Christmas and Summer Extras

From 1881 to 1913, special supplementary issues known as "Extras" were routinely published alongside the regular issues of the Girl's Own Paper. These comprised a yearly Summer Extra and a yearly Christmas Extra up until 1901, after which the Summer Extra was discontinued. The Christmas Extra was discontinued after 1913.

These Extras included seasonal stories and articles and were given their own titles, such as Robin Redbreast or Summer Spices, although the Christmas Extras from 1901 to 1913 were simply entitled Extra Christmas Part.

Each Extra had its own independent page-numbering, running from 1 to 60 or so, quite separate from the page numbering of the Volume during whose run they were issued. This distinguishes the genuine Extras from the "Double Numbers" and other additional material which formed part of some of the volumes of the GOP. Note that the term "Supplement" was used by the GOP in the early 1900s to describe additional pages of "Answers to Correspondents" and advertising material, and which were bound in with the magazines. These are also distinct from the Christmas or Summer Extras.

Dating the Christmas and Summer Extras of the Girl's Own Paper is not always easy as they do not, in general, carry associated volume numbers and many carry no date. The best clue to the date of a given Extra is that given in the Girl's Own Paper itself, where forthcoming Extras were advertised, with a detailed list of contents, a few weeks before each Extra was to appear.

Extras can occasionally be found as separate publications, just as they were originally issued. More commonly, they are found bound in with the Girl's Own Paper Annuals. However, a given extra may be found bound in with an Annual containing GOPs of the year before its own publication, the year of publication, or the year after publication! This is because readers were free to accumulate GOPs and Extras, and then to have them privately bound, at their own convenience. Some readers accumulated Extras and had several of them bound as a separate volume, not always in correct date order. So finding and identifying GOP Extras is an interesting puzzle, one of those puzzles which make book-collecting so fascinating.

Christmas and Summer Extras are referenced using the following system in the Index:

[Date of Publication].[Associated Volume Number] [Title of Extra]

Thus the very first Extra, published for Christmas 1881 during the run of Volume 3 and entitled Christmas Roses, is indexed as:

1881.03 Christmas Roses

Similarly, the first Summer Extra, published in June 1882, also during the run of Volume 3 and entitled Silver Sails, is indexed as:

1882.03 Silver Sails

For a full list of the Christmas and Summer Extras, please see the Browse by Extra page.