Saturday 6 February 2010

I-Spy


You were not a properly equipped child of the 60s if you didn't have


a collection of I-Spy books.
In black and white for 6d


or full colour for 1/-



 these were produced by Big Chief I-SPY 
at the News Chronicle Wigwam
in Bouverie Street, London E.C.4.


Actually Big Chief I-SPY moved about a bit over the years 
and could also be found at
Wigwam-by-the-Water, Upper Thames Street.
Anyway, all you needed to become a member of the I-Spy tribe
was sixpence, or 1/- or 2s.6d
depending on how early you were born
and then


you would receive an I-SPY membership pack with
a badge, (an Open Sesame to all kinds of places),
a Tally Card, and a Book of Secret Codes
for decoding messages in the News Chronicle & Daily Dispatch,
News Chronicle, or Daily Mail
again depending on your generation.
In one book there was even a secret sign 
but they seem to have dropped that later.


But of course the main point of all this 
was to be a member of a Great Tribe
of explorers, discoverers, trackers and spotters.
Between 5 and 30 points were awarded
depending on scarcity, for each entry.
A philosophical attitude was encouraged,

'Some days are better than other. You may get a run of blank ones. 
And then along comes a real red-letter day - 
you spot the very thing you've been wanting for months. 
And your score takes a great leap upwards.
Don't expect to be lucky EVERY day'.


Finally, when you reached 1,500 points your record was to be examined 
by a teacher or parent and signed off as being genuine,
before being sent in (with a 3d stamp for its return)
to claim your


Order of Merit, with the Big Chief's Seal.
I never got as far as this, even though 
I may well have been tempted to cheat a little with my spotting 
as I was not a very patient child.

  I heard on the radio this morning that
they have been re-issued by Michelin.
Now you must collect 1000 pints before you can join the club
and I don't think you get a badge or a secret code anymore
but it doesn't surprise me that these little books
could prove to be as enduring as their creator
Charles Warrell, who died when he was 106.



3 comments:

  1. But did you graduate on to "The Observer Books"? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observer's_Books

    Possibly, you have come across several references to me in one volume of this authoritative series. I believe it was "The Observer Book of Pond Life"

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  2. My dear. I illustrated one of them - the Observer Book of Rocks and Minerals. Strange but true.

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  3. A Renaissance woman, no less.

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