the club monthly - may

The May edition of The Club Monthly, with some insight into the political atmosphere of the day.

The cover of a handmade magazine from 1920. The illustration shows three young girls sitting on a wall.

May - 1920 and 1921

The late 1910s and early 1920s were a politically, socially and culturally turbulent period. The First World War, the campaign for women's suffrage, the War of Independence and the partition of Ireland were major events during this time.

We hold the May 1920 and 1921 editions of the Club Monthly our archives. Both are valuable insights into childhood during this period of history. To what extent were our authors aware of the changing world around them? How did it affect them as they moved towards adulthood?

A page from a handwritten magazine with a short quiz concerning current events.

In May 1920, The Club Monthly featured a general knowledge quiz as a competition for its readers. Some questions concern the political situation in Ireland at the time, such as, 'Who is the Lord [Lieutenant] of Ireland?' and 'Who has just been sent over to Ireland in the last month to try and keep order among the Sinn Feins?'

The 1920 Government of Ireland Act saw the creation of Northern Ireland. The Act came into effect in May 1921.

A handwritten story in a magazine reflecting political tensions of 1920.

May's 1921 Club Monthly does not directly mention partition, but we can see that political tension was appearing even in classrooms amongst children and young adults.

The above story finds young schoolchildren making reference to Sir Edward Carson as 'supreme head'. A pupil who identifies God as the 'supreme head' is called a 'little Sinn Feiner', with an unidentified speaker threatening for the pupil to 'wait till I get you outside'.

It is clear from elements of the stories, images and jokes in The Club Monthly that children and young adults were not unaware of the changing world around them, and were developing their own understanding and views.

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

It is also clear that the major events occuring around them did not preoccupy our authors. There was still schoolwork to complete, bedtime to avoid, and adventures to be had.

The 1921 edition of The Club Monthly features a story concerning the dangers of entering a field with a bull in it - and not heeding your mother's directions to look out for your brother and steer clear of a river.

Take Bob with you Connie, when you go out.

All right mother said Connie.

Be back at six for tea and don't go near the river for fear of Bob falling in, he's so small and try to get some blackberries and I will make a tart for tomorrow's dinner.

I will try mother said Connie. Good-bye come on Bob.

First, they went into a field and got some black-berries and Bob would eat some and blacken his mouth and then wipe it in his overall which Connie knew would make their mother angry, so she got Bob to come out of that field and go into another where there were cows and she thought Bob would like them.

Want to go and ride cows said Bob "no" you must not do that said Connie for they might chase you and then what would you do.

Connie was getting some black-berries and she saw a lot up very high and she was reaching up to get them when she heard a great noise and look round and saw Bob riding on a bull's back round the field at full speed. Oh stop stop cried Connie but the bull rushed on and Bob crying. The bull rushed in to the river and Bob fell off into the water Connie ran down to the river to try and rescue Bob, she was able to get him by getting a rope which was near and dragged him to the bank, and [obscured word] him home.

Girlhood

Each edition of The Club Monthly states clearly who the intended audience is. Each edition welcomes readers on page one with the message, 'The Club Monthly - a magazine for girls'.

It is evident, too, from the content in each magazine that the intended audience is girls and young women. The advertisements chosen to be cut out from publications and pasted into The Club Monthly often concern clothes, beauty, toys, and food.

A handmade magazine showing advertisements copied and pasted from published media.

Like young people today, the authors of The Club monthly were developing their ideas about the world and adulthood from their parents and guardians, their peers, and the media they consumed.

A page from a handmade magazine detailing a competition to design a women's gown.

A page from a handmade magazine showing illustrations of children playing.

A page from a handmade magazine showing women in modest undergarments.

Publication

Last month, we discovered that one edition of The Club Monthly was produced and passed around for readers to enjoy.

This month, we encounter a reader who seems to be reading from South Africa!

A handmade magazine page showing a letter from a reader praising the magazine.

I cannot read your lovely mag. every month without saying something about it.

I am joining a D.A.B society this May. How I wish you could be in it too but I am sure you are too busy.

I'll not be able to write much for next month as I am going in for a music exam.

Love + good wishes to you mag.

Your sinc. friend,

Tilly, South Africa

Puzzles, Tricks and Competitions

While The Club Monthly offers us a unique insight into childhood in the 1920s in Ulster, it offered readers a series of fun activites, jokes and comics. It is evident that a lot of care was put into making The Club Monthly an enjoyable read.

Advice on creating your own dye using beetroot.

A child's game of making your own model.

The instructions for a child's game of making your own model.

Put a piece of beetroot in a wine glass; it will be of a deep red colour. Pour some lime water on it and it will be turned white. Dip a white rag in this, and behold you will have turned it red. Before it is red you must dry it.

How often do some of us wish to eat an orange but how juicy and sticky our hands get. Here's a way that will prevent all that and the orange will peel much easier. Roll the orange in one's hands for two or three minutes before peeling then it will be found to come off beautifully.