Moomin: A Star Is Born

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And finally, Monday September 20th rolled around. With one final teaser on the front page, Moomin made his debut on page six… and Londoners who’d been wondering what this curious strip was about were probably left scratching their heads. It’s one thing to sit and read through the beautifully bound Drawn & Quarterly volumes; but quite another to unpick Finnish wit on a day-by-day basis. Still, there were other distractions:

Monday 20th September 1954

  • London sits on the edge of a dockside strike, with 500 workers set to walk out at 5pm
  • 20-year-old Edgware Town footballer Peter Shaw is paralysed making a save
  • The hunt for the Ruislip Strangler continues; the case would never be solved
  • Thomas Francis, 49, is fined £30 for loitering in Morden

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And here’s that first strip in all its glory:

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The Moomin Campaign: The Final Tease

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And with the Saturday edition, the final teaser panel for Moomin appears before his debut on Monday… or was it? Elsewhere in the world:

Saturday 18th September 1954

  • Police close in on the Ruislip Strangler
  • Rocky Marciano K.O.s Ezzard Charles in the 8th round of the heavyweight title fight
  • Comedian Ronnie Leslie is killed by a tram in Blackpool
  • The Pope had a fleeting attack of hiccoughs

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The Moomin Campaign: Day Five

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Finally, The Evening News gave a little bit of context to the mysterious cipher appearing on the front page- an interview with Tove Jansson (as revealed in this post) about her and Moomin. But what else was happening?

Friday 17th September 1954

  • More London garages ban overtime, resulting in further strike action
  • Rocky Marciano prepares to square up to Ezzard Charles
  • John Foster Dulles leaves London after historic talks
  • A lorry driver in Genoa crashes after a mouse runs up his leg

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The Moomin Campaign: Day Four

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Thursday hoved into view, and by now all of London must have been scratching their heads. Who was this rotund fellow who would be entering their lives on Monday? Today’s (or, as it was written then, to-day’s) paper offered other distractions:

Thursday 16th September 1954

  • Sir Robert Brown Fraser appointed head of the new Independent Television Authority
  • Police seek two men in connection to the murder of the girl in Ruislip, now named as Jean Mary Townsend
  • Churchill calls a special Cabinet meeting to hear the report of Eden’s discussions
  • A 12-year-old boy is left £85,000 by his great grandfather – almost £740,000 today

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The Moomin Campaign: Day Three

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Wednesday rolled around and the teasers for the new Moomin strip continued unabated. But what other pressing issues did he share the front page of the London Evening News with? Let’s see:

Wednesday 15th September 1954

  • The Battle of Britain flypast is postponed until 5pm due to the weather
  • A 19-year-old girl is found strangled in Ruislip
  • Another wildcat bus strike hits 600 workers on seven routes
  • A drunk labourer was found to have £61 – around £530 in today’s money

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