Educational Notes
The Bogg the Dog books are a series of short stories of life in the countryside in post-war South East England, loosely set on the Kent/Sussex borders. The period of the late 1940`s to early 1950`s saw a countryside massively changed by the need to provide food for a Nation at war, facing starvation resulting from the effects of massive shipping losses caused by German U Boats who were sinking supply ships faster than they could be built.
The central character of these stories is Bogg, the loveable scrapyard guardian and best friend of his Master, Thadeus Brown. Apart from companionship, Bogg`s main task is to provide a watchful eye over Thadeus`s collection of junk, known during that period as `salvage` . Practically everything was in short supply as rationing did not end with the war, it was carried on into the 1950`s.
Collection of salvage was an important activity as even the most humble items were collected and recycled. Rag and Bone Men toured the towns and villages on horse and cart, collecting old clothing that was beyond repair to be reprocessed and bones for glue production.
It is interesting to compare the thrifty ways that became essential in those days with the world of excess today and the damage that this has caused our to planet. If a parcel arrived in the late 1940`s, it would be wrapped in brown paper and tied with string. These wrappings would have been carefully saved for reuse, but todays would be contained in throwaway packaging that would end as landfill.
The countryside was a much quieter place then, little traffic and a far smaller population meant that it was a safe place for dogs and children to roam free with nothing like the dangers that are present everywhere today. Those of us who can remember such times look back with nostalgia, today’s young people need to be aware of the cause and effect of waste and pollution and the long term dangers that they cause.
