Bowler Dessert was first published in August 1976.
Bowler Dessert Online was launched on 16th April 1999 and initially ran in tandem with the printed magazine, until that ceased publication in Autumn 2013.
Here’s a quick rundown of what you could find in our very first, groundbreaking issues.
Bowler Dessert 1 (August 1976)
The pioneering quarterly magazine is A4 size with ten pages. Anthony Stubenrauch is our front-page artist. Four UK tents are listed: Film Funsters (London), Night Owls (Doncaster), Headquarters (Blackpool) and Bonnie Scotland (Glasgow). Denis Gifford recounts the background to the London tent and describes their inaugural meeting. An enthusiastic review of Tom McGrath’s play Laurel and Hardy appears, following a run in Glasgow with John Sheddon and Ian Ireland in the title roles.
Bowler Dessert 2 (November 1976)
For film collectors, brand new super 8 two-reelers of the Boys are advertised at £12.80 each (wow!). Exhausted Ruler John McCabe writes, “I can’t tell you how happy I am that the Sons are now flourishing among you,” and goes on to discuss how appropriate he considers their arrival in the UK. The distinction between “nice mess” and “fine mess” is aired. The arrival of Ulverston’s Berth Marks Tent is heralded. Al Kilgore, of the parent (founding) tent in New York, is announced to be the National Grand Sheik in the USA.
Bowler Dessert 3 (February 1977)
A more detailed review of Tom McGrath’s play comes from Stephen Herbert, following a London run. It is stated that Lord Delfont plans to make a musical based on the lives of Laurel and Hardy. Germany’s love for Dick und Doof becomes evident in our pages.
Bowler Dessert 4 (June 1977)
Bowler Dessert becomes a thrice-yearly publication. The Film Funsters complete their first year, never to return. The Bonnie Scotland Tent forges ahead into its second year. Books on the Boys are listed and discussed. Be Big is the name of a new tent, established in Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester, with Philip Martin Williams as the Grand Sheik. Details are announced of the first International Convention (in Chicago) scheduled for
August 1978.
Bowler Dessert 5 (October 1977)
“Laurel and Hardy hated each other” was the heading of an article (from Weekend magazine) which we reproduce in the hope that a denial will be zorthcoming. At the instigation of Bill Cubin, Grand Sheik of the Berth Marks Tent, Jimmy Marshall, Grand Sheik of the Night Owls Tent, unveils a commemorative plaque for Stan Laurel in Ulverston.
Bowler Dessert 6 (February 1978)
Plans are announced for the first UK Convention, in Ulverston, in June. Established UK tents are Berth Marks, Be Big, Night Owls and Bonnie Scotland. As yet unnamed is a tent which Grand Sheik Rob Lewis has newly established in Kent. The Laughing Gravy Tent is pitched in Brisbane, Australia. A new marker is placed on Oliver Hardy’s grave. A fiction book
entitled The Laurel and Hardy Murders, by Marvin Kaye, is published. Details of the imminent Chicago convention boast a dinner with a Babes in Toyland theme.
Bowler Dessert 7 (July 1978)
Kent’s oasis is named as the Helpmates Tent. John McCabe denounces the story that Laurel and Hardy hated each other as, “Not only a lie, but a perverse
lie.” Back issues of Bowler Dessert are available at 25p each, post paid!
Bowler Dessert 8 (May 1981 )
To coincide with the fourth UK Convention (Scotland’s first) Bowler Dessert is back after being dormant for nearly three years. James Finlayson is remembered. The venue for the 1984 International Convention is
announced as the Lake District. A UK tent update lists ten tents. Ronnie Hazlehurst’s Music Box Volume 1 record is released. Lois Laurel (Stan’s daughter) visits Ulverston.
Bowler Dessert 9 (October 1981)
John McCabe reminds us that the Sons of the Desert was founded to kid regular social organisations. Grand Sheik Melvin McFadden’s Them Thar Hills Tent is among new tents to emerge. Colouring of Laurel and Hardy movies is a controversial issue but plans are progressing for Dance of the Cuckoos, a coloured compilation from many of the Boys’ movies. Fred Lawrence Guiles’s book Stan is appraised. Seats in the Edinburgh Film House are to be endowed to Stan and Ollie. Bath is to be the scene of next year’s UK Convention.
Bowler Dessert 10 (May 1983)
Bowler Dessert returns as a truly quarterly publication. It has 16 pages of A5 size. A coloured excerpt from County Hospital, shown on television, is discussed. A planning meeting is held in Grange for the 1984 International Convention. Les Macdonald, Grand Sheik of the Leave ’em Laughing Tent of Liverpool, tries to persuade the British Philatelic Bureau to issue a Laurel and Hardy commemorative stamp. The findings of a census by Dwain Smith and one by Lori Jones reveal that worldwide membership of the Sons of the Desert is thought to be 3,093. The grave (in Glasgow) is visited of Stan Laurel’s mother, Madge Metcalfe.
A pdf FULL version of the FINAL issue of Bowler Dessert can be found here. There are some other issues too.
You can order a FREE (paper) copy of Bowler Beginnings here.
An affectionate journey back to the start of Bowler Dessert and the emergence of the Sons of the Desert in the UK.
56 pages (A5)
Published 2020
All you pay is p&p.
We will include The Bowler Encore.
A special issue of the magazine with lots of matter on Laurel and Hardy and their films as well as the Sons of the Desert.
88 pages (A5)
Published 2017
