Norman Thelwell was a popular cartoonist for Punch, who subsequently had a great deal of success with a range of graphic albums. One of his main areas of interest was pony riding, & you can see how this would make an appealing topic for transfer sets aimed at girls.
There were three transfer products featuring Thelwell: "Thelwell Pony Tales", "Thelwell Pony Plaques" & "Thelwell Fun Doodles".
In addition to those, here is the (transfer-free!) Thelwell Stationery range from the Thomas Salter 1981 trade catalogue; there's more stationery — on other subjects — on the Letraset Stationery page.
Thomas Salter 1981 trade catalogue
Thelwell Pony Plaques get their own spot on the Transfers on Plastic, Plaster & Cut-Out Cardboard Models page, where being kind-of twins for the Pony Plaques, the "Holly Hobbie Art Miniatures" & "Sarah Kay Art Miniatures" get a look in as well — along with quite a few other related items.
(There's another link to those pesky Thelwell Pony Plaques at the bottom of this page, in case you get lost easily.)
Meanwhile, read on here for the Pony Tales & the Fun Doodles!
Thelwell Pony Tales
Thomas Salter 1981 trade catalogue
L74 was a portmanteau serial number consisting of several jobs, with its transfer sheets being re-used in various ways:
- Goldi Rubbel Bilder: L74/3, L74/4, L74/5, & L74/6 — The Muppets
- Letraset Fun Doodles (5th run):
- L74/6a — The Muppets Fun Doodles
- L74/8a — Thelwell Fun Doodles (see 'Prize Giving' immediately below)
- Thelwell Pony Tales: [1979]
- L111/3 —or— 090/079R — No.1: The Ride
- L74/7a —or— 090/079S — No.2: Riding School
- L74/8a —or— 090/079T — No.3: Prize Giving
- L111/4 —or— 090/079U — No.4: Stables
At least one (Prize Giving: L74/8a) — & very likely all four — of the Thelwell Pony Tales appeared as Fun Doodles. Then the L74 Pony Tales run was reprinted later as L111, & "090" numbers are Sodecor codes usually reserved for Thomas Salter. (Late transfer sheets often have more than one serial number printed on them, since adding a new serial for a reprint is quite straightforward with Litho printing.)
No.1 The Ride
No.2 Riding School
No.3 Prizegiving
No.4 The Stables
Thelwell Fun Doodles
Now, you may consider this a dirty swizz, but the Thelwell Fun Doodles appear just to be the Pony Tales transfer sheets without the backgrounds — just as Fun Doodles generally are Storytime Doodles without backgrounds.
And to double-down on the dirty rotten swizzing, the only Thelwell Fun Doodle we have in its own right is this used one! But I think honour is still satisfied, since the sheets are available above.
• Thelwell Pony Plaques →
• Transfers on Plastic, Plaster & Cut-Out Cardboard Models →
• Sarah Kay, Holly Hobbie & Kate Greenaway →
• 3-D Double Doodles —&— Galactic Star Base →
• Letraset Stationery →
• Decor-Craft →
• Fun Doodles →