The educated public in general and DHRA members in particular will be well-aware of the delightful autobiography ["Why Not Take All of Me", Threadbone Press] published late last year by long time companion of Audrey Badminton Court - Ms Celia Notso-Pointy. The source of many delightful insights into the life of this hitherto shadowy and retiring figure, it was eagerly devoured by a legion of would-be and now "certainly are" fans.
Notwithstanding her willingness to make occasional promotional appearances - including a delightfully intimate session at this year's Threadbone Primavera Festival - Ms Notso-Pointy has never been at ease in the public eye. So it is both a surprise and a pleasure to discover that in her earlier life she was plucked from secretarial obscurity to become the face of the Threadbone Typewriter Company of Burton Bradstock. The Company founded by Mrs Amanda J Threadbone's father-in-law Thomas Harrison Threadbone was a leading manufacturer of typewriters and comptometers between 1938 and 1985 when market trends (and the rise of word processing) forced it into liquidation. Its patents were acquired but never used by the Hornimint Company.
However, during the 1950s boom years, Threadbone Typewriters were major suppliers to the offices of the West Country and, always eager to outwit their rivals, they were early arrivals in the "advertising business" with campaigns designed to support their door-to-door sales efforts. The 1959 Campaign featured a perky, fresh-faced secretary eager to please her demanding boss: the perfect role for Ms Notso-Pointy? Her later retiring persona would perhaps suggest not, but there is no denying the success of the Campaign or the degree to which this later to be forgotten lady would become the face of the Company. Nor the undoubted impact she made on her friends and former colleagues. Ms Notso-Pointy has herself revealed how, after returning briefly to her desk in the Threadbone Company's Burton Bradstock HQ, she was recruited to work as administrative assistant to Professor Thrupiece: a job which brought her into contact with Ms Badminton Court: "Such", as she says in her autobiography. "is life!".
The surprising face of the Threadbone Typewriter Company: Ms Celia Notso-Pointy
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