Tuesday, July 26, 2011

B IS FOR...

BILLY BUNTER
(wessex.me.uk)

He was a hugely popular comic strip character in England during the thirties and forties.If you can remember him you are giving away your age.  The story lines were somewhat politically incorrect for our day, as I recall, (not too clearly I have to say.)  Lots of bullying and unkindness, but that was it in those days.  We used to read him in the comic KNOCKOUT.  We'd be waiting at the gate for the mailman  (postman) on Thursdays in the early fifties, to bring us our comics. Other comics were Beano and Dandy.  After them came Eagle and Girl -- a little more sedate, but highly prized by us.

This is what Wikipedia says :

"Charles Hamilton invented the character for an unpublished story in the late 1890s. He claimed Bunter was derived from three persons: a corpulent editor, a short-sighted relative, and another relative who was perpetually trying to raise a loan on the strength of the anticipated arrival of a cheque. The name Bunter was in common use at the time, due to the popularity of a patent medicine known as Bunter's Nervine Tonic. It also meant a low vulgar woman."   (Thanks Wikipedia!)

Later, Billy Bunter became a character in books, on stage and in movies.

Well I certainly learned something today, -- hope you did.  
I'm sure I'll learn more when I have visited the other ABC WEDNESDAY posts for the letter B
 This is one of the best memes in Blogdom!  Click on the Link above or the Logo in the side bar.


Thanks to Mrs. Nesbitt and her trusty team of co-workers.

APPENDIX added Wednesday.  Please see my next post to clarify just who BB was and what he was like -- enlightening.

22 comments:

The Poet said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Poet said...

Hello.
It's always nice to read a little something about the UK (my beautiful wife is English).

I learnt something new today. :-)

My entry:
Blissful Memories

Jane and Chris said...

I didn't like Billy Bunter, but I did like the Dandy, Beano, and Twinkle (when I was very young).
Jane x

Roger Owen Green said...

I'm on the wrong side of the pond, I'm afraid. but I do recall old strips that wouldn't make it today.
ROG, ABC Wednesday team

Wanda said...

Yes, this would be new to me.


I do love Zits, and Pickles in our Sunday Comics.

Live2cherish said...

Surely, i learnt about bunter.

Anonymous said...

Nice to get introduced to Mr. Bunter...

Pheno, ABC Wednesday team

photowannabe said...

Thanks for the info on these comics.
This side of the pond had different ones.
Right now one of my favorites is Zits, such teenage angst.

Margaret @ BooksPlease said...

I wasn't keen on Billy Bunter - thirties and forties a bit too early for me - remember him from the fifties and sixties though.

Rune Eide said...

I can't seem to remember him. No, I'm, not lying about my age since you know it :-) , but maybe the series was not published in Norway. he looks like a colourful character, though.

Rune Eide said...

Me again - I pressed the Enter key too soon :-(

I must thank you again for you kind words, both regarding my last post, but also about my photos from Hurtigruten. I sincerely hope to post more of those (in fact - I found the fisherman just north of Tromsø)

Give my regards to Barry!

Dartford Warbler said...

Billy Bunter wasn`t a favourite of mine, but I do remember him.

I hope you are feeling better.

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

I remember him.

snafu said...

I never got on with Billy Bunter, either in the printed version or on TV where his character appeared in a sitcom. I do remember the catch phrase - Ouch! Yaroo! You Rotters! That seems to have stuck unfortunately.

ChrisJ said...

How surprising so many of you who remember Billy Bunter didn't like him! Not that I did. I honestly don't remember much about him or his stories at all. I was a bit too young to appreciate the nuances of the comic or the books but since my brother liked them I jumped on the bandwagon so to speak. I wonder how he survived so long if he wasn't popular. I just remember that he was a 'large' character with a great love for eating. But Snafu, I do remember that cry "Ouch, you rotters!" now that you mention it. I probably should look up more about him to find out why the comic wasn't liked.
But he did jump to mind as a good 'B' topic.

Autumn Leaves said...

Well, this was a fun post, Chris! And I must say I am quite happy to be too young to remember this! LOL Not by much though, I suspect.

Shooting Parrots said...

I wasn't around in the 30s or 40s, but I do remember Billy Bunter from the tv series. Wasn't he played by Gerald Campion?

Jose said...

Yeah, I miss those days when we didn't have to be so politically correct. We all did just fine on our own. Didn't know this character but sounds like one I would be kicking his butt all the time. lol

Carver said...

I did learn something. Very interesting post for the letter B.

kaybee said...

I remember BB on the Tv also - never was a favourite of mine either. Perhaps we all, even subconsciously, took offense at the bullying and unkindnesses. I don't remember that being the way at school. I have a friend whose name is Bunty - she wouldn't be too thrilled to know the meaning of her name, because she isn't like that at all!!

ChrisJ said...

SHOOTING PARROTS: Yes, I do believe it was Gerald Campion who played Billy Bunter -- I think! Obviously can't rely on my memory too much. See my next post which is re: BB

Tumblewords: said...

He is surely reflective of the times! Very interesting post...