Miss Marianne Martindale's 'Wildfire Club' Publications: In Answer to a Reader's Inquiry

Anonymous' has left a new comment on the posting "More on Non-Corporal Punishment / Discipline" in which he (or she – there are some that visit here) asks whether there is any chance of posting the missing pages from the scanned extracts I posted regarding written impositions. (Way back on Thursday, 8 October 2009; Nostalgia–holic Garth).

The thing is: the book the extracts he (or she) is referring to came from is not one of mine but rather a work entitled 'THE FEMALE DISCIPLINARY MANUAL'. Now, I don't think it is right to scan in someone else's work in its entirety – a few snatches, sure (that's just being a little like Google books) but not everything; not even a complete section. In fact I'm not at all sure that I even posted a complete page, just isolated pargraphs mostly, cut and pasted together in a photo-manipulation package. However there is a link on the page (Click HERE or click on the blog page title above to visit) that will take you to an earlier group of extracts that I had previously posted.

Unfortunately I didn't have sufficient time to scan any more of the work – let alone the complete book – even for my own future delectation and delight. Secondly; sadly I no longer have the book, having since donated it to my good E-friend and arty collaborator 'Snooze' over there in the 'States, who's work you will have come across here gracing one or two past postings. The book was published by Miss Marianne Martindale's 'Wildfire Club' ca 1996 (-ish; I think) and – like the example of another of their publications I came across, above – was by Miss Regina Snow. Have a Google! I'm sure you'll find a fair selection of new and used copies through the usual outlets.

As for myself; I have recently returned from a little tour around the Romney Marsh area of Kent (Hythe, Dymchurch, Camber Sands, Lydde) and ajoining regions of East Sussex (Rye, Hastings, Battle and Winchelsea) – of which more next time.

Louis Malteste: I tried it… And I liked it!

An anonymous contributor wrote, as a comment appended to my last posting : “The first illustration is by an artist who went by the name of Louis Malteste (French 1870-1920). If you enlarge the posted illustration you can make out his signature. In addition to producing formal works of art he also illustrated erotic French novels. More of his outstanding spanking illustrations can be found on the web by searching his name.”

Well I tried it… And I liked it So much so that I just couldn’t resist posting up this little confection I came across, happened upon at a blog called “The Seduction of Venus” (now added to blog list – see right hand sidebar) a wondrous repository of “erotic artworks and photographs from throughout history”. Well worth a visit! Just click the blog’s title, above, or search out in the blog listing. I'd come across one or two works in this style in the past but I'd never specifically searched for Louis Malteste's work before. There is quite a body of work out there it turns out, and quite a lot capable of kick-starting the jaded imagination. Refreshing and just what I needed (thanks for that 'Anonymous')!

Actually I have come across quite a few blogs new to me of late while researching certain topics to finish off the new book. Most I have already added to the blog roll and I’ll post a complete list next time.

'Psychological Governance’, Nuns and the 'Wayward Girl'

A series of pieced-together extracts from a series of articles regarding certain religious houses for ‘morally wayward girls’ that existed through the 1950s and even up until the 1970s, offering “shelter and guidance to vulnerable girls and women.”

“The Sisters and courts working together decided when a girl was ready to leave the Home, but since the courts in turn relied on the Mother Supior's recomendations, her word was effectively law" and woe betide the girl who threatened the status quo - or who she took a shine to!
"Security and rehabilitation were big issues. The girls could not be trusted and neither could the outside world. To prevent residents from seeing the outside world and leaving the Home, locked doors and opaque glass had been installed behind barred windows, barbed wire fences, and alarm systems. There was no television, nor radio; listening to music was allowed, though the girls weren’t allowed to listen to male voices. [At mealtimes] the girls [were obliged to maintain] silence as they entered the dining room and sat down. Two nuns supervised lunch from an elevated platform and they frequently used the time to read and censor the girls' mail. In the dormitory, [each girl’s] toiletries [had to be kept] lined up with precision, with each item being assigned a specific placement.

Though these measures appeared harsh for some; for others, it offered protection and safety and enabled to them to concentrate on [rehabilitation]. In the sewing room, the girls and nuns made school uniforms, all clothing being [marked with a number, designating the individual girl.].”

From another source we hear of the “unfortunate necessity” to employ “certain drastic measures and remedies [in order] to control the risk of the introduction and spread of head lice”. And that although “alternatives were available and marketed at very little expense”, a preventative approach was to be preferred and “conferred certain other advantages”. The article goes on to guardedly hint at these ‘advantages’ pertaining to “good order and discipline” and to “the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience”. We are left in blissful, blameless ignorance as to the details of these ‘unfortunate’ “drastic measures and remedies” and their ramifications – but we might hazard a guess.

Here again there is mention of the importance of an “emphasis on silence as a means of focussing attention on God”, “frugality in all things” and the provision of what is described as a “bare ‘maintenance diet’ – sufficient to keep from losing weight, yet [insufficient] t o risk encouraging the sin of gluttony with its associated unwarranted weight gain”. This particular institution was said to have “embodied regimented discipline”, imposed “extreme restriction on freedom of movement and privacy” and to have “embraced a culture of petty rules and restrictions” that “limited to the extreme [the] opportunities [for] forming personal one to one relationships between inmates”. The emphasis throughout was “one of conformity” with a “reliance on corporal punishment [for the maintenance] of discipline and good order”.

Elsewhere, albeit regarding an entirely separate establishment, it is somewhat enigmatically stated that “…the more closely [the institution] is modelled on the judicious application of the principle of psychological governance, the more salutary will be its discipline, and the fewer occasions will arise for resort to actual [physical] punishment”.

What this cryptic ‘principle of psychological governance’ might have consisted of is not expanded upon. However, it is noteworthy that in the same pamphlet it goes on to state that: “…any physical chastisement [may] consist of moderate childish punishment with the hand or punishments with the cane, strap, or birch” and that “only a light cane or rod [should] be used for the purpose of corporal punishment inflicted on an open palm”. Certain orders of nuns had experience of setting up and governing correctional facilities for women stretching back three hundred years or more, so one may assume that they knew what they were doing when it came to exercising control – psychological or otherwise – and that any young woman, however blameless, once delivered in to their hands would have quickly come to the conclusion that defiance was not an option. Nor was the likelihood of absconding particularly buoying, as I am given to understand it – after all the nuns had had time aplenty to refine the security precautions surrounding their ‘sanctuary for wayward young women’. And security was essential if they were to protect a young woman from further sin – even if (particularly if, some would say) that ‘sin’ or ‘moral infraction’ amounted to little more than having run from a craftily manipulative stepparent, an intolerably overbearing governess or a cruelly exploitative and equally manipulative guardian or indeed just having foolhardily rejected certain amorous advances.

One should never lose sight of that old “Victorian propensity to commit errant wives and stepdaughters to the asylum at the drop of a hat (or at the hint of an inheritance)”. And often a charitable donation made to such an institution spoke volumes, certainly carrying as much weight, if not more, than a learned doctor’s opinion (although the latter could be easily enough swayed if one had sufficient influence). There seems little doubt that certain of these ecclesiastical ‘shelters’ may well have fulfilled a similar purpose, a simple statement attesting to the poor thing’s ‘hysterical instability’, propensity to ‘overwrought imaginings’ and ‘delusion and derangement’ being enough to ensure that none would pay heed to any objections, accusations or entreaties the pretty, doe-eyed teenager might voice. Some mention of sexual impropriety included in the documentation, and a ‘well appointed’ buxom teenager could be assured a very hard time indeed under the reforming hand of the Mother Superior. And of course there was the added attraction of the possibility of visitation and the knowledge that any complaints, especially as such became - as they were sure to over time - more insistent and hysterical, would simply be recorded as yet more evidence of “the poor thing’s mental aberration”; more evidence to be recounted to the governors of the local asylum when the time came, should that be her guardian’s or stepmother’s wish.

The nun’s own isolation was sacrosanct and they had not been averse to adopting new modern ways over time to ensure it remained so. Similarly, it seems they had not been fazed when it came to applying modern methods to wielding the rigid control over their charges they deemed necessary in order to protect the more defiant, incorrigible and diffident of their young inmates ‘from themselves’ and once again one’s imagination is stimulated to muse over the cryptic use of that term; ‘psychological governance’.

Now, That is What I Call Domination! Or is it? Discuss! (Part 1)

See last post for explanation (but read this bit first as the last posting follows on from it)

In the comments section a couple of posts ago 'imreadonl2' wrote something interesting that caught my attention, whetted my appetite and got the ball rolling - now lets see where it rolls to:

'imreadonl2' wrote “The wonder of "institutionalization" is the way that it quickly destroys a girl's identity and sense of self.

Attending classes, eating with the other girls in the mess hall, sleeping next to them in the dorm, wearing your smart uniform, with the tie knotted tightly and your white socks straight, toeing the line. Guilty-or-not, it is soon impossible think of yourself as anything but "one of the girls."

And then there are the little indignities, which taken together, add up to a crushing weight: being addressed by your last name, being scolded for slouching, or being swatted across the behind and accused of "dallying" when you pause to chatter with your friends.

Relentlessly belittled and corrected, your self-esteem rapidly erodes. You come to think of yourself as "incorrigible" and "delinquent", the memory of your past accomplishments and accolades fading as rapidly as a forgotten dream.

You hate it when the Headmaster brings tour groups thru while you're in the shower, and feel humiliated as you feel the male visitor's eye's roam freely up and down your naked body. You comfort yourself that they don't you, or, to be more accurate, who you once were, and now see you only as what you (in your heart) now know that you are, just another naked delinquent justly and properly sentenced to an indefinite term of strict reformatory discipline.

I reply:

"Hi, 'imreadonly2'! That's an interesting analysis of the concept of the destruction (I prefer 'erosion' for some reason) of “a girl's identity and sense of self.” But it does bring up a couple of issues. For example, take the phrase; '...pause to chatter with [her] friends.'

This partial phrase in itself raises two questions in my mind. (1) Should a detainee be allowed sufficient latitude to form close relationships in the first place and (2) should inter-detainee 'chatter' be allowed under any circumstances, whatever form it might take? Imagine the sense of isolation suffered by the poor thing if surrounded by a cohort of others yet disallowed from communicating directly with any of them in any manner, under the continual threat of the cane or the strap for any slip – or indeed one of several subtle psychological punishments of even greater corrective efficacy. Surely far more psychologically stressful – if lovingly instigated, supervised, and with sufficient attention to detail - than simple solitary confinement?

The part about a subject “relentlessly belittled and corrected” resulting in rapid erosion of self-esteem and the subject coming to think of herself as "incorrigible" and "delinquent" is interesting, although I'm not fond of the terms “incorrigible" and "delinquent" in this context – 'inferior' or 'inept' might be more apt terms. As for “...the [the subject's] memory of past accomplishments and accolades fading as rapidly as a forgotten dream.” Yes, this would seem a worthwhile outcome to be expected of such a regimen. I seem to think that both aspects have been explored - both social isolation and continual belittling and correction - have been employed in a psychological research context in the past. The latter belittling and correction approach could indeed be applied quite subtly given the right context, so subtly and gradually that the subject herself might not be consciously aware of what is happening to her even as her personality is being remodeled according to someone else's template.

Now that. I think, is real domination!

On the right: The Finished Article? (Actually, just how right is this pic? Fantastic? Certainly got me thinking! If only her hands were in the prayer position it would be perfection - it's that close! Taken, or re-blogged or whatever you'd like to call it, from Cornertime for naughty girls, just click pic to visit - highly recommended!)

Now, That is What I Call Domination! Or is it? Discuss! (Part 2)

I am currently sitting, working through my email pile in an Enfield (North London) coffee bar (Neros – it has free WiFi but too many screaming babies). In writing terms I am 'high and at the moment having self-forbidden alcohol for medical reasons (? alcoholic peripheral neuropathy) and if not for that selfsame email burden would have been otherwise left completely devoid of inspiration. As it is the though has suddenly struck me that it might be instructive and inspirational to all concerned if I were to more widely disseminate a dialog that seems to have developed between regular contributor, 'imreadonly2' and yours truly.

Partly this is a reiteration of some part of the comments section of an earlier post, partly it is taken from an email correspondence occasioned by the aforementioned contributor having found himself falling foul of some sort of quota limitation or other technical problem relating to the comments section.

All this I shall shortly post in two parts – this being part 2 - taking the most recent last so that it reads in a linear fashion and thus the flow of ideas is a more natural, intuitive one. The idea is that it should become an ongoing interaction, with all and sundry joining, thus stimulating imagination, ideas and creativity all round. I also hope to add some suitable pics as we go along – perhaps retrospectively.

Continued: See post immediately above.

'imreadonl2' wrote: “Whether "chatter" (and friendships) are allowed between the inmates is an interesting point, worthy of some discussion.

Total social isolation for long periods leads inexorably to insanity, so although isolation can be used for punishment, some form of social interaction is required. This was discovered at Eastern State Penitentiary when the Quakers introduced a reform system based on prayer and solitary confinement in the 18th century, and the inmates went mad.

I prefer a mixed model. When the girls are working in the mill, or in the plantation fields harvesting the crops, chatter is considered a distraction from work, and is punished.

However, the reformatory itself is run like a strict boarding school, and the girls (all over 18, or in their 20's or 30's) are allowed to "chatter" between classes, and during sports and such. But such communication is not pleasure, but rather a means to an end.

All communications are closely monitored, both thru a series of well compensated stoolies and prefects, and thru surveillance devices the girls are entirely unaware of. Friendships are allowed to form, but can easily be broken down when the surveillance is used to convince one of the girls that her ersatz "friend" has betrayed her to the Headmaster. Feeling betrayed, the girl becomes even more socially isolated and alone, and dependent on the direction of her masters.

Teasing and bullying is encouraged, both to break down the spirit of the girls, and as part of the social order to keep the girls inline, as it allows the girls to largely police themselves. A "good" girl can become the lesbian bitch of a tougher inmate, and then be punished by her fellow inmates gang for the misdeeds she refuses to, and by the authorities in charge for the crimes she does reluctantly commit (including the forced lesbianism itself). Placing the "good" girl in such an impossible situation quickly erodes her sense of righteousness, and gradually convinces her that the court's sentence of delinquency was in fact entirely justified.

Your point is you prefer incompetence to delinquency, but that can be accomplished as well. A girl who is particularly pretty may be fitted with dental braces, with head gear that must be worn 24/7, giving her a lisp. Another girl may be given special exercises for her "chicken legs" or an especially distasteful diet to help her "manage her weight." A young woman good at math can be placed in a Latin class; a former doctor may be made to scrub bedpans in the ward, where her medical advice is pointedly ignored. Or perhaps she is given a diuretic that makes her wet the bed, and is then made to wear a sailor's cap, and a sign that says "Sailor Sandy" for the next week, so she can be teased by the other girls.

The young woman may or may not be aware of the psychological underpinnings of what is being done to her, but understanding it will make it all the more painful. Slowly, inexorably, she will feel herself slipping away… ”

I Forgot the Title

Hi people! I've been writing most of today, which is a promising sign, though I'm still suffering badly with tingling (like nettle rash - without the rash) forearms and hands (mainly the backs) of which more next time. Last time I reported having removed 'britishspankingmags' from the sidebar blog list and that the site no longer held any content in any case. Today I had reason to search around on the internet and I have now located ‘British Spanking Magazines’ alive and well on Blogspot at http://britishspankingmagazines.blogspot.com/.

Running "stories from old spanking mags, such as Blushes, Roué [my correction], Janus, Februs, Swish, Kane etc" and published "In memory of Alex Birch" it promises to be both an important resource and a refresher course in all that helped form my interests through that important period, the 1980s, and that went on to inspire and inform my own writing. In fact almost the first thing to greet my eyes was one of my all-time fave pics from that powerhouse of the genre, 'Uniform Girls' (see above and just click pic to visit the blog, or look for the link in the sidebar blog list).

'Wringing' Out the Inspiration

Hi folks. I was going to put up a few views of post-'riot' Wood Green North London but I have just had a change of heart. I have now worked out how to download the photo's off of my phone (took all of two minutes) but while reorganising the various folders on the desktop computer I came across an archive of 'Wringer's' photoshots that I had gathered together for my own enjoyment from various sources.

No matter what has been stamped across one of them, these are - to my knowlege at least - all the work of 'Wringer'. My first inclination was to load these on to a memory stick and upload them from my holiday hotel (WiFI extra but 'reasonable' I have been assured). On second thoughts there is always the chance of said memory stick falling into 'judgemental' hands while passing through customs or what ever, by being stolen or indeed lost and so I decided to quickly upload now and to take the riot pics (not very exciting, frankly) and a couple of pics from my last holiday (Pompeii, Herculaneum, Mount Vesuvius - that sort of thing) and upload them later in the week from the island of Koss. Some of these Wringer pics you will have seen before, perhaps here, and other's you will have not.

They are also widely variable in terms of resolution etc - but this reflects their various sources; all now lost in the mist of time but including several Yahoo Groups I seem to remember. The thing is how one almost automatically tends to weave a multitude of tales around them, individually or as a set - I think it has a lot to do with the ambiguity of the background (especially in those atmospheric black and white shots) along with the institutional appearance of the bed, leaving one's imagination to fill in the gaps as to whether one is being made privy to a domestic or an institutional scenario. Wonderful stuff!
I have to be off now. Gym first (if it ain't been burnt!) then off to Gatwick, leaving North London around 4 o'clock this afternoon. The flight is not until tomorrow, but it is at 4 o'clock in the morning!!! and so, I am staying in Gatwick for the night. I guess in theory I need not leave London until late this evening, but I want to miss the rush hour (about four hours these days) and also preempt some genius coming up with the idea of burning the stations... Just a matter of time!!!

Hi to 'Orage' there! Good to hear from you too! Hi, too, to anyone who has emailed and still waiting for a reply or who has not heard from me for some time (especialy 'Snooze' and 'Miha')- I hope to catch up on my emails while away, along with completing my commissioned piece (which I must say has down much to reawaken me!), and so you should hear from me in the next week.

Oh! And I forgot to say: INSTITUTIONALISED volume 3 is now available in the Ebook format through Andrews UK LTD at Amazon Kindle (click to visit). I be setting up a direct link in the right hand sidebar sometime in the near future.

That Old School Summer Dress

Just came across the blog 'Discipline Her' being "Tiffany Scarlet's spanking musings" on Wordpress.co (click to visit or check out the blog link list in the right hand sidebar). And I am jolly glad that I did, too as one of the first entries I happened to blunder upon – not necessarily the latest – featured this brace of charming shots taken from Blushes (I think it was – certainly one of that stable; though it might just be from Roue I suppose) that I did have in my collection at one time but that seems to been mislaid over the years; I have been looking for a replacement for some time in fact. The photo set this is taken from dates back to the mid to late 1980s though the room setting might almost suggest the 1970s.

.....

The dress design itself possibly dates from the late 1960s. Why I think this is that I once uncovered an old woman's magazine dating back to that period featuring a pattern for a near identical dress while taking up some lino in a house I was involved in renovating. It is the modest high collar that I think makes the thing work and though not perfect I still think it goes a long way towards forming the design basis for a school uniform summer-dress suitable for the older teen being educated at home or indeed held in a strict privately run institution.

.....

Any thoughts or suggestions? What improvements /changes might you make, if any?

School Uniform for the Less Mature Older Teen and Twenty-Something

Remember when a while ago I featured a composite construct created and sent in by a contributor of his vision of the ideal school uniform suitable for the late teen or even the less than mature young lady in her early twenties? No? Then click here or scroll down the page a ways. As has been pointed out, it was very much in the style of the American Catholic schoolgirl. While not ordinarily ideally to my personal taste – far too contemporary, you see – nevertheless there is potential there for a starting point. Why the (partial) change of heart? Well while perusing the web I came upon what I believe to be one of the finest implementations of that style of uniform I have ever seen – and I have trolled through the entire SchoolTeasers,com collection in my time (and very good it is too!). I blundered into this particular example, though, on someone's blog late one night recently and for the life of me I have not been able to track down which one. I don't remember the text with it saying so but I wouldn't mind betting it originated on The Real spanking Institute site (click site name to visit) – it has their 'signature'. I visited the aforementioned site fairly recently in my search for new and appropriate affiliate opportunities to sign up to in the hope of offsetting the ever falling book sales on Lulu and was most impressed.

Talking of affiliates; of the few featured here, at least one at present generates no revenue at all as recently there has been a change of ownership and I have yet to sign up for their new scheme . I will get around to it eventually, but at the moment most of my efforts are gong into finishing the book – at present standing at a ridiculous 390 pages and close on a quarter of a million words (no, really). It really is going to have to be split into two some how, but the question is; in which way? There are two interwoven threads and three overlapping time periods... Oh God! What have I done? (Author throws hands up in despair in quiet coffee shop – one or two customers scuttle away with worried looks on their faces - “it's that long-haired nutter in the corner again! Chuck 'im out, quickly!”)

Composite Uniform Design and the Imagination

'Madmonkey' wrote to me recently by email (well, 4 days ago) to say: “ Awhile back on your ‘behind the barred window’ blog you asked what everyone thought was the perfect fantasy school uniform [It was Thursday, 2 December 2010: Best Gymslip Design of all Time? You Tell Me (click to view)– Garth the ever attentive Archivist]. Attached is a picture I made from a composite of other pictures and is what I think of as the perfect school uniform for the recalcitrant young lady (or grown woman one needs out of the way).”

Well, here is the fruit of Madmonkey’s labour (above left). Thanks for that, Madmonkey old chap. It’s an interesting idea don’t you think, this composite idea. The would-be designer could in principle put together all sorts of combinations of elements on the figure of one’s choice, pillaging from both old and new. In particular some of those old classic black and white shots could be first colourised in Photoshop or its equivalent and elements – or perhaps whole outfits – put together in imaginative ways. Alternatively the designer might leave the source material in monochrome and convert any more modem elements one might choose to include – such as the school ‘jumper’ of Madmonkey’s vision – into monochrome to match, the idea being to recreate that pastimes air of strict reform-school discipline. The one proviso I would add is that the uniform should be clearly designed to conform to the biologically adult form of the late teen. Whether one starts with a 3D computer generated figure as a framework (an interesting concept in itself) or one drawn from some other source (one has to be careful here) it should be possible to morph the impression of a mature figure into one’s design. So there’s the challenge – let’s fry those imaginative little grey cells out there! I’m always looking for creative input to aid in the design of the new book cover and it may be possible to integrate the outcome into the design as it presently stands.

Now you will have noted my absence for some time from these pages: I have been a little 'indisposed'. Some fool using a mobile phone drove over my foot while parking close to where I was crossing the road. This did my foot no good at all as I only had trainers on, although x-ray revealed nothing broken (don't know how - must be made of rubber!). The real problem is that I have osteoarthritis in my right knee that I refused an operation on as long ago as 2001 (I was coming up to the 12 month report stage of my PhD and couldn't afford the time off involved). Of course it has worsened somewhat over the years.

It is little surprise that when, having argued with the driver, he subsequently leaped out and jumped on me from behind (brave chap) my knee promptly gave up the ghost pitching me onto the ground - whereupon said driver proceeded to give yours truly a 'good kicking', as we say here in the UK. Hmmm nice! No real damage was done other than a bit of bruising and I felt absolutely nothing (I was very, very drunk - of course!) but it has made my knee swell and walking painful, so I am using it as an excuse to springboard myself back onto the treatment track. I had no GP so I have been in and out of x-ray and registering myself at a GPs surgery and all the rest to ‘get the ball moving’. After all this time I would imagine we are talking knee replacement surgery (at least that is what I am hoping - they have some good stuff these days). So a little bit of a silver lining there!

Despite these...er...distractions, I have been working my way through my files from time to time and cutting and pasting into the book. At last a logical story progression is emerging. The upcoming new book now stands at 315 of 9 by 6 inch pages of 10 point text, should it be published as a single work. Of this figure, perhaps 300 pages will likely survive further editing by my estimate. Unfortunately the next part to be inserted will not be such a simple cut and paste job as I am going to have to run through it first, changing the tense it is written in. You see there is a section in which one of the characters first encounters her new ‘home’ - her first impressions of ‘The Ward’, as the place is euphemistically known - which at present is told in flashback at a later point in the girl’s mind's eye. After the adjustment I propose, the reader will encounter the layout of ‘The Ward’ in 'real time' as the girl first enters. It makes for much more sense that way from the point of view of storytelling, as the reader immediately has the backdrop picture painted in their mind for the action to then play out against. As always the devil is in the detail and the essential thing is that the action should flow in a logical sequence.

By for now – have to fly.

Locking Cots and Early to Bed

Hi Chaps

I have been in contact again with my digital illustrator chum in the 'States (remember I spent quite a time telling you all about the ideas hovering out of sight behind an illustrated version of the new book and this guy – Snooze – and his input). Anyway, as well as producing illustrations for a possible pictorial version of my upcoming book he accepts commissions from others and was recently commissioned to produce a series of images interpreting some ideas sent to him that, while now unlikely for various reasons to see the light of day, nonetheless make for a nice showcase of his talents.

As the artist himself says: “The main subject of the picture [to the artist's way of thinking] was the gruesome looking, [quite] terrifying cots. Not the girl. So thick and sturdy that [one immediately recognizes their] terrible purpose and that once [a girl was placed in one] there would be absolutely no escape from its cold confines until who ever it was put [her in ] there decided [she] be released.”

The rubber mattress and pillow “subtly implies that [she] will not be let out for the [purposes of visiting the bathroom].”

The girl on the far side is only noticed as an afterthought. You only notice her later. [Only then] does one discern the rubber suit she is dressed in; which once again implies the lack of bathroom breaks. She is diapered and waterproofed because she is not coming out until release time.”

The illustrator believes – and I agree – that “the image works [not so much due to] what is emphasized [but rather due to] what is understated; because as you look at it you see more and more.”

He sees the scene as “a special dorm for bed wetters in an institutional setting; an asylum? school or prison, perhaps. The first image is set just before 7:00 pm as it is beginning to go dark. Two inmates have been placed in their rubber nightwear and made to lie in their cots. A Dorm Matron has placed a rubber sheet/blanket over her first charge, has lifted the side rail of her cot and already secured one padlock in place and is in the process for locking the second padlock.”

He goes on to point out that:

“The dormitory Matron's second charge is already in position in her cot and is passively lying there while her [compatriot or fellow miscreant] is being [secured]. She could get up, out of the cot - she is not restrained. However, the image tries to show that such an action would be foolish. The locked bars over the window suggest that the room is in any case secure. She would not get far if she attempted to escape. Also positioned strategically in the foreground of the image is Matron's desk with a heavy punishment cane prominently on display along with a leather spanking paddle.

Less prominent, but still ominously visible on the far wall, is a board displaying three additional canes, two tawses and a pair of handcuffs and leg irons. The implication made is that the facility is well able to handle an inmate who tries to create a disturbance.

There are additional furnishings that also suggest resistance is fraught with peril: In the far corner of the room is a wardrobe containing what appear to be straitjackets. It is unclear whether [a straitjacket might be pressed into service to punish a] girl by placing her in it on top of her rubber suit, so that she would be uncomfortably restrained throughout the night] or whether perhaps [these girls] have been [routinely] incarcerated in them during the day and they have now been removed while they are locked in their cots for sleeping.

Another potential jeopardy is the half seen cage on the far left of the image. Presumably if the girls try to create a fuss, instead of being left for the night in their comfy, if very secure cots, they might be confined to the cage, which is too small for them to relax comfortably and has a bare metal floor. The implications of both the cage and straitjackets is that no matter how awful life is, it can always get much worse. And so the second girl realizes that resistance is futile and merely waits patiently for the nurse to cover her with the rubber blanket which is strategically lying on the cot, raise the rail and secure it with the two padlocks that are waiting for her.

To enhance the overall atmosphere, these girls are adults and yet the clock on the wall says it isn't quite seven o'clock. It is light outside still, yet they are doomed to go to bed so early and spend the night in very secure confinement. The lighting isn't bright but, together with the depth of field of the camera, the idea is to focus the [observer's eye] on the girl in the cot, waiting to be put to bed for the night.

The second image of the two lower is meant to capture the scene just over a half an hour later. It is now almost dark outside. The second girl has had her blanket placed on her and the side of her cot raised and secured. The lights have been turned down to allow them to sleep but it is not completely dark. The focus is now shifted on to the Dorm Matron. Her shift isn't up till 8:00 pm, when she will be relieved by a junior night nurse who will keep watch over the girls throughout the night. No talking is allowed of course, which is why the heavy cane on the desk, now well lit up, is prominently on display so that the girls know what will happen if they break the rules.

The [inclusion of the] bed pans [is intended to be] suggestive of the incontinence theme.”

There you have it! Though nothing to do with my storyline, I find the images that have resulted to be most evocative, as I think you'll find too if you look carefully! The idea of the girls just waiting without need of restraint, the no-talking rule – all this I love. But, If I were to be asked to put forward one proviso or criticism, I think it would be that I would dispense with the rubber suits. I guess another would be that I am not so keen on the depicted scenario taking place within “a special unit for 'bed wetters'”... unless it turns out that this is a unit devised to create bed wetters or enforce the behavior in some way – then all of a sudden it becomes delicious! But – hey - that's my taste; what do you think?

A Yuletide Exultation? Yeah! Why Not?

Hi Chaps and chap-eses. Greetings from a largely snowed-in / snowed-under Brit-land. Snowed under is an apt term for me right now: It's the 19th December and I have just woken up and sniffed the coffee – trouble is; more often than not of late it has been more likely the barmaid's apron sniffed (a popular British saying ) than a pungent arabica bean. What am I on about? Well just as we Brits have once again been caught with our pants down as regards the weather with nary a gritting lorry (or truck, for you poor misguided USA types) nor sprinkling of salt to be seen (well...who would guess it might get cold in winter? In Northern Europe? What a bloody shock that was!) so I have been caught napping. Of course it happens every year and I am always caught by surprise by the proximity of the dreaded 'day', but bloody hell I haven't even as much as bought a Christmas card yet. I get all excited about it then hit the pubs and bars and a those great intentions I have harbored about 'being ahead of the game' this year and not getting caught on the hop go sailing straight out the window. It's at this time of the year that I most gravitate towards those older establishments that populate the backstreets of Hampstead. Of course there is the famous 'The Flask' of flask walk, Hampstead but if you know where you're going and venture up into the hills you might come across 'The Holly Bush' – think low timbers and a roaring log fire; how traditional can you get? Then a little further afield – this particular establishment claiming a rather optimistically short 15 minute walk across the heath from Hampstead tube (subway) - there awaits 'The Spaniards Inn', also boasting a log fire if not quite so 'roaring' the last time I visited. Now, if you were to just throw in a suitably 18th century flurry of snow and... well, it's just heaven, isn't it. Actually, even my local and fairly dire branch of 'Wetherspoons' looked appealing given a dusting of snow and the obligatory snowball fight that had spontaneously ignited outside. It's amazing what snow is capable of here in the UK – otherwise fairly sensible (if terminally alcoholic) 50-somethings opening up a massed barrage of snow-orientated artillery against the pub windows in second-childhood rapture is a sight to behold! No I wasn't involved – I bloody hate the cold, me!

As for the rest: today I am ostensibly out to catch up on all those Christmas tasks that have been thrown to the wayside. But guess what? Yes, I've landed in a pub... one look at that snow and what choice did I have. A tankard of ale and an open fire!!!! And in a sense I am ahead of the game – many's the year when I have been out shopping late Christmas eve (no kidding) and with enough 'Christmas cheer' in me too... well, lets just say that I'd be unlikely to later recall quite what I'd bought or who for. Yet somehow I'd get it all wrapped – just without labels or recipient names or anything as mundane as that. All a bit of a guessing game come Christmas morn!

Right, well I felt I just had to add a pic and I chose this one which I happened across on Flikr among some unnamed person's photo set, which gave the impression that that owner of the set was the photographer – unlikely given that I have myself posted another of this same set here sometime ago and I can tell you it originated from a scan taken from a copy of 'Men Only' or 'Penthouse' – I forget which – dated between 1978 and 1980-ish. Unless of course it is indeed from an impoverished photographer now reduced to publishing his work on social network sites! Forget all that though; the question is would you allow such a lackadaisical attitude to discipline and wanton display in the institution of your choice? I have to say that I do approve of the uniforms though.

That! Picture and Lulu Woes

OK: well, I suppose I should have been writing rather than trawling around the Internet but I just had to find that deportment training photo I went on about last time. I have to admit to failure on that count. All that time was not squandered fruitlessly, though: I did in the process come across a delightful little drawing from the pencil of the wondrous Mr Julian Guile; complete with backboard, book balanced on head, strict mistress or institution matron with cane in hand and sizzling welts much evident across the miscreant’s naked behind. There is of course also the obligatory gloating lecherous old boy seated and looking on - all the better to add to the pretty young thing's gall! To see it, though, you have the look back to yesterday's entry, halfway down on the right where I have just this minute plonked it. As for the central subject of my quest, well here it is; much to my exasperation I had to resort to scanning it in from an old printout. Doubtless the original lies buried somewhere within the depths of my computer's somewhat labyrinthine file system somewhere, but where it might have originated from all now have no idea. Perhaps someone out there can tell me so that I might view the rest of the set (if there is one), it certainly looks promising!

Perhaps there is someone out there too who can tell me what exactly (if anything) is going on with Lulu these days (the self publishing site not the ‘well loved multi-talented Scottish singer’ of that name). Sales have fallen through the floor over the last couple of months to such an extent that, in the month of December, to date neither of the two volumes that so far go to makeup the INSTITUTIONALISED series have sold any copies or downloads at whatsoever. There have been a couple of lovely encouraging reviews left on the Amazon e-book site which have lifted my spirits of late and for which I am eternally grateful but it is extraordinarily dispiriting to see sales dry up in their entirety in Lulu. The last time this happened (and I had been blissfully unaware as I hadn't checked for some time) it was due to something that Lulu had done that had resulted in my titles (and those of others presumably, unless there was something personal bout it) being left out of search results and for which they apologised by e-mail. Whether something similar is going on I have no idea as I certainly don't have the time at the moment to poke and prod around d their site at the moment which can be frustratingly slow to respond at times.

Now, as was the two pictures are just mentioned I've also added recently a couple of links to the ‘Useful Resources’ list over there in the right-hand sidebar. The Wheelchair Zone has quite an interesting story section if you spend a little trouble to rummage around it. I've also added links the ‘British Caning Society’ (listed under ‘B’ for British, this one) which hosts an intriguing discussion board amongst other things (how about mentioning my stuff, if you like it - or even if you don't - it all helps!) and to Corset Heaven.com. That's about it for now; see y’all later!

A Couple of Blushes Reader's Letters Scans

Hi, as it is the weekend and I am away from home I wouldn't ordinarily produce a blog posting but it just so happens I have a few minutes on my hands and I just realised I have a few of those Blushes Magazine reader's letters pages scans that were kindly sent in by Alan some time ago here with me stashed on a data stick. I am currently hard at it putting together the introductory and final chapters of the new book, much of the middle being now in place. As you probably know by now, I am also beginning to mess around with some cover design ideas - some preliminary versions of which I may share with you next time.

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Many thanks to those of you who pointed out the spelling error in the title of my last posting (now corrected) and also that I'd posted the same picture back in September. Someone asked if there were more of the same set - well there are, posted way back and now languishing in the blog archive some place; just type the search terms: 'gymslip', 'school uniform' or 'adult school uniform' into the site search facility box over in the right hand sidebar.

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Meanwhile: you have seen an example of something I consider close to the perfect school uniform (or at least a good starting point, perhaps with the addition of a high, stiff 'Eaton-style collar' for example) but I'm curious as to your ideas - any takers?

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Let's hear about your design ideas, restrictive petty rules, punishments and the devilish torments you would inflict and impose given a free hand.

An Open Letter and a Blushes Reader's Letters Page Scan

As you will have read, I ended up staying on the IOW longer than anticipated. What I was a little loath to admit – and a little in two minds about sharing with you all - was that this was largely as a result of becoming… sort of locked in to a drinking binge which then continued on having eventually reached London. Having written to my collaborating illustrator in the ‘States’ with a few words of explanation – having all but lost contact due to my lack of feedback to him – I gave a second thought to this reticence, coming to the conclusion that you all deserve an explanation as to my increasing erratically-timed postings to this blog; not to mention the delays occurring to the production of the new volume. Today is only my 4th ‘dry’ day – and it still feels bloody awful. I get bouts of very deep depression in any case, but following such an extended binge (relatively rare, thankfully) it can get so, so much worse.

It wouldn't have been so bad if my (usually) trusty netbook computer had been working correctly. Usually when partaking of a few beers my mood is elevated, my imagination and enthusiasm are stimulated and I often get a lot of useful writing completed. But with the computer playing up, added to the ‘downer’ that comes after such a binge I have this overwhelming sense of remorse, having wasted so much time. Yes, I could have switched to pen and paper, which is how the first two books started out life, but to tell the truth, for a while, recently, I seem to have exhausted pretty much all my reserves of enthusiasm. I think this is partly due to the way that sorting out the story-flow of the new book – bearing in mind that the work now represents well over a year of writing, on and off - seems to have become such an insurmountable task. It has become a real ‘monster’ and undoubtedly, in hindsight, overambitious; with the result that at present it exists as a series of disjointed vignettes (if exciting vignettes, I guess – though to be honest all the focus required as led to my becoming more than a little jaded).

Well, here I am, full of ant-depressants. The herbal remedy, St Johns Wort, usually works for me whereas the SSRI type things the doctors often prescribe - Prozac and the ilk - don't do much for me. So I am on buckets of the stuff and forcing myself down the gym, as that often helps. To be honest it is always a little like this at this time of the year with the shortening hours of daylight – just not usually this bad.

At this stage it all seems so overwhelming; there seems so much left to do. If I can get going at all, I would really want to get at least the written version up and published in some form by xmas. If I can do that, then I think I’ll be able to keep going a little longer and put a couple of months aside to complete the illustrated version – but no more than that. I think that come February or thereabouts I'll want to wash my hands of the whole thing, including the blog (although I might change the direction of the blog, or start a new one) - it just doesn't do anything for me anymore. For now it is all about getting that spark ignited again. What it comes down to is that writing can be such an insular and lonely task (though the blog helps), especially when the subject matter makes it difficult to discuss it with those around me. It comes down to many hours sitting alone. And it is such a thankless task with little financial gain to be had; the commercial take-up of this genre of literature seems somewhat limited and, through Lulu at least, often days go by between sales; it is all dribs and drabs. But then again, if I don’t finish it… what happens to all those piles of part-written stuff I have built up over the past fourteen months or so?

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Finally: I have dug out this Blushes Reader’s Letters page (see above right) scanned and sent in by Allan. Thank god (thank Allan, anyway!) I still have a stockpile of these to provide a little light relief – I have little drive to get around to scanning any more of my own collection at the moment. It's that ever-popular 'adoptee' thing again! I am unsure of the origin of the illustration at the top of the page (something I blundered across a time ago on the webb somewhere) and I know nothing of the original storyline behind it. The latter makes it all the more intriguing, though, and although fat girls are not my thing it did at least inspire one particularly devilish idea - now woven itnto the new book's storyline. I just hope someone gets to read it some day. See y’all next time.

Blushes, Braces and Booze (And a Length of Pliant Malacca)

Boy, did or I have a skin-full yesterday: Green King Abbot Special Reserve no less (6.7% alcohol by volume, wowza!!!). It was not all oblivion though; I did get another chapter of the new book finished. I've just got to read through it and make one or two corrections are no longer to send off to my illustrator chum in the States to see what he thinks of it and whether or not it triggers off in him any ideas as regards art work. It's just a little something that involves the enforced wearing of leg braces, something encouraged by various devious means, partly psychological partly physical, the psychological domination of a young girl by her implacably strict governess, the application of a swishy Malacca cane across defenselessly-bared chubby teenage buttocks and plump adolescent curves squeezed into a charmingly-sweet one-piece sailor-suit-styled acetate sleep suit and experiencing for the first time the intimate slickness of a night spent encased by the waterproofed final lining of the humiliating garment’s lower section. Of course it goes without saying that there are shutters on the windows and padlocks, steel bars and security devices in profusion - one can't be too cautious in this day and age of rising burglary rates.

Now, as I said last time, I'm off to the Isle of Wight in a couple of days time and may not have Internet access so I thought I'd use this opportunity to paste up another of those letters page from Bushes scans that were kindly sent me some time ago (click to enlarge) and also a bit of art work that I came across in my searches and that I found inspired me.

Sorry, but I have been too busy of late to do much with the blog. I'm still hard at work refining the new volume or volumes (I'm still undecided) aiming to get them out by Christmas (can we still say that? No? It offends who? Oh! Those - we mustn't offend those! OK - The Mid-Winter Festival then). I am off to the Isle of Wight for a week this coming Sunday and although I'll be taking my computer I doubt I'll get much done, judging from my trip last year, so that's another week gone! The illustrator I have been working with has come up with yet another nice illustration, but I can't say much about that at the moment for fear of giving too much away of the plot (for what there is of it at the moment).

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I think that come Chris... I mean The Mid-Winter Festival... Yes, come the The Mid-Winter Festival anything not finished will have to remain that way as I am going to have to focus my energies on earning a decent crust. I am examining the idea of setting myself up in business as a personal trainer. I have a master's degree (M.Sc) in human nutrition from King's College, London and practically live in the gym (when not in the pub) and have done for more years than I care to think about. These days, for health and safety (and insurance) purposes one needs certain physical education qualifications but these can be acquired through a couple of short courses run by the YMCA among others
and in addition there is a specialised course to allow one to work with 'older people' (whatever they are - it's all relative, isn't it?) which I intend to undertake. That - along with nutritional advice and focus on improving body composition rather than on weight-loss per se - will be my USP (Unique Selling Point) in what is quite a competitive market. Basically my idea is to work with folk of around my own age or older, the advantage being that they can see what is possible and that they are not going to be asked to do anything that someone of their own vintage is not clearly capable of. In addition, having suffered most pitfalls and injuries over the years and come up against one or two age related limitations, I have an understanding of where the boundary lines exist and a good knowledge of working around those limitations. I'm sure you get the idea. So although I intend to make sure the illustrated version gets completed, any written material that doesn't make it in will just have to remain in limbo. One possibility I have been thinking about is handing over any incomplete work along with an outline sketch of the story direction I envisage to someone else to finish off - but we will just have to see how it goes for the time being.

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Now, I for one was enjoying our anonymous contributor's running tale appearing in the comments section and it seems a shame that he is now going to be posting it elsewhere (the link you can find in the comments under my last posting) especially as he is no longer posting as anon. That was the only problem I had with it - too many folk all using the moniker 'anon' - it was all getting terribly confusing. Partly it was my fault: I had intended to gather together all the separate parts of 'Anon's' Natalie reform school tale up to that point and publish them as a single post in the main section for ease of reading but never got around to it. I probably still will in some spare moment at some point. Now, as for today, I thought I'd put up a couple more scans of those old letters pages from Blushes et al that inspired me so much in the early days - these kindly supplied by an anon contributor. (I have lost the original email somehow - but thanks... and have you got any more? What a cheeky git, you're probably thinking!). Just click to enlarge and read. There are plenty more - including some I have scanned myself from my own magazine collection - scattered throughout the blog archive, try clicking on the relevant tags or use the archive search facility over on the right situated near the top of the sidebar. The pic I just came upon and just like - and it seems to fit in somehow with the sentiment.

Punishment Dress: More Inspiration Taken from Blushes Reader’s Letters Pages

Hi folks! I'm a little pushed for the time at the moment as I'm struggling to get the new work out there and finished by Christmas and it may well end up published as two distinct volumes, with all the extra work that will entail (three, if one counts the planned illustrated version of one of the books). The rational behind spliting the tale into two distinct books is twofold: One: the total number of pages if presented in one book as it is at the moment would be colossal. Two: the storyline follows two distinct characters, both of whom you have met before, along two very distinct and very separate pathways. These paths only overlap to any extent to a very small degree.

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On the other hand it may be possible to pare away certain areas where the commonality between the two timelines threatens to introduce too much repetitiveness. After all there is a limit to how many times even the most ardent uniform discipline aficionado, for example, would want to read a detailed description of an ultra strict, ultra restrictive, school uniform imposed on a petulant teenager (or is there? you tell me!).

The reason I would like to finish by Christmas is because - to put it bluntly - money is getting a little short this end; I get very little return financially from book sales and the amount that I've taken from my savings this year to support myself has already exceeded that which I had scheduled and is already threatening to eat into the funds that I had earmarked for next year for various projects. In short I shall need to set aside a little time to seek some form of supplementary income: vis-à-vis a job! You can get an idea of how serious the situation has become by the fact that I plan to forego my usual visits to the pub throughout the month of October and to limit my enjoyment to only two or three visits, at the very most, in the month of November (timed to catch the end of the Wetherspoon's beer festival with any luck).

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As a change of subject: The above chatter over the imposition of strict, restrictive uniforms on recalcitrant young ladies brings to mind the notion that in the domestic or private institution scenario the dividing line between such dress discipline and what might be described as punishment dress can easily become blurred - a thought that came to mind when reading through a couple of the scanned reader's letters pages taken from that marvelous publication of the 1980s and early 90s: 'Blushes' in preperation for today's post. So without further ado here's a couple more of the pages sent in courtesy of our kind contributor 'Alan' (I just had to cut out and zoom in on that natty little drawing!). Needless to add that to read, just click on each page to enlarge. See Y'all!

Blushes Reader's Letters Pages Inspiration

I've just been lucky enough to have received via email a whole series of scans taken from the reader's letters pages of that grand old institution, the Blushes, Whispers and New Uniform Girls magazine stable (many thanks Allen). Longer-standing readers of this blog will remember the letters pages scans I published taken from my own collection that I used to illustrate the type of thing that went to inspire my writing. As the contributor himself says: “Breast punishment and leering old men, you can't beat it, and this letter is also illustrated with a rather pretty girl”. Indeed, old chap! Indeed! I have to say I've had great fun reading through all these great old letters pages.

Most I have had in my collection at one time, but long, long ago, before I sold a few off and then gave away many of the rest. Why? Who knows? That was all long before I had ever thought about writing my own stuff of course, although the memory of the imagery conjured in my imagination when originally I'd leafed through those pages is still fresh enough in my mind to have informed some of the events presented in my publications - including the unfinished new one.

One other area that would crop up from time to time within those same pages and could always be counted on to generate a fascinating and imaginative discourse was that of institutional 'admission procedures', especially those dealing with the importance of the psychological implications behind the ritualistic nature and design of those procedures. Those letters that I could still locate in the remnants of my collection I have already scanned and shared with the readership of this blog - tagged with the term, 'inspirations' or something similar I believe, just in case any of you want to look them up in the blog archive. While I'm at it, I'd just like to point out that for your delectation and delight I have today added a link to a diapered girls blog – check out the blog listing in the sidebar on the right.

A Quick Update

Hi folks! I thought I'd take the opportunity to let you all know where I am at right now: I spent a chunk of yesterday and of this morning going through all the various illustrations and stages of the construction of the illustrations for the illustrated version of the new book and reporting back to my hard-pressed collaborator in the 'States. Now, suitably inspired, I am about to put pen to paper once more.

I am just about to get on with writing the part where our young lady receives visitors. She has received six strokes of her doctor’s riding crop across her bare behind and been placed back in bed just prior to her two guests arrival and so is still be sobbing when the plastic hospital curtains around her bed are drawn back. Her humiliation starts the moment her eyes meet those of her guardian and those of the lecherous old male solicitor that imperious woman has brought with her and she is obliged to thank them, not only for their visit but also for being kind enough to pay for her to be kept at the institution – not withstanding the fact that the payment is coming from her own trust fund, albeit passing through the hands of a certain church-run charity. But there is more to their visit than philanthropic concern – there are documents to be signed and consequences to be faced for non-cooperation: it’s all for her own good, after all!

The part I'm really looking forward to writing, though is the part where through flashback I get to introduce the enema chair that my artwork collaborator came up with, in the domestic environment of the young lady’s aunt's home and previous to her being brought to the institution – so appropriate to her aunt's long-held Victorian ideals of domestic discipline as applied to the control of teenage girls. I'd love to show you an early example of the illustration… but it would give too much away! Sorry – LOL! As regards the pic above and right. All this looks soooo much fun - and food for thought! Another one from Vintage Scans - see sidebar or my last post for link.

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By the way: last time I asked who could give me at least four reasons why the young lady depicted in her school uniform (see immediate right) deserved a long hard caning and gave the clue that they're all uniform-related...

Any ideas yet?