Pixie #4, 15 July 1972

• Marion of Sherwood
• Rex Varney – Pixie Pin-up
• Those Sums! (poem)
• Looking after Egbert: A Story of the Happy Days (artist Andrew Wilson)
• Giggles Galore! – cartoon
• Doll Cut-out
• The Secret Garden – adapted from the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett (artist Mike Hubbard?)
• The Mikado – adaptation
• Enid Blyton tells the story of The Naughtiest Girl in the School (artist Tony Higham)
• Puzzle Fun
• Milly-Molly-Mandy (told and drawn by Joyce Lankester Brisley)
• Gussie the Girl Guide and Her Good Deeds (cartoon)
• A Story to Remember (text)
• When Black Beauty Was Young
• Mini Ha-Ha: Big Laughs with a Little Indian Girl – cartoon

A while ago we had a request to put up some entries on older girls’ titles if possible. So here we will take a look at one: Pixie. Pixie ran 24th June 1972 to 13th January 1973 (30 issues) and merged into June.

This is #4 of Pixie. Like Penny, she is meant for a younger audience. This is evidenced right from the cover, which has a very young cover girl. And the content inside is clearly meant for a younger readership. But there is no denying Pixie is much more gorgeous than Penny. She has so many colour pages and the artwork is eye-catching, whether it is serious or humorous. Some examples are posted in this entry. The young girls must have simply loved it and bought the issues for this reason alone.

It would have made them enjoy the adaptations far more and want to read the originals. Pixie put a high emphasis on adaptations. The ones here are Enid Blyton and The Naughtiest Girl in the School, The Secret Garden, Milly-Molly-Mandy, and The Mikado. Elizabeth Allen, the Naughtiest Girl in the School, is a spoiled girl who is trying to get herself expelled from boarding school. But things get awkward when Elizabeth finds the school is beginning to grow on her. Sounds like Elizabeth set the template for serials on problem girls who like to get expelled, such as “Amanda Must Not Be Expelled” and “Queen Rider” (both from Tammy).

 

Other stories were inspired by popular literature or folk tales, such as “When Black Beauty Was Young” and “Marion of Sherwood”. The artwork is amusingly cartoony in places and would not be out of place in a Disney animated feature.

We also have The Happy Days, possibly a Princess Tina reprint (update: information received indicates it was unlikely). At the dreaded dentist Sue reads about a missing dog in a magazine and then finds the dog. But then she realises she forgot to note the owner’s address from the magazine and it’s been thrown out! While trying to find the owner she leaves the dog in the house, and the yappy thing scares the wits out of her mother. Oh, dear.

The text features should have amused the readers. One, “Those Sums”, is about a girl who struggles with maths (yep, many of us can relate to that). “A Story to Remember” would not be out of place in a book of fairy tales. A milkmaid is taking a jug of milk to market on her head, but gets caught in a dream about the riches it will make for her. It inflates her ego too much and she tosses her head, causing the milk to go for a burton. The moral it reminds her: don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched.

Pixie also had her share of cartoons. Mini Ha-Ha is one that enjoyed a good run in the June & Pixie merger until June merged with Tammy, but she might be considered a tad un-PC today.