Comments on: The Origins of Tintin http://blog.oup.com/2009/11/tintin/ Academic insights for the thinking world. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:14:32 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Renaud Milhoux http://blog.oup.com/2009/11/tintin/comment-page-1/#comment-157116 Renaud Milhoux Thu, 25 Mar 2010 13:02:10 +0000 http://blog.oup.com/?p=6564#comment-157116 In the 20s and 30s, my late grandfather, Rene Milhoux, was a very famous Belgian motorcycle champion and speed record breaker. His exploits were regularly reported in the national press. One such newspaper was "le XXe Siecle" (The twentieth Century), a supplement of which was "le Petit Vingtieme", which was headed by a man named Georges Remi, better known as Herge, the author of Tintin. Also regularly in the newspaper was the photo-reportages of a man named Robert Sexe, who was a travelling photo-journalist whose photographs were used a direct inspiration for Tintin's first three adventures. Herge having never travelled. Robert Sexe would travel the world on motorcycles. On one occasion my grandfather was introduced to Robert Sexe by the the owner of the motorcycle company for which my grandfather was factory rider (Gillet de Herstal) so that he could act as technical advisor of the round the world trips. The two men quickly struck up a close friendship. When my grandfather would break world record on his bikes he would always wear immaculate white overalls. He wasn't a very tall man either... Small, all white, brave and intelligent and called Milhoux... My grandfather was one day invited to the offices of the "le XXe Siecle" for an exclusive interview, during his visit he got to meet several people attached to the newspaper, including Georges Remi, they had a little chat during which, Mr Remi asked my grandfather if he didn't mind that he named his cartoon dog after him, Snowy (in french: Milou). My grandfather had a great sense of humour so of course he didn't mind at all (especially as the spelling had been changed). Remember that in those days Tintin was hardly known and my grandfather was something of a national hero. I just thought you would find this little anecdote amusing if not interresting. Kindest regards, Renaud A. Milhoux In the 20s and 30s, my late grandfather, Rene Milhoux, was a very famous Belgian motorcycle champion and speed record breaker. His exploits were regularly reported in the national press. One such newspaper was “le XXe Siecle” (The twentieth Century), a supplement of which was “le Petit Vingtieme”, which was headed by a man named Georges Remi, better known as Herge, the author of Tintin.
Also regularly in the newspaper was the photo-reportages of a man named Robert Sexe, who was a travelling photo-journalist whose photographs were used a direct inspiration for Tintin’s first three adventures. Herge having never travelled. Robert Sexe would travel the world on motorcycles. On one occasion my grandfather was introduced to Robert Sexe by the the owner of the motorcycle company for which my grandfather was factory rider (Gillet de Herstal) so that he could act as technical advisor of the round the world trips. The two men quickly struck up a close friendship.
When my grandfather would break world record on his bikes he would always wear immaculate white overalls. He wasn’t a very tall man either…
Small, all white, brave and intelligent and called Milhoux…
My grandfather was one day invited to the offices of the “le XXe Siecle” for an exclusive interview, during his visit he got to meet several people attached to the newspaper, including Georges Remi, they had a little chat during which, Mr Remi asked my grandfather if he didn’t mind that he named his cartoon dog after him, Snowy (in french: Milou). My grandfather had a great sense of humour so of course he didn’t mind at all (especially as the spelling had been changed). Remember that in those days Tintin was hardly known and my grandfather was something of a national hero.
I just thought you would find this little anecdote amusing if not interresting.

Kindest regards,

Renaud A. Milhoux

]]> By: hammerstein http://blog.oup.com/2009/11/tintin/comment-page-1/#comment-155092 hammerstein Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:55:55 +0000 http://blog.oup.com/?p=6564#comment-155092 Why aren't there young and attractive girls in Tintin'world ? His adventures were published in "Le Petit Vingtième", a weekly youth supplement puublished on Thursday by the Brussels daily "Le Vingtième Siècle" (The Twentieth Century. Why on Thursday? The pupils had one day off. The boys could go to their scouts meetings or make sports or... read boy magazines. At that time, in Belgium, girls were separated from the boys : they even went to diffrent schools. And on Thursday, girls had to learn knitting, cooking and everything intended to make perfect wives. No time for magazines. So, why bother trying to seduce a female readership ? That's why Tintin and many, many other popular Belgian and French comic strips were so macho and segregationist ! Why aren’t there young and attractive girls in Tintin’world ? His adventures were published in “Le Petit Vingtième”, a weekly youth supplement puublished on Thursday by the Brussels daily “Le Vingtième Siècle” (The Twentieth Century. Why on Thursday? The pupils had one day off. The boys could go to their scouts meetings or make sports or… read boy magazines. At that time, in Belgium, girls were separated from the boys : they even went to diffrent schools. And on Thursday, girls had to learn knitting, cooking and everything intended to make perfect wives. No time for magazines. So, why bother trying to seduce a female readership ? That’s why Tintin and many, many other popular Belgian and French comic strips were so macho and segregationist !

]]> By: uberVU - social comments http://blog.oup.com/2009/11/tintin/comment-page-1/#comment-155071 uberVU - social comments Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:40:37 +0000 http://blog.oup.com/?p=6564#comment-155071 <strong>Social comments and analytics for this post...</strong> This post was mentioned on Twitter by oupblog: The origins of Tintin: http://bit.ly/62JugW... Social comments and analytics for this post…

This post was mentioned on Twitter by oupblog: The origins of Tintin: http://bit.ly/62JugW...

]]> By: Tweets that mention The Origins of Tintin : OUPblog -- Topsy.com http://blog.oup.com/2009/11/tintin/comment-page-1/#comment-155059 Tweets that mention The Origins of Tintin : OUPblog -- Topsy.com Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:15:48 +0000 http://blog.oup.com/?p=6564#comment-155059 [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Rebecca, Christine Turnier. Christine Turnier said: I will always have a soft spot for Tintin! Rt @oupblog The origins of Tintin: http://bit.ly/62JugW [...] [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Rebecca, Christine Turnier. Christine Turnier said: I will always have a soft spot for Tintin! Rt @oupblog The origins of Tintin: http://bit.ly/62JugW [...]

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