Room 2D

Five more illustrations from the Contents pages of Janus magazine by Paula Meadows (and I've snuck in one by a different artist close to our hearts). From Janus 22. This is a theme Paula returned to — a gust of wind parting curtains to reveal domestic discipline to the gaze of a passer-by. From Janus 23. Playing tennis inside the house was always likely to end in tears. From Janus 24. I’ve left this in sequence, but this one is not in fact by Paula but by our very own Darcy. This young lady has been put into a very embarrassing position for a severe punishment. Is her ordeal over yet? From Janus 25. A shadow looms over these two carefully-positioned and cowering miscreants. Surely a severe caning awaits. From Janus 26. A peeping Tom…   As a bonus, here is a later version of Darcy’s Janus 24 illustration done by the artist himself.

Having now opened all 24 windows, Culver has been kind enough to share his special Curmudgeon’s Advent Calendar. Happy Christmas one and all.

A seasonal treat from Culver featuring lovely Moira from In a Gentleman’s Employ . Another festive offering from Culver will appear this time tomorrow…

For most of its modern incarnation Janus magazine featured a one-off drawing by one of its resident artists on the Contents page. These warrant more attention than a glance in passing as one avidly checks the line up of delights in a newly acquired mag. Paula Meadows provided the illustrations from issue 16 to 43 and then returned to do a few more from issue 152 onwards. Here is a first batch of five. From Janus 16. A smashed vase while dusting will cost this young chambermaid dearly at the hands of the stern housekeeper. From Janus 18. Some priceless facial expressions — the schoolgirl awaiting her turn with the Head looks like she might wet herself with fright. From Janus 19. A nice schoolgirl portrait but nothing particularly indicating that a punishment is in the offing. From Janus 20. Some nautical discipline being applied to a young rating by the Captain. From Janus 21. This is clearly a household with old-fashioned...

Another nice one-off comic strip by Paula Meadows, from Janus 30

A nice little one-off comic strip by Paula Meadows from Janus 20 Julie must be out of her mind, coming in from badminton practice at 1.24 am. She promised her parents she’d be home by nine o’clock at the very latest. They’re terrified someone might take advantage of their daughter, who never stops flaunting her lovely body. Tempers frayed, they’ve stayed up waiting for her once again. ‘YOU’RE FOUR AND A HALF HOURS LATE, JULIE!’ her father roars. ‘WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?’ — ‘She’s been out with a boy, I’m sure!’ her mother wails despairingly, ‘Where else could she have been?’ Both completely disbelieve her pathetic cover-story. Even at 17 Julie is not too old for really strict old-fashioned discipline. Her father is determined to make her bottom sting like fury this time for her lies, her cheek and her disobedience. Right now he’s a very angry man. ‘ You’re going to wish you’d never been born, young lady! ’ he yel...

From Janus 27 Francesca utterly loathes having to do any form of physical exercise. With a figure like hers it’s embarrassing trying to compete with her fellow pupils, plus she hates the exertion involved. She far prefers stuffing cream buns into her face — which she does at every available opportunity. At netball practice she hides around a corner hoping she won’t be noticed. But who’s this coming now but the Headmistress herself! ‘What’s this?! Trying to get out of netball practice again, Francesca? You should be thoroughly ashamed of yourself, you lazy girl! This is the third time this term I’ve caught you hiding around here! Do you never stop eating, you disgusting creature?! Follow me into the gymnasium at once!!’ Not for the first time today, Francesca the school fattie looks and sounds as if she’s about to be sick. ‘Over the horse with you, you useless good-for-nothing lump of lard! You know perfectly well that cuttin...

From Roué 43. This was the last ever Spankers Gallery feature. Biology had never been one of Cindy Bracewell’s strongest subjects. Had her teacher — even every now and then — chosen to deal with the workings of the human body instead of waffling on about the wonder of frogspawn or the miracles of the kingdom of plants, she might have shown something bordering on interest. As it was, she never failed to be bored in the extreme by Mr Reed’s weekly sessions in the lab. This particular lesson had been no exception; indeed, Cindy’s inattentiveness had caused the teacher to instruct her to report back to the laboratory at the end of the school day. This was by no means a rare event; Mr Reed quite often had the leggy, blonde-haired, blue-eyed sixth-former report to him, and these visits usually resulted in Cindy being set extra homework — such as a thousand-word essay on the reproductive system of the monitor lizard. Cindy’s final lesson finished early, and when making her way along to ...

From Roué 42 The rebellious nature of Samantha Jane Hollingshead was first brought to the attention of her Headmaster, Oswald Cantrell, during a chat with the school’s PT teacher, Amanda Luke. On one of his pre-prandial prowls around the establishment he had — as was his wont — popped his balding head around the door of the gymnasium changing rooms, and found the young woman in her office disposing of a pair of knickers. Like the gentleman he was, he cleared his throat discreetly. At first startled, Miss Luke, having regained her composure, welcomed the old man, who entered her office, his eyes focussing on the waste-paper basket wherein lay the feminine garment. Realising an explanation was called for, the woman told Mr Cantrell that one of the girls — the aforementioned Samantha Jane — had chosen to turn up for gym that morning without the regulation clothing. In answer to the questioning look on the man’s face, Miss Luke went on to expound upon her statement. ‘She did not have h...

From Roué 40 Every week upon the publication of the local paper Mrs Chandler would turn immediately to the classified ads section and, in particular, to the part headed  SERVICES . For two months she had scanned these columns in the hope that she would find a suitably qualified tutor for her daughter Debbie. Over this period she had replied to numerous advertisers only to learn that such people were few and far between. There had, however, been a couple who appeared to ‘come up to scratch’, but as these were men — and, since the circumstances which brought about her divorce, she didn’t trust the male species an inch — she declined their services. She had all but given up hope of finding a tutor for Debbie when one Thursday she came across the following advertisement:  TUITION OFFERED FOR GIRLS. MATHS UP TO ‘A’ LEVEL STANDARD. RECENTLY RETIRED BOARDING SCHOOL MISTRESS. FEES NEGOTIABLE ‘Phone: Hove …… Without delay she contacted the woman and a meeting between the two was ...

Story from Blushes 28. A follow-up of sorts to  The Cellar  and Sally-Anne . If a girl wasn’t conscientious about those things; rent, train fares, lunches — well, you could go without lunches, of course, and could even pretend that not having lunch was good for you, especially if you had a tendency to put on the odd pound or two. The odd pound or two — that was Sally’s weak point. Pounds; at the moment, actually, twenty three pounds, which was what she paid for her two rooms and half a bathroom, each week. Well, was  supposed  to pay, only — if a girl wasn’t conscientious about these things — Basil was pottering about in the cellar, tidying up. Hiding the evidence, more like; there was a dull rattle as he slid the slender cane, which he’d used on Sally’s bum, down behind a pipe which rose up the whitewashed wall to the gas meter. Behind a board in the joist-supported ceiling there was a little collection of th...