20 thoughts on “The Whole Year Through: Children’s Friend, 1965”

1. How nice. March 1965–month and year I was born. Cool to see what my siblings were reading at the time.

2. I looked at Google maps in vain for a town that would match that signpost on the May cover. Köln is easy–the ancient city the French (and we Americans) call Cologne–but no place named Scholl.

   (Although I found a whole lot of schools in the area named Geschwister Scholl Gymnasium. Who on earth were those people? And why’d they have so many schools named after them?)

   Great covers, by the way. I suspect that we subscribed to The Children’s Friend that year–my younger brother and I were in Primary, after all–but as a Trekker and then a member of the Guide Patrol, I may have already been too cool to look at it.

3. Mark B is right. There doesn’t seem to be a place called Scholl in Germany.

   And, is that a leading question about the Scholls? I would be surprised to find a reference to them on these rather light-hearted covers. The Geschwister (Brother and Sister) Scholl were a couple of teenagers (Sophie and Hans) who were opposed to the Nazis and were executed due to their efforts against the regime.

   Perhaps the artist meant the shoe company. And perhaps it doesn’t matter anyway, since there is no castle that looks even remotely like that anywhere near Köln.

   But what cheerful, colorful covers!

4. I’m pretty sure all of these are in a big box in my parent’s basement. I know I looked at January last time I was there…

5. Nice! Very cheery and pleasant.

   So, is the November cover a scene from Norway? Sweden? Denmark? Any proud Scandinavians care to provide clues? I don’t see any flags, but the sweaters are maybe meant to signify Norway.

6. Too mountainous for Denmark! I’m putting my money on Norway.

   I will confirm, though, Hunter, that April is Japan!

   And I’m glad to see that the artist showed a Scottish summer scene for June–but, can one day be called a season?

7. I also like the ’round-the-world theme. Haven’t we seen this trend in another series of Friend covers? My count indicates that Europe wins with 5 covers, while the other regions (Latin America, Polynesia/Australia, and North America) come in with two each). If I had to provide geographic coordinates for any of these, I think that the July cover (Monument Valley) is the most specific.

   I’m somewhat jealous of the flexibility church magazine designers enjoy, as they evidently can get along without the revenue created by back cover advertisements.

8. Mark said, “I will confirm, though, Hunter, that April is Japan!”

   Sorry, Mark, but you’re wrong: it’s a scene of the Japanese Festival held each spring in Washington D.C. [shrugs]

9. One of the stories in the November issue is set in Norway, and the paper doll that month has a Norwegian national costume.

   And I just noticed a note inside that reads “Cover by Beverly Johnston.”

10. Hunter, you’ve explained now why Clark left Asia out of his list.

    If only TR hadn’t got all those trees for helping end the Russo-Japanese war!

11. The characters look like they could have stepped out from Disney’s It’s a Small World ride which originated at the 1964 NY World’s Fair I think. Since that same Fair had a major exhibit by the church maybe there is some cross pollination going on here?

12. So now that November is conclusively Norway, is February Austria or Switzerland (leaning toward Switzerland because of the clocks) and is January Alaska or the Northwest Territories or Yukon? Any Canadians around here?

13. My bet on January is Northwest Territories. The shape of the sled is closer to a Komatik from northern Hudson Bay than a typical Alaska/Yukon dogsled. (And I was also thinking Switzerland for February, for the same reason you were.)

14. The first story in the January issue is about Tuglik and Aku, “Eskimo children living in Canada near Hudson Bay.” Yeah. The paper doll is wearing the kind of fur-trimmed parka I associate with Alaskan natives, but there isn’t anything definitive there to help.

    The February story is “Mina’s Lucky Chance” which I will interpret as meaning that it was predestined that these covers appear on Keepa. The story character Mina Bronner has a chum Lotte Glauser and dance instructors Professor and Mrs. Gignoux. She is excited “to think that I, Mina Bronner, am going to dance in the great Swiss National Exposition! To see Geneva! I never dreamed of such good luck.” The paper doll is a little boy with a Germanic costume that I can’t pin down particularly, but since he is equipped with an Alpenhorn I’d say this is another suggestion of Switzerland.

    Research into children’s magazine cover art. How typical of Keepaninnies!

15. February must be Switzerland, a) because of the clocks and b) because it looks like the illustrations from my ‘Heidi’ book, published the same year.

    I had assumed January was Greenland!

16. Maybe I should ask my children. A change in Canadian law last year turned my wife back into a Canadian, and made my five children, New Yorkers all, Canadian as well.

    Do you suppose that gives them special insights into the clothing of the First Nations of the far north?

17. What change in Canadian law Mark B.? My mother was (or perhaps I should say is) Canadian
    Does she now have dual citizenship?
    DO I? Do my kids? Inquiring minds want to know. Well, I do. Diane

18. Oh My! I don’t remember that story from the February issue at all!!

    That’s probably because I wasn’t called “Mina” as a child; it’s a derivative of my given name that I didn’t acquire ’til the mid-80’s.

    But yes, I agree there is something predictive, if not downright prophetic, at work here!

19. My oldest son was born in November 1965 I’ll have to print out the cover for him. I’m happy that all of you have identified it as Norway, although we don’t have any Scandinavian ancestors.

    This has been a delightful set of pictures.

20. #2 & 3: Gescwister Scholl (Hans and Sophie Scholl) formed a resistance group during World War II in the Munich area. Quite a ways from Cologne. I guess the artist could have used Huebener instead of Scholl but maybe that would not have passed the Church muster of the day. 🙂

    #7: Just thinking about the Around the World motive and the number of European-themed made me wonder if that didn’t reflect the times. During the 1960s Latin America and the Far East were relatively new missionary areas and the Church was small in many of those regions. Although I really wasn’t around, my impression is that during the 1960s, when we considered the global church, we thought in terms of Europe. Of course, now when we think of the church abroad we think of Central and South America. When we think of missionaries going foreign we think Spanish-speaking.

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