Auntie Ivy And Sir Edmund Hillary

Today was another for dozing over a book. This is Thomas Armstrong’s ‘Pilling Always Pays’, which I will review when I have finished it.

When my Auntie Ivy died in 1965 I was honoured that she left me her book collection. She had been a member of the Companion Book Club, a branch of Odham’s Press, which published reasonably priced, well produced, volumes on a monthly basis. These books, from the 1950s and the 1960s, are still sold by many dealers on the internet. The quality of their paper remains far fresher than the very browned pages of Jonathan Cape’s 1987 publication of ‘Einstein’s Monsters’.

Tucked inside the dust jacket of my 1956 copy of ‘Pilling Always Pays’ is the March issue of the organisation’s monthly newsletter, The Companion. One very reluctant announcement inside was that the price of books was rising from 4s 6d (22 1/2p) to 4s 9d (24p).

The Companion

There was also a fuller description of the cover feature.

New Zealander, Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tensing Norgay had been the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest on 29th May 1953, just in time for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

I was roused from my stupor by a surprise visit from Mat, Becky, and Poppy. There followed a lovely family time.

Hordle Chinese Take Away is not open on Mondays, so Jackie, Becky, and Poppy bought our evening meal from Oliver’s in Old Milton.