Number Three Hundred, December 28th 1946.

Number Three Hundred, December 28th 1946., originally uploaded by Colonel Blink.

Corkers!!! it's the Beano from 1946 with Big Eggo on the cover.
The only pal you will recognise in the comic is Lord Snooty. Try to avert your eyes from the racial stereotype on the masthead.

It would be nice to think that he was there, eating a melon and with a bunch of bananas sticking out of his pocket, only to cheer up the readership during the dark days of rationing but alas I am afraid not. He was on the masthead from the very first issue July 30th 1938. His name was Little Peanut and his original purpose was to introduce the letters and jokes page but by the time Issue 300 came out this feature had been scrapped because of paper rationing.

The premise of Lord Snooty in the early days was slightly different to it's later incarnation. He would escape, every issue, from the confines of his stately home to play with his pals from Ash-Can Alley. They were Rosie, Hairpin Huggins, Skinny Lizzie, Scrapper Smith, Happy Hutton, and the baby-grow clad twins Snitchy and Snatchy. The final pal, representing the animal kingdom, was Gertie The Goat.

I can exclusively reveal that Lord Snooty's real name was Lord Marmaduke, The Earl Of Bunkerton.*

Other Characters in this issue included Cocky Dick (He's Smart And Slick), Sticky Willie, and, of course, Pansy Potter (The Strongman's Daughter).
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*In later life he became a director of Leman's Bank and a contributor to the Conservative Party. In the present coalition government he holds the post of Minister Of Peasant Kicking.