Did you know that Letterland has been around since 1968 when Lyn Wendon created our beloved characters at her kitchen table? We absolutely love looking through the Letterland archives and seeing how much has changed over the years!
We think Golden Girl is a great Letterlander, so this week we've been digging into her past and seeing what's different since 1968. She's always been a popular Letterland, and has made a few style adjustments in the past 50 years!
As you can see in the first image of Lyn Wendon's original pictogram from 1968, Golden Girl didn't always have her long golden hair - people in Letterland used to call her the 'Good Girl' and she wore a smart dress and black shoes!
Between 1968 and 1997 her gorgeous golden hair grew much thicker and longer, so she started wearing it in a long plait - that's when people started calling her Golden Girl. She decided it was more practical to wear matching green trousers and cardigan because she'd become an avid gardener. She even took to using her letter shape as a garden swing!
Between 1997 and 2020 you can see she kept her style pretty similar, just updating her outfit to some cool blue jeans and a simple t-shirt - green, of course!
Evolution of Golden Girl Stories
Golden Girl is a very important Letterlander because she features in lots of different stories. Read on to find out how some of her stories have changed since 1968!
Golden Girl and Harry Hat Man - gh
Even since 1968, Golden Girl has always known that Harry Hat Man hates noise. So in all the images, you'll see that when they are together in a word they just enjoy being silent together. You'll see them silently sitting together in words like 'thought' and 'bought'.
Mr I, Golden Girl and Harry Hat Man - igh
When Mr I stands next to Golden Girl and Harry Hat Man in a word, he gives Golden Girl an ice cream. Do you know why? It’s because she is doing such a good job of being quiet beside Harry Hat Man. We know how he hates noise. So in words where you see these three letters ‘igh’ you will only hear Mr I saying ‘i’ for ‘ice cream’ as he
hands Golden Girl a delicious ice cream.
Mr I, the Ice Cream Man, wasn't around in 1968 so you won't see him in the 'igh' image. Harry used to give the Good Girl an ice cream himself, but it's much nicer now that Mr I gives Golden Girl a top quality ice cream straight from his ice cream cart!
Magic E, Impy Ink, Noisy Nick and Golden Girl - -ing
Do you remember that when Noisy Nick and Golden Girl sit together in a word they are so happy they making a singing sound, 'ng'!
But then, Magic -ing was made by accident! Just after Mr E invented his Magic e’s he took his hat off and and rested it on an -ing ending. His hat was still full of magic because the -ing ending became magical, too. Mr E decided it was quite exciting to have -ing as a magic ending. You'll see this magic working in words like 'hoping' and 'hiking'.
You can't see Noisy Nick and Golden Girl in the image from 1968 - we think they might have been off singing somewhere!
We hope you enjoyed hearing about the history of Golden Girl! If you liked this post, why not find out a little more about Harry Hat Man or Yellow Yo-yo Man?