UK based independent photo library Mary Evans are now representing the Playhour archive which owns the rights to a number of the most iconic British children’s magazines from the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s. These include Playhour (1954-87), Jack and Jill (1954-87), Harold Hare (1959-64), and Teddy Bear (1963-73), all of which regularly sold hundreds of thousands of copies a week.
They say: ‘The obvious highlights are to be found among the thousands of full-page illustrations, many for fairy tales and stories from Sinbad to the Ugly Duckling. Equally noteworthy is a series of fabulously kitsch and colourful drawings called ‘People You See’, full of immaculate delivery men and impeccably-behaved children gazing in admiration at the Avon lady or the traffic light cleaner – below
In addition to the publisher’s file copies of these magazines, the archive includes much of the original artwork – meaning that many of these vintage images can now be reproduced to an exceptional standard.
Search, view & license the illustrations here
