Shipboard Romance

One of my biggest fantasies about living in the glamorous 1920s and 30s must always have been travelling abroad on a great ocean liner. Imagine the dramatic skies with seabirds wheeling overhead; the feeling of the ship moving beneath you; fascinating shipboard companions and amusing deck games; quaint cabins and trunks full of exquisite clothes of the magical era between the wars. Thus it was the cover illustrations that made today’s purchase of Ideal Book for Girls absolutely irresistible. The covers of this vintage 1920s teen girl’s storybook evoke the absolute romance and excitement of going abroad on holiday by ship.

I had a tiny taste of it a few years ago when I realised a long-held ambition: crossing the Strait of Gibraltar from Europe to Africa. I went by ferry, and it was only a short trip of a few hours, but still! I can only imagine the excitement of a young girl packing to go on holiday and being given this book to read on the journey.

I can only imagine the excitement of a young girl packing to go on holiday and being given this book to read on the journey.

I hoped this book would be full of girls having exciting adventures, but alas, these are very moral tales told in a perfunctory style, which makes me suspect each author was handed a particular moral theme by the publisher and told to write a story around it. How the reader got there didn’t really matter, as long as they arrived in a few pages.

There is a good reason this book is entitled ‘Ideal’ Book for Girls! I wonder if that young girl found herself somewhat dissatisfied when she came to the end of it?

However … let’s focus on the good stuff, which are the illustrations. I really love the back cover in particular, and am full of admiration that the spine has a separate illustration too, but it is all of 4cm wide. Page three shows a pretty watercolour of The Book-Worm lounging in a hammock, nose buried in a book. (Note the extra-long skirt fabric modestly covering the left leg.)

The rest of the illustrations throughout the book are in black and white, the drawing style so evocative of a bygone era – surely no such innocent 15 year olds exist in the world anywhere anymore. The title page illustration is very sweet, although like the bookworm, it bears no relation to the events in the stories, which are mostly set in senior high school.

I did enjoy the fact that all the schoolgirls and teachers have bobbed, marcelled hair. Though most of the characters are schoolgirls wearing uniforms, there are a few touches of contemporary fashion in the details of teachers’ outfits. In this age of very individual style, it’s quite fascinating to remember that once upon a time practically everyone dressed in the established mode.