Playhour

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British children's magazine

title: "Playhour" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["comics-magazines-published-in-the-united-kingdom", "children's-magazines-published-in-the-united-kingdom", "1954-comics-debuts", "1987-comics-endings", "magazines-established-in-1954", "magazines-disestablished-in-1987", "defunct-british-comics", "fleetway-and-ipc-comics-titles", "text-comics"] description: "British children's magazine" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playhour" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary British children's magazine ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox comic book title "]

FieldValue
scheduleWeekly
ongoingy
Humory
publisherAmalgamated Press
Fleetway Publications
IPC Magazines
startmo16 October
startyr1954
endmo15 August
endyr1987
issues1700
main_char_teamPrince, the Wonder Dog of the Golden West
Sonny and Sally of Happy Valley
artistsSep E. Scott, Peter Woolcock, Hugh McNeill, Nadir Quinto, Ron Embleton, Basil Reynolds, H. M. Talintyre, Ron Nielsen, Walter Bell, Fred Robinson, Fred Holmes, Philip Mendoza, Fred White, Harry Pettit, Harold McReady, Douglas Turnbull, Eric Stephens, Tom Kerr, Geoff Squire, Bert Felstead, Gordon Hutchings, Tony Hutchings, Roger Hutchings, Barbara C. Freeman, Rene Cloke, Henry Seabright, Virginio Livraghi, Ferguson Dewar, Leslie Branton and Arthur Baker, Jesus Blasco
subcatFleetway and IPC Comics
nonUSy
::

|image = |image_size = |caption = |schedule = Weekly |ongoing = y |Humor = y |publisher = Amalgamated Press Fleetway Publications IPC Magazines |startmo = 16 October |startyr = 1954 |endmo = 15 August |endyr = 1987 |issues = 1700 |main_char_team = Prince, the Wonder Dog of the Golden West Sonny and Sally of Happy Valley |writers = |artists = Sep E. Scott, Peter Woolcock, Hugh McNeill, Nadir Quinto, Ron Embleton, Basil Reynolds, H. M. Talintyre, Ron Nielsen, Walter Bell, Fred Robinson, Fred Holmes, Philip Mendoza, Fred White, Harry Pettit, Harold McReady, Douglas Turnbull, Eric Stephens, Tom Kerr, Geoff Squire, Bert Felstead, Gordon Hutchings, Tony Hutchings, Roger Hutchings, Barbara C. Freeman, Rene Cloke, Henry Seabright, Virginio Livraghi, Ferguson Dewar, Leslie Branton and Arthur Baker, Jesus Blasco |pencillers = |inkers = |letterers = |colorists = |editors = |creative_team_month = |creative_team_year = |creators = |TPB = |ISBN = |TPB# = |ISBN# = |subcat = Fleetway and IPC Comics |altcat = |addpubcat# = |nonUS = y Playhour was a British children's comics magazine published by Amalgamated Press/Fleetway/IPC between 16 October 1954 and 15 August 1987, a run of approximately 1,700 weekly issues. Playhour contained a mixture of original tales for young children and adaptations of well-known fairy tales (drawn by Nadir Quinto, Ron Embleton, Jesus Blasco and others).

Publication history

Originally published under the title Playhour Pictures, it was intended as a companion to Jack and Jill, initially aimed at a slightly older audience. The lead strip in its early days was Prince, the Wonder Dog of the Golden West, drawn by Sep E. Scott.

With issue #32 (21 May 1955), the title of the publication was shortened to Playhour and it lowered its target age-group, introducing comic strips based on A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh and Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, both drawn by Peter Woolcock.

1956 saw the arrival of Sonny and Sally of Happy Valley, two children (and their pet lamb) who were to be associated with the title until its demise in 1987. The stories of Sonny and Sally (drawn by Hugh McNeill) were initially related in rhyming couplets, as were a number of other early stories, although by the end of the 1970s the stories were written in normal prose form. (Others were told in captions below the illustration, or text comics, as Playhour avoided the use of word balloons.) Sonny and Sally "wrote" the weekly editorial letter and children writing to the publisher's editorial address (Cosy Corner, The Fleetway House, Farringdon Street, London E.C.4) would receive replies "signed" by Sonny and Sally.

Mergers

It was standard practice in the twentieth-century British comics industry to merge a magazine into another one when it declined in sales. Typically, three stories or strips from the cancelled magazine would continue for a while in the surviving magazine, and both titles would appear on the cover (one in a smaller font than the other) until the title of the cancelled magazine was eventually dropped. Playhour exemplified this practice, with nine other publications merging into it over the course of its existence:

Series published in ''Playhour''

  • Billy Brock's Schooldays
  • Bunny Cuddles
  • Jolly Days with Dicky and Dolly
  • The Dolly Girls
  • Leo the Friendly Lion
  • Little Red Squirrel
  • The Magic Roundabout, based on the TV series
  • The Merry Tales of Mimi and Marmy
  • Mr Men, based on the children's book series on Roger Hargreaves
  • Norman Gnome
  • Num Num and His Funny Family
  • Pinky and Perky, based on the TV series
  • Prince, the Wonder Dog of the Golden West
  • Sonny and Sally of Happy Valley
  • Sooty, based on the TV series
  • Tiger Tim and the Bruin Boys
  • Tommy Trouble
  • The Travels of Gulliver Guinea-Pig
  • Wink and Blink, the Playful Puppies
  • The Wonderful Tales of Willow Wood

References

Sources

References

  1. [https://www.comicpriceguide.co.uk/uk_comic.php?tc=playhour "Playhour,"] ''The Comic Book Price Guide for Great Britain''. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  2. "''Robin''".
  3. "''Hey Diddle Diddle''".
  4. "''Bonnie''".

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comics-magazines-published-in-the-united-kingdomchildren's-magazines-published-in-the-united-kingdom1954-comics-debuts1987-comics-endingsmagazines-established-in-1954magazines-disestablished-in-1987defunct-british-comicsfleetway-and-ipc-comics-titlestext-comics