American society may have undergone seismic change over the past 50 years, but some things remained constant - like baseball, root beer and the anxious little icon who announced his retirement last week.

Sleepy talks

Two eye-catching new issues were priced yesterday as Thomas the Tank Engine and Brands Hatch prepare to come to the market.

The Scooby-Doo Generation

From Mr Kirk Martin

From Mrs J. F. Trowbridge

Charlie Brown goes for £19m

HASBRO, the US toy group famous for Tonka trucks and My Little Pony, has effectively seized control of Scrabble makers JW Spear. It is seeking the board's recommendation for a surprise takeover offer worth pounds 47.9m.

Evening falls on the prehistoric landscape. Pterodactyls swoop over the mountains. A brontosaurus lumbers through the rain and a terrible rumbling shakes the earth. With a dreadful roar it appears round the corner - a car, a two-dinosaur-power model, driven by the world's most famous stone-age man. 'Flintstones, meet the Flintstones, they're the modern stone- age family' runs the song, and so they are. In her Bedrock bungalow, suburban housewife Wilma's greatest indiscretion is to spend the housekeeping on a new dress. Baby girl Pebbles is mischievious but cute. But above all there's Fred with all the preoccupations of modern man - success at the golf club, esteem among the freemasons, promotion at work. Bumbling Fred Flintstone is one of the most enduring creations of an artistic partnership whose work, now on show in Cirencester, has helped shape popular culture since mid- century.

'ET TU, Big Ears?' Noddy asked, the gold bell on his hat tinkling as he eyed his friend suspiciously. First, there was the book, then the animated television series. Now, Noddy goes Latin, writes Rhys Williams.

TED TURNER'S US cable TV company Turner Broadcasting System is in talks with New Line Cinema Corporation, the film maker, about a possible business tie-up. New Line's productions include Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Nightmare on Elm Street.

Negotiations are underway in Hollywood for a film starring Noddy. Rights to the the 40-year-old Enid Blyton character were obtained by BBC Enterprises in March and an animated series is about to start in France.