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Marlinspike: Does Tintin live there?

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mct16
Member
#31 · Posted: 27 Jan 2021 16:33
During their extended stay in Khemed in Black Gold, Haddock may have suggested that Tintin move in with him. The last page in Black Gold, when they are listening to the radio, states that "several weeks have passed". (Strange that it is several weeks before Tintin asks Haddock how he got involved in the case, but that is for another debate :)

When they return to Marlinspike in Destination Moon, Nestor tells them that Calculus has been away for three weeks.

Once Tintin had agreed to moving, they simply had to send a letter or telegram to Nestor who would have arranged for Tintin's stuff to be moved from his flat to Marlinspike, all set for when they return from Khemed.
The fact that they leave for Syldavia almost immediately is a bit sudden, but then they are concerned for what has happened to Calculus.
mct16
Member
#32 · Posted: 30 Jan 2021 19:21
OK, I think that we now have definitive proof that Tintin never lived permanently at Marlinspike.

I suddenly remembered an old ad that I saw in France in the late 1970's, found it on the Internet and it confirmed my long-established belief that Tintin never moved in permanently with Haddock and Calculus.

The ad was for a pager device (also known as a beeper or bleeper) which was commonly used in the days in the pre-mobile phone era. It's believed that Bob De Moor may have been the principal artist, though Hergé would have had some input.

In the ad, the Thom(p)sons decide that they have to consult Tintin on an important matter but when they call his flat there is no answer. They then think of calling his Eurosignal pager.

Tintin is on his motorbike on his way to Marlinspike (like in Picaros) when his pager rings.
He knows by the tone that it is the Thom(p)sons.

At Marlinspike, with Haddock looking on, Tintin calls the Thom(p)sons and, once they have explained the matter, he tells them that he will act accordingly.

So there you have it, proof positive.

This ad was, after all, published just after Picaros, so how more definitive can it be?
The first call was to Tintin's flat in town but it was not answered because Tintin had left.
Thus he has kept the flat all this time.
If his permanent home was Marlinspike then the Thom(p)sons would have called him there and it would have been answered by Haddock or Nestor (Calculus would have thought it was a bee buzzing about).

So Tintin still has his flat in town and only occasionally goes to Marlinspike, like I always said... not.

(Search for Tintin Eurosignal for conmfirmation)
Balthazar
Moderator
#33 · Posted: 25 Feb 2021 19:11
Belated thanks for drawing attention to that Eurosignal ad, mct16.
I don't recall having seen it before.
I agree that it does seem to imply that Tintin is travelling from his flat (or at least from a separate address with its own phone line) to Marlinspike which is interesting, especially since, as you say, it seems likely that Hergé would have at least approved the scenario, even if Bob De Moor was probably undertaking the drawing duties.
Like you, I'd have otherwise assumed that Tintin had long since transferred his permanent place of address to Marlinspike

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