Jaci Dawn

I confess to breezing through these two books, both in satisfactory condition, and from my mother’s childhood book collection (the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree – only I kept every damn book, and she just kept her favorite childhood ones).

The first was written by a very familiar author, L.M. Montgomery: “Magic for Marigold”.

First Editions go for a nice $60-$75, in good condition. This is a second edition, printed in 1929. I am not a good judge of this book: I read “Anne of Green Gables in junior high, and I am one the very few young girls who did not fall in love with Anne, and Lucy Maud Montgomery. I do read fan fiction by authors who love her works, but it’s really not my genre.

Marigold is engaging in the first chapter, and quite funny. I fell in love with the cats, Lucifer and The Witch of Endor. Marigold never trusted the pair, but she loved all the kittens. And that’s really all I have to say about it, because that is all that engaged me. A true romantic would have been in love with the book. A true fan would love the book. Sadly, I am neither.

My first thought was, “You’re not serious? Isn’t this a comic strip?” Then I wondered who June Gueldner was. The book was published in 1943 and is worth only a few dollars, even in Vintage condition: too many were published, too many survive, and Brenda Starr only retired a few years ago, after 71 years in the comic strip business.

Still, this is an original by the original comic strip artist, Dale Messick. And it is rife with 1940’s clichés about working women. Oy vey. No wonder my mom was a feminist ahead of her time.She knew Brenda Starr was a romantic farce.

Yeah. Pretty much. It’s about a smart girl who becomes a damsel in distress and is rescued by someone tall, blonde, and handsome. We should all sigh collectively.

I do think Brenda evolved into a feminist after Dale Messick retired and other artists took over the trade. She stayed in her twenties throughout her entire life. And, truthfully, she paved the way for a lot of us feminists by being a Girl Reporter and getting the job done. Instead of mocking her, I should be thanking her.

Thank you, Brenda, for paving the way for women in the news business. Brenda had “moxie”, and a lot of it.

Yeah. I do not make this stuff up.

Fortunately, the last person to wear that hideous outfit was Pesky, that freckled guy on the left. The clam shells looked better on him in cartoon.

So — on to the next reading adventure!!