i accept them as my biased view is they were used by by privileged students at private school.
The haggis is a wonderful beast and I quite like a helping now and then.  Real or veggie?  Take your pick.  But I think the veggie version would be anathema to many Scots. As I also enjoy Stornoway black pudding and the occasional andouillette, I prefer the "real" haggis.
Women's cricket was a team sport in a number of British private (public) schools and nowadays women's cricket is very popular.

[crashryan]

But, Paw, you haven't addressed the most important question: do/did kilt-wearing Scots don overcoats in freezing weather or just brave the elements bare-legged?

[Robb_K]

The Spirit stories are so well done and hugely enjoyable.  Eisner's work is a feast for the eyes and, in these cases, a mood lifter.
The SPL has a lovely cover.  From time to time SPL came up with really good cover illos.
As for the story, well, it's pretty typical of the series and of the serials in many of the girls' comics and story papers of the time. Not sure about some of the art though.  That train, and the engine on the splash page, simply looks wrong. I have no problem with the use of jape and japers.  Not words I have often used but i accept them as my biased view is they were used by by privileged students at private school.
(1) The haggis is a wonderful beast and I quite like a helping now and then.  Real or veggie?  Take your pick.  But I think the veggie version would be anathema to many Scots. As I also enjoy Stornoway black pudding and the occasional andouillette, I prefer the "real" haggis.
(2) Women's cricket was a team sport in a number of British private (public) schools and nowadays women's cricket is very popular.   

(1) Having been a great fan of Carl Barks' stories, as one of my main entertainments from the age of 3, and his most memorable character, Scrooge McDuck, having haggis being the Scottish money collector's favourite main dish, I HAD to try a haggis when I first stepped on Scottish soil on a trip there in 1964.  As a voracious eater, calorie fan, and lover of rich and spicy foods, I wasn't disappointed.  My host of the bed- and-breakfast style "guest house" where I stayed was a great cook, who made a haggis especially on my request.  It was very peppery, and rich, with a lot of taste, thanks to the suet.  By the early '60s we were eating less meat fat, and so lots of food dishes were less rich.  This reminded me more of the richer foods we ate during the 1940s and earliest '50s.

(2) As for the use of Cricket, or any sports-generated phrases by young or teenaged girls, or young women, I'm a bit skeptical.  I grew up in the ice hockey-mad atmosphere of 1940s and '50s Canada, where that was the "national sport" (over Lacrosse and curling), and was almost a "national pastime", similar to baseball's position in USA, and football (soccer) in The UK.  There were a lot less passive, and probably active entertainment alternatives back then, and so those national pastime sports had more impact and influence on popular culture than any individual sport or activity can possibly have now.  So, mothers and girls would have had a lot more exposure to those Number One sports, their teams, players, coaches, and even terminology of the game, even if the, themselves, didn't play the game.  I still have my doubts that more than a few, tomboy types, only among the upper class, private(public) school girls, who had the opportunity to play Cricket, actually used phrases generated from the technical aspects of that game, in regular daily speech, especially among themselves.  They might have used a few in jest or in jibes, when talking to boy cricket players, but otherwise, it seems not a thing girls do, in my experience.

In Canada, back in my youth, most of the boys played some form of youth hockey.  So, their entire families were automatically involved in that sport.  In addition, the fathers and boys were big fans of, at least, their local Juniors level team (ages 17 to 20), which was the highest pre-professional level, and virtually semi-professional at its highest playing level. And most of the male family members, and some mothers and daughters, as well, were fans of the local or nearest professional teams.  So, the female members of families had a lot of exposure to the sport.  in the 1950s, there were already a few ice hockey leagues for girls.  But they were only made up of tomboy-types, and the daughters of youth hockey coaches, or girls who had a lot of brothers, and played a lot shinny and pond hockey pick-up games, or their family had a backyard rink, like we did.

So, with all those possibilities of picking up hockey technical knowledge and terms, and watching their brothers and cousins play, and listening to "Hockey Night in Canada" on the radio, and watching it later, on TV, girls and young women had lots of chances to learn hockey terminology and cultural phrases that came from it.  Yet I don't remember any girls using hockey-generated phrases in normal conversations with each other.  And only remember a few using them for making a joke or jibe at a boy or young man, who was a hockey player, or big fan.  Or, they picked up a phrase from mass media, like "Keep your stick on the ice", which was the "calling card" of Red Green, who, in his TV show, played a Western Canadian, irreverent, clever, fun-poking, but lazy and incompetent pseudo back-country resident, who makes fun of the local hicks.  And even when girls DO use such a phrase, I'm guessing that it would only be directed at males, rather than when among even their hockey (or analogous cricket) teammates. 
In fact, I can't remember any of my sisters and female cousins, who played hockey on our rink, and who went to see their kin play official games, or sat and listened to the radio or watched TV games with the family, and knew the game well, and its terminology, and even phrases that crept into the general popular culture, ever using any of those phrases in conversation among the family or elsewhere.

I suspect that situation is similar with female cricket players.  Just an instinctive guess, that unless they are lifelong, dedicated olympics-level players, girls and women aren't likely to have that be such a pervasive priority in their lives to manifest that kind of impact on their normal speech.

[K1ngcat]

Morgus,
my introduction to the Spirit was the two giant-size colour reprint comics that Harvey released, I think in the late  60's (?) At the same time they reprinted a Fighting American anthology, which was my introduction to that character.

My introduction to the Spirit was through IW, an issue featuring Mr Carrion and Dr Scalpel, those typically Eisner tales where the Spirit is an incidental character in his own adventures. But after that, as I tried desperately to find more Spirit stories, I was very glad to discover the two Harvey reprint compilations (and the Fighting American anthology that you mention, another landmark find!). The only part I ever took issue with was Eisner's new contribution, the origin of the Octopus as Zitzbath Zark. I'm still not sure I'm buying that, but I know he meant well! 

All the best
K1ngcat

[crashryan]

My introduction to The Spirit was through Jules Feiffer's The Great Comic Book Heroes. Feiffer really talked up The Spirit though as I recall (I haven't read the book in half a century) he made a couple of comments that confused me. I remember something about The Spirit never wearing socks. The sample story Feiffer reprinted was interesting but I couldn't figure the character out. Some time later I saw the second IW Spirit reprint [the so-called #12; we have it here], with a cover showing The Spirit hefting a robot. The inside stories were from the pedestrian non-Eisner period. Some decent drawing but hardly unique. I wasn't impressed and I wondered what the fuss was about. Then the two Harvey giants came out and I understood. "The Lorelei of Odyssey Road" knocked me out, but "Ten Minutes" completely sold me. It still stands as one of the best comic book short stories I've ever read. The second Harvey issue had a double whammy of "Plaster of Paris" and "The Barber," another superb short short. And then nothing. I had to wait years for reprints to start dribbling out.

[Robb_K]

The Christmas Spirit 1940 - Minneapolis Star Journal
I like this short story about "The Christmas Spirit" filling even the hearts of normally badly-behaved, negatively, antisocial, amoral criminals, to let them take a holiday off from crime, so that normal crime-fighters, like The Spirit, can also enjoy the holiday, not being needed for his normal work.  It is a clever way to sneak in a completely positive story for the readers around Christmas Time (when all people should, by being kind and considerate to all others, should, by doing that, realize that they should behave like that EVERY day of each year.

Eisner packed a lot into these 7 pages, by using three tiers of 3-Panel lines, totalling 54 panels - the equivalent of 9 pages of normal 3-Tier format.  For this lighthearted holiday story, he made his crooks petty thieves, rather than evil, hardened, violent dangerous gangster types.  So, they fit in well with his having them change their normal behaviour for this holiday story.  It was clever too, too connect their crime of depriving kiddies (like the bulk of this series' readership) from experiencing one of the major joys of this holiday - receiving gifts from generous, loving people.  So, by having these normally mean and sad characters experience the joy of giving, and having the joy of receiving handed back to the normally unremembered, unloved and forgotten receivers, the reader gets the subconscious feeling that maybe the two crooks will NOT go back to their sad, mean and selfish lives, and that maybe if enough selfish people, overburdened by the trials of life could experience such an epiphany, there is yet hope for The World.

It's a bit preachy, but more tolerable, expected, and even desired at this time of year, as a break from all the normally hard-edged entertainment.  The artwork is top-notch, and a little more comical than normal, and the colouring is excellent (to my taste) - bright and cheerful.  Eisner's attempt at tying to tie the regular characters into The Spirit's example of why he doesn't need to work on Christmas Eve (the story of the two redeemed crooks) by using the gift-giving party, is weak, as it seems out of place and just thrown in.  And I agree that the boxing kangaroo is too strong an idea, bringing too much curiosity about what will happen when Ellen opens the crate and let's the kangaroo out, which will immediately take the reader out of reflecting upon the story he or she just finished reading.  Denny Colt given Ellen a boxing kangaroo as her new bodyguard is a great idea, which is good enough to spawn a series of stories featuring her getting into trouble because of that Australian boxer.  Maybe he gets jealous when she is in the company of other males?

The Christmas Spirit 1941- Parkchester Review
This story about Three Tramps, but mainly the downtrodden, hardened, driven to crime, King Hobo, is similar, and yet different enough from the previous year's Christmas story, to be interesting.  Eisner's tying Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to the original Christmas story, along with it's well-known steel industry (main reason for the town's existence), and to guns made of steel, is an interesting added touch.  I like the added old-fashioned atmosphere produced introduced by the old-fashioned print font, and poetic style of the old-fashioned 1700s style English, used by the narrator.  And the story about Angroff, the military conquering dictator (obviously a shot at a poorly-disguised Adolf Hitler) becoming redeemed, is interesting, too.  And using that as a story told to King Hobo, ties the three-level, overall Spirit story connections together.  This one also has a preachy tinge to it.  But works, just the same, for the same reasons.  And the similarity of Angroff's desire as a youngster to be a street fiddler, but being kept from doing so by circumstances, to Adolf Hitler's wanting to become a great artist and being turned down by Vienna's prestigious art academy, is an added evidence of to whom this story of redemption points.  IF an evil character like Hitler, one of the most despised and feared characters in World History, can be redeemed, there is sill hope for Mankind.

Schoolgirls' Picture Library 40 - Christmas in The Highlands
This even more lighthearted story provides a break from the slightly preachy Spirit stories, although it has its own problems of being a little too obvious with pablum like "wholesomeness", attempting to appear like a crime mystery, and yet, having no real criminal.  This is very typical of the normal British Schoolgirl's Picture Library stories, not just their special Christmas Holiday editions.  The artwork on this one is good enough(not exceptional), and very pleasant to look at.  But the characters are VERY superficial, especially for a long 64-Page story.  And the attempt to manufacture a crime, criminal, and bad feelings among a family, when there is really none of that, and it is all based on a set of coincidences, and resultant misunderstandings, is easily seen through by the reader. 

The key problem is that the young man, Angus, would-be villain, and Morag's cousin, is so young, handsome, innocent, and friendly-looking, that the reader automatically KNOWS, without a doubt, that he cannot be the villain.  So, it is obvious that either there is no villain, or someone else stole the jewels.  But, as there are no clues given to the reader leading even to the possibility of there being someone else well into the story, as is normal for mystery story writers, it is obvious to the reader that the loss of the jewels was caused by circumstances, coincidences, and there was no robbery.

Hector's breed appears to me as not a pure breed, but a mixture of a type of Bloodhound, and another breed or two.

As to the men being bare-legged in sub-freezing temperatures, I tend to agree that they wouldn't have wanted to be outside in that wet and windy Scottish Highlands air in such cold for very long.  And I'm from sub-Arctic, Manitoba.  In that casual, non-formal, non official atmosphere, of The Kilburnie family, there was no need for them to do so.  Also, having been inside some old castles in Scotland in winter, and experienced that damp cold, outside of the main heated rooms, I doubt that they would walk around like that even inside, unless they had central heating which was warm enough to heat the entire inside area.  But to do that, the rooms nearest the source would be wayyyy too hot for me, even with no clothes on.  Believe me, I've experienced such terrible heat in mid winter in other peoples large homes (especially down in The USA, where they keep the insides of their homes, much much hotter than most Canadians do).  Ha ha!  That reminds me of when I lived in Eccles in Lancashire for a short while, and had to pop another half crown into my flat's heater pay box, to keep the inside temperature in my bedroom enough above freezing for me to get out from under my stack of blankets to go to the loo. 

[The Australian Panther]

Robb, excellent and thought-provoking review.

And the attempt to manufacture a crime, criminal, and bad feelings among a family, when there is really none of that, and it is all based on a set of coincidences, and resultant misunderstandings, is easily seen through by the reader.

In my life experience, the creation of rifts in a family, more often than not  can be traced to just that kind of 'coincidence and resultant misunderstandings' 
The missing, presumed stolen, object is what Hitchcock called a Macguffin.

The MacGuffin is an element which orders the structure of the narrative and motivates the characters to indulge in their activities on screen. Its presence ensures the Aristotelian continuity in narrative action and provides a causal link between corresponding events. However, the significance of the ‘MacGuffin’ is played down by Hitchcock. He insists that it is, ‘something that the characters worry about but the audience does not’.   

Alfred Hitchcock explains the vital narrative plot device 'The MacGuffin’
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/alfred-hitchcock-the-macguffin-explanation/
Also, the mysterious figure in the distance who seems to disappear all the time, is a red herring, to make the reader think that there are two mysterious characters involved
When the 'young, handsome, innocent, and friendly-looking' young man is introduced, much later in the narrative, we know instinctively that whatever his involvement is, he has been wronged and will be vindicated in the end.
A standard [Cliche - ridden?] Narrative for these girl's magazines. [Girl meets mysterious nice guy [ rebel?] girl rescues said nice guy and stands by him?]     

[crashryan]

the mysterious figure in the distance who seems to disappear all the time, is a red herring

The conversation now veers onto another irrelevant sidetrack.

Your comment reminds me of a mystery I've never solved. The ComicBook+ group mind may be able to help me! When I was a kid in the 1960s, local [American] TV consisted of three major networks which had all the current shows, and in the larger markets a handful of independent stations ranging from low-budget to dirt cheap. These latter filled the time between automobile and carpet commercials by playing old B-movies, which were syndicated in various packages. One of the best-known packages included all the famous Universal monster movies (Frankie, Wolfie, and Drac) with their endless sequels. It also contained a bunch of deservedly-forgotten one-shot monster and thriller B's.

I clearly remember one of these B-minus clinkers in which a mysterious stranger is constantly seen lurking about. He appears throughout the movie but never seems to take part in the story. At the end of the movie, all the loose ends are tied up except for this guy. In the final scene we see the mysterious man sitting in a car. He breaks the old fourth wall by addressing the camera, saying, "I bet you're wondering who I am. I'm the guy who wrote this picture!" Then he rolls up the car window, on which is painted "The End." The sound of my brother and I crying "Whaaaaat??" could be heard halfway across Snohomish, Washington.

I have never been able to identify this movie. ProfH? Panther? Anyone?

[Robb_K]

the mysterious figure in the distance who seems to disappear all the time, is a red herring

Your comment reminds me of a mystery I've never solved.

I clearly remember one of these B-minus Sc-Fi clinkers in which a mysterious stranger is constantly seen lurking about. He appears throughout the movie but never seems to take part in the story. At the end of the movie, all the loose ends are tied up except for this guy. In the final scene we see the mysterious man sitting in a car. He breaks the old fourth wall by addressing the camera, saying, "I bet you're wondering who I am. I'm the guy who wrote this picture!" Then he rolls up the car window, on which is painted "The End." The sound of my brother and I crying "Whaaaaat??" could be heard halfway across Snohomish, Washington.

I have never been able to identify this movie. ProfH? Panther? Anyone?

Ha! Ha!  I remember the ending of that film very clearly!  And I was pissed that we never got to find out what part he played in the plot, until that revelation at the end.  I haven't thought about that since I saw that film on TV with my cousins near the end of the 1950s, and had the same reaction that you did.  I saw so many of those "C" Movies that, unfortunately, I can't remember which film it was.  I'd bet Prof H is our best hope.  Maybe you should put this question to him on CB+'s "Watcha Watchin' thread", where he is bound to see it, and respond quickly.

[The Australian Panther]

The best forth wall story I know is from the stage.
Supposedly Ralph Richardson, (before he was a Sir?) was onstage in a play when he suddenly stopped, walked to stage centre, audience side, and boomed out,
"Is there a Doctor in the house?'
A Doctor duely responded and Richardson boomed out,
"Doctor, isn't this a lousy play!'    

cheers!

[Quirky Quokka]

Schoolgirl Picture Library's Highland Romp

Jolly hockey sticks, what a smashing tale of chums japing each other on their Christmas hols. Every private schoolgirl dreams of her friend inviting her to the family castle for a spot of haggis and sword dancing. Though Hector was my favourite character too. My favourite line is on p. 24, where Debbie is called a 'modest old spoofer'. I have no idea what that is. And should we be wondering why Debbie and Jayne don't seem to be missing their own families two hoots over Christmas? I guess it's all too much fun skating on the moat to even give them a thought. I'm just sorry the artist didn't show Debbie thanking Angus in the time-honoured way promised on the last page.

Well, it was a bit corny and the mystery wasn't much of a mystery, but it was nice light holiday fare that I might have liked when I was about 9 or 10. By the the time I was 11 or 12, I was much more interested in what Archie and the gang were doing. They were way cooler. I'm not sure if we got these picture story magazines here in Australia. I do remember seeing the annuals that had illustrated short stories in them, and I've even picked up a few at second-hand stores. And K1ngcat, I am shocked to hear you preferred Marvel over these. What has a Stan Lee-Steve Dicko action-packed full-colour story got that this one doesn't? And I think The Japer would make a fabulous villain. (I enjoyed your rant  )

While the chums all seem like jolly good sticks, I did find it hard to relate to these types of stories in general, which all seemed to be populated by girls from private boarding schools who headed off for fabulous skiing holidays whenever the opportunity arose. I was more into The Secret Seven who solved actual mysteries. We have boarding school in Australia, of course, but my impression is that it's mainly students from rural areas who go there because they don't have a high school in their area (or because Daddy is an old boy at such and such a college and they have to follow in Daddy's footsteps). Am I right in assuming it was a more widespread practice in the UK during a certain time period?

Anyway, an interesting selection, and nice wholesome material that your auntie probably would have given you as a present.

Cheers

Quirky Quokka

[The Australian Panther]

QQ said,

We have boarding school in Australia, of course, but my impression is that it's mainly students from rural areas who go there because they don't have a high school in their area (or because Daddy is an old boy at such and such a college and they have to follow in Daddy's footsteps). Am I right in assuming it was a more widespread practice in the UK during a certain time period?

QQ, I went to a boarding school in Australia - in QLD as a matter of fact,
both before - (Primary school) and after, (After year 10) I went to state schools.
Boarding schools are about class and getting trained to be able to take on a higher level of profession - with the aid, if possible, of networking. Your parents needed to have a certain amount of capital to send you there, although mine didn't. Never appreciated that at the time. There is actually a surprising mix of pupils. There were city pupils, pupils from Stations [Ranches]  far out west, and pupils whose families were located in places where there wasn't access to suitable education. We had one girl from an island in the Barrier reef and a boy whose family ran sideshows and so moved constantly around the country. At home, he had his own caravan. We all envied him that. Also there were people there on scholarships and assistance. From places like New Guinea. 
My cubicle - areas where we slept -was shared with 7 others who were all from New Guinea. that included 2 Anglos, (one of them Deutsch)  two Chinese ( children of NG business-people) and two ethnic New Guinea lads. The lot of them used to converse in NG Pigeon English!
We also had a number of American students.The only other Americans we normally saw were on TV. 
I went to a Co-ed boarding school. That was a plus.
Had to wear a culturally inappropriate English-style uniform. complete with tie and hat.   
Just to point out that while some of the cliches about boarding schools are accurate, the reality is a bit more complex.   
cheers! 

[Quirky Quokka]

QQ said,

QQ, I went to a boarding school in Australia - in QLD as a matter of fact,
both before - (Primary school) and after, (After year 10) I went to state schools.
Boarding schools are about class and getting trained to be able to take on a higher level of profession - with the aid, if possible, of networking. Your parents needed to have a certain amount of capital to send you there, although mine didn't. Never appreciated that at the time. There is actually a surprising mix of pupils. There were city pupils, pupils from Stations [Ranches]  far out west, and pupils whose families were located in places where there wasn't access to suitable education. We had one girl from an island in the Barrier reef and a boy whose family ran sideshows and so moved constantly around the country. At home, he had his own caravan. We all envied him that. Also there were people there on scholarships and assistance. From places like New Guinea. 
My cubicle - areas where we slept -was shared with 7 others who were all from New Guinea. that included 2 Anglos, (one of them Deutsch)  two Chinese ( children of NG business-people) and two ethnic New Guinea lads. The lot of them used to converse in NG Pigeon English!
We also had a number of American students.The only other Americans we normally saw were on TV. 
I went to a Co-ed boarding school. That was a plus.
Had to wear a culturally inappropriate English-style uniform. complete with tie and hat.   
Just to point out that while some of the cliches about boarding schools are accurate, the reality is a bit more complex.   
cheers!

Thanks for sharing that, Panther. That must have been an interesting mix of people. As you can probably guess, I went to a State school. Some of my cousins lived on a property out west and only had a one-teacher school for primary school. They all boarded in Toowoomba when they went to high school, so I was imagining it would be similar for many. For them it was more a case of practicality. And I have a lot of lovely friends who went to private schools as day students. But I also recently came across another fellow who was sent to a boarding school to carry on the family tradition, and he found it a deeply scarring experience, so I guess everyone's situation is different and you're right that it doesn't always fit the stereotypes. I still wonder if it was more common in the UK. I have no experience other than all the UK TV shows and movies I've watched, so of course that view must be accurate. 

Cheers

QQ

[Robb_K]

QQ said,

We have boarding school in Australia, of course, but my impression is that it's mainly students from rural areas who go there because they don't have a high school in their area (or because Daddy is an old boy at such and such a college and they have to follow in Daddy's footsteps). Am I right in assuming it was a more widespread practice in the UK during a certain time period?

QQ, I went to a boarding school in Australia - in QLD as a matter of fact,
both before - (Primary school) and after, (After year 10) I went to state schools.
Boarding schools are about class and getting trained to be able to take on a higher level of profession - with the aid, if possible, of networking. Your parents needed to have a certain amount of capital to send you there, although mine didn't. Never appreciated that at the time. There is actually a surprising mix of pupils. There were city pupils, pupils from Stations [Ranches]  far out west, and pupils whose families were located in places where there wasn't access to suitable education. We had one girl from an island in the Barrier reef and a boy whose family ran sideshows and so moved constantly around the country. At home, he had his own caravan. We all envied him that. Also there were people there on scholarships and assistance. From places like New Guinea. 
My cubicle - areas where we slept -was shared with 7 others who were all from New Guinea, that included 2 Anglos, (one of them Deutsch) two Chinese ( children of NG business-people) and two ethnic New Guinea lads. The lot of them used to converse in NG Pigeon English!
We also had a number of American students.The only other Americans we normally saw were on TV. 
I went to a Co-ed boarding school. That was a plus.
Had to wear a culturally inappropriate English-style uniform. complete with tie and hat.   
Just to point out that while some of the cliches about boarding schools are accurate, the reality is a bit more complex. 
cheers!

Well, naturally, your experience at a modern boarding school that accepts students on scholarships, foreign students who aren't terribly wealthy, students whose families live too far away from ANY school capable of educating them at a proper level for their age group, mixed with some from privileged wealthy families, would be quite different from that experienced in traditional 19th and early 20th Century Public (public) boarding schools, where children of the wealthy, aristocratic or other privileged families made up the majority of the student body, or formed it exclusively.  Good that your school was co-ed.  Sorry that it was so formal that you had to wear a uniform.  I'm glad I could attend more informal city and suburban schools in Canada, The Netherlands and USA.  And I prefer the current Dutch education system, which is much more informal than USA's.  I really enjoyed teaching art in after school education programmes in Holland.  You had an interesting mix of fellow cubicle mates.  From everything I've seen about the British 'Finishing Schools" for the wealthy and privileged, I would guess I would have hated attending them, and would have had a miserable youth.  Glad I was able to stay with my own family.  At least, I would have been able to tolerate a situation like you had, in the looser, less strict times, with a lighter atmosphere.

You mentioned that there were 2 "Anglos" among those in your cubicle, from New Guinea, and one of those 2 was "Deutsch".  How can an "Anglo" be "Deutsch"?  Did Australians use "Anglo" in a broader sense, as a term for "White people" ("Caucasians")?

[The Australian Panther]

Robb,

My life experience should explain why the 'Billy Bunter' stories and their ilk, leave me cold.

cheers!

[Morgus]

'Crash and robb k, the film, I think, is THE APE MAN. Bela Lugosi. Monogram. It's on youtube. see what you think.

Man, I tell you guys, those Harvey reprints of THE SPIRIT were a big influence. I only saw the COVER and they stuck with me. Never forgot it because it looked so much different from the usual Harvey stuff. So when Warren started their thing in the 70's, I grabbed those. Wonderful memories.

[paw broon]

While I was aware of The Spirit many years ago it was the IW comics that I first really read of his.  They were ok - not great, but not bad.  As others have said, the Harvey issues did the business for me s well. I became a fan to the extent that my associates and I from aka Books and Comics managed to entice Mr. Eisner to come over to Scotland for our big comic con in Glasgow. If my memory actually worked, I'd tell you when that was.
Public (private) schools, they still exist in the UK and Scotland, quite a number actually. There have been scandals surrounding a few of them in recent years, bullying, drugs, abuse.
As for cricket, there were many clubs in schools for girls.  Currently, Some BBC cricket commentators are from women's cricket and Alex Hartley is at this moment in Pakistan commentating on the series of 3 test matches between Pakistan and England.
Crash, kilts and overcoats Kilt jackets are a thing, and you have to have the right one.  But traditionally it would be long, thick woollen socks, bare knees and a kilt, no matter the cold.  But kilties might wear a big rain cape. Anyway, glad none of you can hear the racket that kilted pipers make in Edinburgh all year round.
The Spirit, look for Ten Minutes, but only if your emotionally up to it.  Isn't that claimed to be written by Jules Feiffer?  Or have I dreamed that.

[crashryan]

'Crash and robb k, the film, I think, is THE APE MAN. Bela Lugosi. Monogram

That's the one! Interesting to see how the scene compared with my 50+-year-old memory. I didn't remember that the starring couple interacted with the mystery man. I misremembered that the man faced left rather than right and that the "THE END" on the window had been painted sloppily with a brush. The man's final line, "Funny idea, huh?" seems to be the key to the whole thing. Somebody in the writers' room said, "You know what would be funny? What if--" and the rest is history. It suggests a certain contempt for the audience. Or maybe just contempt for the movie. Thanks for locating this. I can finally release a few memory neurons for other purposes.

[The Australian Panther]

Here is the movie.

The Ape Man (1943) Bela Lugosi | Action, Drama, Horror Full Movie
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+ape+man+bela+lugosi

This movie was produced before the convention of having the writer credit be 'Cordwainer Bird' instead of the writers real name - to indicate that the writer didn't approve of the finished product.

Maybe this was a variation on that?