Love this Fiona, gosh what a blast from the past. We were all so innocent back in the day (until we started reading More magazine - and the advice went up a notch....🙂) On the back of this, you might enjoy reading my piece on the joy that was Mandy comic - same era. All the best.
Loved that Sharon! Those girls' comics - I'd forgotten how crazily imaginative and drama filled those stories were! I didn't read Mandy but loved Jinty - my memories are hazy I think it was a little bit younger. A friend was reminiscing about Misty - the comic with a supernatural edge! The drawings were fabulous weren't they?
I love this! I love the revelation that the staff at Jackie had little actual in the trenches experience. I would have taken this seriously - especially the moving your lips with his bit (great advice actually).
Yes it worked, somehow! It was probably what make the magazine feel big sisterly, rather than fully fledged adults doling out advice. Fortunately our editor (who semi kept a rein on us all) was a little older!
I can almost smell the Anne French aroma... fun fact - at 12/13 I appeared in a My Guy ( or maybe Oh Boy?) photo story about a deluded girl who was obsessed with David Essex. She (I) gazed adoringly at his poster over her bed each night. Then she met a guy who looked JUST LIKE David Essex. Well, a bit. But he turned out to be a cad. He chased her (me) around the sofa. He wore leather trousers and wanted to 'take advantage' of her. I think I got paid £5 by the photographer and never lived it down at school!
What a fun piece! I used to buy it when I went to visit my Nana in New Milton. I think there was even an Anne French sample once, although I might be mistaken. I bought it in Boots, though, when I was there, visiting from Switzerland. You had all the things. And all the lovely pony books, like the Jill series.
Glad you enjoyed - thank you Francesca! An Anne French sample would have been a classic Jackie gift I think... and yes Boots was a place of wonder - especially for Boots 17 make-up! x
I'm lolling at 'Dad's underpants quietly steaming on the radiator'. 1970's teenage life captured perfectly. The sophisticated French Anne French! There's a bottle of it going on eBay for £61.59. If only we'd known!
Thank you so much for reminding me of Anne French deep cleansing milk which was a staple on my teenage dressing table! I was also an avid Jackie reader and if I’d known they employed school leavers I’d have been joining the queue for a job!!
I think I probably had that copy of Jackie. And yes, I used Anne French fearing all the embedded grime that must be hidden on my face... as if getting a husband was the ultimate goal in life!
I love that you were a CB radio fan. I was so obsessed that in 1976 I had my mother buy me a "CB dictionary" full of trucker code words and their meanings, despite not even having a CB radio!
Jackie was great. They sent me a personal letter when I contacted their 'Problems Page' at a bad point in my teenage years, it was a very serious and considered letter that helped a lot. And your post brought back other memories - David Essex was my first gig! C. Shannon
It really was great. They took the advice aspect very seriously and had one or two older woman living in or near Dundee, employed as freelancers to write personal replies to all of the letters (as long as you'd enclosed a self addressed envelope!)
Yes, fascinating! And so rare to do that - I think Jackie was the only mag that offered a personal reply service to EVERY reader (possibly Blue Jeans and Patches too, which were produced by the same company)
Love this Fiona, gosh what a blast from the past. We were all so innocent back in the day (until we started reading More magazine - and the advice went up a notch....🙂) On the back of this, you might enjoy reading my piece on the joy that was Mandy comic - same era. All the best.
https://open.substack.com/pub/sharonjoslyn/p/oh-mandy?r=7tva4&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Loved that Sharon! Those girls' comics - I'd forgotten how crazily imaginative and drama filled those stories were! I didn't read Mandy but loved Jinty - my memories are hazy I think it was a little bit younger. A friend was reminiscing about Misty - the comic with a supernatural edge! The drawings were fabulous weren't they?
They really were. So glad you enjoyed.
I love this! I love the revelation that the staff at Jackie had little actual in the trenches experience. I would have taken this seriously - especially the moving your lips with his bit (great advice actually).
Yes it worked, somehow! It was probably what make the magazine feel big sisterly, rather than fully fledged adults doling out advice. Fortunately our editor (who semi kept a rein on us all) was a little older!
I can almost smell the Anne French aroma... fun fact - at 12/13 I appeared in a My Guy ( or maybe Oh Boy?) photo story about a deluded girl who was obsessed with David Essex. She (I) gazed adoringly at his poster over her bed each night. Then she met a guy who looked JUST LIKE David Essex. Well, a bit. But he turned out to be a cad. He chased her (me) around the sofa. He wore leather trousers and wanted to 'take advantage' of her. I think I got paid £5 by the photographer and never lived it down at school!
...But was £5 ample pay for being chased by a cad?!
Definitely not! Although I'd happily pay a fiver for a copy of that magazine now!
That's amazing Jo!!
Oh and David Essex! He was in my uncle’s films, That’ll be the Day, and Stardust, and my cousin Dominic played his son in one of those films!
WOW!!!!
What a fun piece! I used to buy it when I went to visit my Nana in New Milton. I think there was even an Anne French sample once, although I might be mistaken. I bought it in Boots, though, when I was there, visiting from Switzerland. You had all the things. And all the lovely pony books, like the Jill series.
Glad you enjoyed - thank you Francesca! An Anne French sample would have been a classic Jackie gift I think... and yes Boots was a place of wonder - especially for Boots 17 make-up! x
Oh yes, I used Anne French too. And thanks for reminding me of those pics of David Essex, Fiona 😍
They are classics aren't they! Heart-eyes! x
I'm lolling at 'Dad's underpants quietly steaming on the radiator'. 1970's teenage life captured perfectly. The sophisticated French Anne French! There's a bottle of it going on eBay for £61.59. If only we'd known!
Thanks Wendy! My word - d'you think it could still nab one a husband?!
Thank you so much for reminding me of Anne French deep cleansing milk which was a staple on my teenage dressing table! I was also an avid Jackie reader and if I’d known they employed school leavers I’d have been joining the queue for a job!!
Haha - as a reader I had no idea either. It seemed so very grown up, after Beezer comic! x
Oh for the simplicity of those days! A lovely piece and even remember buying that particular issue.
Thank you Deborah! Dishy David - a very memorable issue! x
My teenage love life was doomed as my mum insisted we washed our faces in diluted Dettol. Who was going to want to kiss me when I smelt of antiseptic!
Gaah! That unmistakeable smell. I guess that blasted any lurking spot making bacteria?!
I think I probably had that copy of Jackie. And yes, I used Anne French fearing all the embedded grime that must be hidden on my face... as if getting a husband was the ultimate goal in life!
Embedded grime! You'd think we were living in mines or working as chimney sweeps. There was also Clearasil, which stripped the entire epidermis!
Yes clearasil was another regular of mine and Swiss Biofacial - remember that?
I do. It seemed quite posh I think! Perhaps because of the word 'Swiss'? I also thought Toblerone was very posh x
And Valderma, the spot’s worst friend!
Oh yes valderma! Another so familiar name from my past!
I love that you were a CB radio fan. I was so obsessed that in 1976 I had my mother buy me a "CB dictionary" full of trucker code words and their meanings, despite not even having a CB radio!
I love that you had the lingo but not the radio! Seriously, I think the only reason I 'went out with' Tommy was to gain close proximity to that radio.
Hahaha — poor Tommy!
Haha, yes! Anne French was all about the "grime"!
The satisfaction of examining that filthy cotton wool pad!
Jackie was great. They sent me a personal letter when I contacted their 'Problems Page' at a bad point in my teenage years, it was a very serious and considered letter that helped a lot. And your post brought back other memories - David Essex was my first gig! C. Shannon
It really was great. They took the advice aspect very seriously and had one or two older woman living in or near Dundee, employed as freelancers to write personal replies to all of the letters (as long as you'd enclosed a self addressed envelope!)
What an interesting job that must’ve been!!
Yes, fascinating! And so rare to do that - I think Jackie was the only mag that offered a personal reply service to EVERY reader (possibly Blue Jeans and Patches too, which were produced by the same company)