The London Charivari
If Private Eye is the new kid on the block at a youthful 50 or so years old, then Punch
Punch Magazine Issue 1
Magazine was the senior partner, the forerunner of many other satirical publications which have emerged around the globe during the last century and a half.
Although the name has always been Punch, a working title was The London Charivari and this was a reference to a satirical humorous magazine which was already underway in France. That magazine was entitled Le Charivari and until political satirisation was outlawed in France in 1835, it lampooned the political and monarchist classes. In fact Le Charivari was also an offshoot of another French satirical publication, La Caricature.
Mayhew & Lemon
Henry Mayhew and Ebenezer Landells founded Punch on 17th July 1841; it was edited by Mayhew and Mark Lemon (who also wrote for the world’s oldest field sports magazine, The Field). It’s always a little difficult to tell whether the intent of some editors is to create a satirical magazine or a funny one, but in this case it seems that Mayhew and Lemon really were satirists; Mr. Punch, the charming wife beater of Punch and Judy fame was the masthead and the inspiration behind the name.
Although Mayhew and Lemon may have been enjoying themselves, their editorship of the magazine lasted barely a year before they ran into financial trouble. Bradbury and Evans were the printing and publishing company which purchased Punch; they were at the forefront of the use of mass-print technologies and notably also published Charles Dickens novels.
Charles Dickens was actually one of a number of contemporary writers who provided reviews and other material for Punch, others included Charles Keene and Richard Doyle. Financially the magazine still struggled until it gained a type of acceptance in drawing rooms, casinos, blackjack rooms and gentleman’s clubs, after which it became a necessity for what might be termed the Victorian chattering classes. Its popularity was accelerated by the inclusion of Punch articles in The Times and The News of the World which brought the magazine to a wider audience. Punch magazine was also ultimately thought to be read by royalty, which could of course be regarded as something of a downer for a supposedly satirical publication.
Punch saw competition from another London publication, Fun, in the 1860s and 1870s but by the mid 1870s it once again had the market to itself when Fun closed it’s doors.
Curate’s Egg
One of the most notable achievements of Punch magazine is the coining of the word ‘cartoon’ to refer to a comic drawing; it also gave birth to some of the most enduring cartoons and articles of the era including the ‘Curate’s Egg’ cartoon, Diary of a Nobody and 1066 and All That. The quality of the cartoons was a enduring thread throughout the life of Punch and subsequent artists included Norman Thelwell, Bernard Hollowood and Bernard Partridge.
True Humility - the title of the Curate's Egg cartoon
Circulation reached it’s highest level in the 1940s at the relatively modest number of 175,000. Almost certainly a magazine of it’s time, it closed in 1992 after almost 150 years in print. Harrods owner Mohammed Al-Fayed resurrected it in 1996 but after six years of poor sales finally closed it doors for good.