the club monthly - july

The July edition of The Club Monthly, where the summer holidays are in full swing.

The cover of a handmade magazine from 1920. There is a handdrawn illustration of a child grabbing onto a bunch of balloons.

The Club Monthly - July

July is the month for summer holidays, and this month's edition of The Club Monthly features stories, recipes, and references to summer from beginning to end.

A small illustration of a car and the caption 'off for holidays'.

A page in a handwritten magazine with the editor telling her readers about her holiday.

A page in a handmade magazine showing advertisements cut out from other publications.

Seaside Recipes

For those of us who tried last month's egg sandwich recipe, this month's cookery page is sure to delight. The author has been kind enough to consider recipes that will travel well on a trip to the seaside.

A recipe for toffee and tea cakes - see below for transcript.

Excellent Toffee

3/4 pt buttermilk, 1 large cup sugar (brown + white mixed), 1 level tablespoon butter. Put all in saucepan, stir well, for about 1/2 to 3/4 of an hour. To test when cooked drop a little into a cup of water where it will harden. Grease a tin with butter, pour in, when half cold cut in squares as well as possible.

Seaside tea cakes

2 oz butter, 1/2 flour, 2 oz sugar, 1 egg, 1 cup cream, water, baking powder. Rub flour and butter until no lumps are to be found. Add sugar and enough water to moisten (before the water add baking powder). Make into little cakes with hollow centres then make a wee lid for them. Cook in oven. Whip cream, put a little in each, glue together with white of egg slightly whipped. Sprinkle rough sugar over all and set in the oven for a minute.

Our Chemical Page

Last month's 'Chemical Page' recommended that The Club Monthly readers play with dangerous substances - something we strongly do not recommend. Thankfully, July's edition of The Club Monthly does not offer a Chemical Page - though not out of any safety concerns; instead, the author is unable to provide one due to illness. There is no hint as to whether the illness is a run-of-the-mill flu, or something caused by the author's general disregard for health and safety.

Stay tuned to find out if the Chemical Page will be back in August!

A page in a homemade magazine reading 'The editor was unable to get anything suitable for this page this month owing to illness.'

Summer Fashion

As girls and young adults, the authors of The Club Monthly have consistently shown an interest in fashion. Both the 1920 and 1921 July editions feature clothing advertisements from other publications - often with a focus on summer clothes.

A page from a handmade magazine titled 'modes of the moment', showing three era-appropriate dresses.

A page of a handmade magazine showing an advertisement for a summer's bridesmaid dress from France.

A page from a handmade magazine showing an advertisement for summer clothing for ladies.

A Holiday in the Country

The stories in The Club Monthly are often the most interesting aspect of the magazine.

They vary from long, episodic stories, written in cursive, to short, simple tales written in a younger hand. They give an insight into the variety of contributors to the magazine, and into the different stages of childhood in the 1920s.

In the 1921 July issue of The Club Monthly, a story 'The Holiday Chums' follows the two children of wealthy parents, who attend school in Cambridge. We follow them on holiday to Cornwall, where they swim and learn how to play tennis. The below story is markedly different: it is evidently written by a younger author, and concerns a trip to the house of an aunt who lives on a farm in the countryside.

A handwritten story in a magazine. See below for transcript.

Jack and Betty were staying at their aunt's for a holiday. She lived far out in the country and keeped hens and horses and cattle. Jack and Betty loved to feed the animals. One day Betty was riding on the little pony called "Beauty" and suddenly Beauty gave a start and raced over the field with Betty hanging on to its neck. Jack came and stopped Beauty and Betty got off very much frightened. She didn't get onto Beauty again. Their Aunt let them play everywhere and play with the dog. One night Jack and Betty thought they would sleep out in the field. In the middle of the night a cold something was pushed into Jack's bed then to Betty's, they were frightened. [?] they saw a black mark like a dog it turned out to be Rover the dog.

Another curiosity in this month's edition is a story about a witch. In it, the witch is not evil; she offends a magic cat, and is swept away, never to be seen again.

There was once an old witch who lived in a funny little house across the common. She lived quite by herself, and she would sometimes do some very weird things. For instance, whenever anyone happened to pass across the common, she would immediately take up her broom and start sweeping.

One day she thought she heard someone coming and, as usual, she commenced to sweep; but instead of being an ordinary person, this time it was a black cat. It wasn't an ordinary kind of cat: it was what the people of the land called a magic cat, and it could do the most wonderful things. This magic cat went straight to the witch's door, and stood staring at her for a while, and the witch tried to shoo it away with her broom. But the cat was highly offended because it was always treated with respect by everyone; so it firmly held on to the witch's broom, and before another second had passed the witch, broom and cat were all flying high in the air. And they must have gone a long way, for the people never saw the witch any more.

A few pages ahead, an illustration of a black cat is included 'for luck'. These are some of the first references to superstition and folklore in The Club Monthly, and seem today more suited for an October issue.

An illustration of a black cat with the words 'Black Cat for Luck'.

Riddles, Jokes and Competitions

To keep you entertained on your summer holiday, The Club Monthly has provided its usual array of riddles, jokes and competitions.

A comic strip in which a young girl claims an animal is 'dangeroos', to which a man replies 'there is no such animal'.

A competition page in which readers are tasked with painting a corn or wheat stalk.

A series of riddles including 'what side of the jug is the handle on?' - the answer being 'the outside'.

Comic Strip

'Those are dangeroos, Pop!' 'Nonsense, my child!' 'They are dangeroos!' 'My dear, there isn't such an animal!'

Competition

"Yes" Autumn is nearly here readers. So I want you to try to paint brush work. One yellow or ripe wheat stalk or corn stalk.

Can you solve this?

"Y-s" s--d th- -d-t-r -f th- Cl-b M-nthly. Pl--s- s-nd pl-nly -t 'c-ns' t-r -V q-st.

Riddles

I. Why is the letter F like a cow's tail?

II. What trade is more than full?

III. Which is the ugliest hood ever worn?

I. It is the end of beef.

II. Fuller.

III. Falsehood.

A Natural Mistake

Indignant bicyclist: "Madam, your dog snaps at me every time I pass, here he comes now." Old Lady: "Spot! Spot! You foolish dog! Come here! Those aren't bones, they're legs!"