This week has been one of those weeks where a comment left on one of my blog posts actually made me squeal with excitement. Literally.
It can be so easy at times to write about something that you’re really excited about or interested in and then you just get tumbleweed in response. It’s a post that you think loads of people will want to say something about, but you click publish and it’s met with silence. I had feared that that might be what happened with the post I published about Topsy and Tim’s sister Tansy. Having seen how many people happen across this blog after searching on Google for “Topsy and Tim” I was hopeful that there might be some interest, but with the internet you just never know.
What did happen though is that two lovely lovely readers came along, read all about my Topsy, Tim and Tansy discoveries and then left comments voicing their own opinions. One of those readers, now known to me as the wonderful, lovely, amazing Charlotte, went even further by leaving not one, but two comments and also told me that she had Topsy and Tim books in her collecting featuring not just Tansy, but also Topsy and Tim’s adopted brother Teddy too, and if I liked she could email me some photos of them! I mean, how exciting is that on the scale of one to ten?
Needless to say that I messaged her straight back and was then delighted when a series of email appeared in my inbox yesterday afternoon. She has very very kindly agreed that I can share the photos on my blog – so thank you Charlotte!
So, let’s kick off with Topsy and Tim Visit the Dentist.
Now, Charlotte’s copy of this is one of the larger Blackie editions, much like my copy of them visiting the Doctor and once again Tansy is with them.
There’s no real explanation in those book as to where Tansy has appeared from, but it is made clear that this is her first visit to the Dentist with Topsy and Tim.
I’m guessing there must have been a book explaining her arrival, after all kids are kids and I’m sure those children reading it at the time would have asked their parents. But does anyone reading know which book it is please?
The other pictures that Charlotte has kindly sent me are photos of Topsy and Tim’s Pet Show.
In those book Tansy is mentioned by name and appears in a few of the pictures, mainly because the pet show that Topsy and Tim were organising was to raise money for Tansy’s playgroup.
What is particularly interesting though is that the pictures in the book include another child that I am assuming to be Teddy. You can see him sitting on a potty in one picture and then say outside on the grass in another.
There is absolutely no mention of him in the story though which seems a little strange when he’s there in the pictures. But, I’m guessing he had been introduced in a previous story? Possibly in Topsy and Tim’s New Brother than I mentioned in my previous blog post on the subject.
The other picture that Charlotte kindly included in her email was a picture of the back cover of one of the books where they traditionally showed the covers of other Topsy and Tim books that were available. Interestingly you can clearly see Tansy on the covers of the books Topsy and Tim in Holland and Topsy and Tim in Belgium.
My next job is to go and trawl eBay to see which of these I can pick up copies of without having to part with too much money!
Huge, huge thanks to Charlotte for getting in touch, sending me these photos and agreeing that I can use them here. If you have any old Topsy and Tim books that you would like to share, or you can shed any further light on Tansy and Teddy, where they came from and where they vanished to then please do leave me a comment below!
Charlotte says
It’s my pleasure. I am as intrigued as you by the appearance and disappearance of Tansy and Teddy. Just wish I had the books in which they are introduced (if there even is one for Tansy).
Mark says
Hi.
My Mum is a big fan of the Topsy and Tim books and has a fairly large collection. Despite having loads we have never go to the bottom of where Tansy comes from. I’ve spoken to my Mum about it plenty of times and she has pretty much narrowed it down to one of the three or four books she doesn’t own. One observation she has made is that Tansy appears very early in the Topsy and Tim timeline so might be in one of the earliest books published. The book where they get Teddy (Topsy and Tim’s new brother) was published in 1975 so the book that Tansy arrives in must have been published before that date!
Good luck with your search and if you ever get a copy of Topsy and Tim go to the bank in the small format hold on to it, my Mum assures me its the hardest one to get hold of!
Mark says
Hello, I have the Topsy and Tim Cross the Channel, I have posted some images from the book here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/150222650@N04/albums/72157681546967034
Susie says
Teddy is adopted in Topsy and Tim’s New Brother. I don’t know of a book that covers Tansy’s adoption. She also features (well!) in Topsy and Tim Visit the Doctor. I think Teddy and Tansy are both in Wedding but it might just be Tansy.
I’m trying to get hold of all of the books that feature Tansy but it is hard to tell which ones do.
Here are some others I own that do, from memory:
Circus
Sports Day (tiny pics only)
Anyone know of any others?
Penny Carr says
Having just moved house all my collection is in storage at the moment, but I will try and pull them all out soon and work out which ones she features in. I don’t yet have a big enough collection to do a proper analysis, but it’s certainly something I want to achieve!
Mary says
Penny, did you receive my email giving a little Insight into the adoption story?
Mary says
Penny, did you receive my email with information on the adoption story?