Our Wi-fi was down for 14 hours, and the household was plunged into the depths of despair. (I only slightly exaggerate.) But more to the point, all the detailed text of today’s blog post was trapped on my laptop and couldn’t be transferred to the blog.
I promised I’d share details of John Leng & Co.’s advertising strategy, as observed in their booklet, The Songs of Burns, so here we are. It’s a booklet that I bought purely out of curiosity, because of my interest in their support of Scots Song singing in the Dundee Leng Medal prizes. But tucked in amongst the Burns songs, are the little column adverts and bigger full-page ones, which clearly indicate which publications they were pushing, around January 1905. Many of the adverts are distinctly aimed at women, which is interesting, considering Burns’s songs are of universal appeal.
As I mentioned in Part 1 of this post, much use was made of ‘Aunt Kate’ for good, sensible advice from a trustworthy auntie!
Moreover, I find it interesting that there’s more marketing for the People’s Friend than the People’s Journal. The magazine is still running, whilst the journal ceased in January 1986 – so even the journal had a good long life.
The People’s Penny Burns
Inside cover: Full page advertisement for its earlier companion, The People’s Penny Burns
p.48 Another full page advertisement for The People’s Penny Burns.
The People’s Penny Stories
p.3 Do you like a good novelette? You do. Well, don’t miss The People’s Penny Stories. Every month. One Penny. None so good.
The question is followed by a firm affirmative answer. Since my own People’s Friend serial ended up as no.393 in the ‘People’s Friend Story Collection’ back in the 1990s, I am naturally disposed to agree, stressing that this is light fiction, not literature!
p.29 A second advertisement for the People’s Penny Stories series.
Caring
p.1 A LOVING MOTHER’S NEGLECT to rear healthy babies is unpardonable. Aunt Kate’s Mother’s Guide contains much useful information, and anyone who follows its advice will have healthy families. Sold by all Newsagents; Price ONE PENNY.
Taking an indisputably moral tone, the assurance that ‘anyone who follows its advice’ will flourish would probably flout advertising standards today, since some problems simply cannot be put right merely by following sound advice!
p.15 Have you a home pet? If so, and you would like to make the most of it, for its own sake and your own, invest a penny in Aunt Kate’s Canaries and Home Pets. Also uniform in size, style, and price, The People’s Dog Book.
Clothing the Family
p.5 Aunt Kate’s Knitting and Crochet Book contains over 170 Patterns. Price One Penny. (Believe me, this was an absolute bargain!)
p.30 Young Mothers will find the People’s Friend Paper Patterns invaluable. Complete Layette Sets at low prices. Baby’s First Garments, Shortening Clothes, Outdoor Things, Christening Robes, Sleeping and Day Gowns, Newest Bonnets, Hats and Bibs for Young Children of all ages. For styles for spring, summer, autumn and winter, see People’s Friend Fashion Pages.
(Get the paper patterns, or look in – where else but the People’s Friend!)
p.41 Make your own Clothes. Full directions how to cut dresses and other garments in AUNT KATE’S DRESS-MAKING BOOK. Price one penny; sold everywhere.
Feeding the Family
p.9 Aunt Kate’s Cookery Book is the best pennyworth in the world. If you have not a copy get one.
Entertainment
p.11 ‘AUNT KATE’S SCOTTISH SONGS’ Nos.1 and 2, and the ‘PEOPLE’S ENGLISH SONGS’ Contain the Cream of our National Minstrelsy. Each comprises nearly half a hundred Songs – Words and Music. The Price of Each is One Penny.
And they soon appeared, together with Welsh songs, in two hardbacked collections. These song books are advertised again on the back cover, see below.
This was, of course, the age of Tonic Sol-Fa, and many schools taught it, so there was a good chance that at least some of the readers of these books could work out a tune from Sol-Fa. The piano accompaniment, however, required someone who could read music. These accompaniments are simple and functional, rather than artistic, but they’re certainly usable. I believe the arranger was a local Dundee music teacher who also wrote for John Leng & Co. Ltd.
Back cover: Life is made Lightsome with a Song: an unparalleled Quartet … ‘Music in each case in staff and sol-fa. One penny each. Sold by all newsagents.’
This is a whole page advert for the books in the smaller column advert on p.11.
- Aunt Kate’s Scottish Songs No.1: 46 ‘gems of Scottish Song’
- The People’s English Songs: 46 ‘popular English ballads’
- Aunt Kate’s Scottish Songs No.2: 46 Scottish and Gaelic ‘lyric gems’
- The People’s Welsh Songs: Words in English and Welsh
Inside back cover – advertisement for ‘Simply Indispensible! Four Valuable Books [one penny each]:-
- Conjuring and Parlour Magic Book: Aunt Kate’s Parlour Magic Book
- Parlour Games for Everybody: a Companion to Aunt Kate’s Conjuring and Parlour Magic
- The People’s Fortune Teller
- Aunt Kate’s Dance Music ‘contains music for no fewer than twenty-six popular dances’ (there’s a little more about this book in another blog, Unsung Histories, Sept 2021, by Katie Howson.)
The People’s Friend
p.14 WHY NOT JOIN A CLUB? The Helper’s Club, conducted by Janette in the “People’s Friend”, is a National Bureau for the exchange of opinions, advice, and experiences among women of all classes.
p.16 Everyone praises the wholesome tone that characterizes every page of THE PEOPLE’S FRIEND.
p.17 A FRIEND INDEED is just what the People’s Friend has all along proved itself to be. No one who has ever known this “Friend” has turned his or her back upon it. It contains something for everybody. Ask your Newsagent to introduce you to the “Friend”; it will cost you a Penny, but you’ll find it worth the money over and over again.
(Three adverts in four pages – and not the last you’ll encounter, for this most popular of magazines!)
p.25 Tribute to the PEOPLE’S FRIEND […] A miscellany which finds its way into many homes where good reading is courted. It has been a real influence in Scottish life, brightening it, and that must be a chief joy to Sir John Leng. – Daily Chronicle, London.
p.35 Quoting Mr T. P. Connor speaking highly of the People’s Friend and People’s Journal, we find another mention of the Friend and a second of the Journal.
p.47 Space at the bottom of the Table of Contents – filled with a larger advertisement for The People’s Friend, quoting press opinions.
Men’s Stuff?
p.21 If your husband, son or brother wants the best book on a good subject, he should buy – HOW TO READ, WRITE, AND DEBATE. It costs One Penny, and is full of valuable hints to all who desire to become good writers and debaters, and who wish to make the best of their reading.
The People’s Journal
p.23 POINTS about the PEOPLE’S JOURNAL. 10,000 Newsagents sell it. 1,250,000 People read it. A week’s issue weighs 20 tons. It is the People’s Family Newspaper. Sold everywhere, price one penny.
Karen McAulay, Musicologist 