Answers (periodical)
Answers was a British weekly
It was the first periodical founded by Northcliffe (who was 23 years old at the time of its founding), who would go on to become a publishing magnate, later founding and acquiring a number of highly successful and influential periodicals, including the
Answers was twelve pages in length, and was priced at 1d each.[1]
Contents
Answers purported to answer questions submitted by readers, though many were written under false names by Northcliffe or plagiarized from American sources.[5] Example topics included 'Can Monkeys Smoke?', 'How to Cure Freckles', 'Why Jews Don't Ride Bicycles', 'How Madmen Write', 'What the Queen Eats', and 'Can Insects Feel Pain?'.[5] The paper also included humorous anecdotes, quotations, and jokes (example: "There is a man in Birmingham who has been asleep seven years. This, we believe, beats the best yet done by any member of the Metropolitan Police Force").[2]
Answers included
Promotions
Answers failed to turn a profit during its initial months of publication, but Northcliffe was able to effectively increase the paper's circulation by the use of a variety of promotional gimmicks.[5] Northcliffe sold a number of branded novelties, among the first being a "Pigs in Clover" puzzle, a form of ball-in-a-maze puzzle, with colored marbles spelling out 'Answers' when rolled into the correct holes.[5] Other merchandise included fountain pens, patent medicines,[5], pipes and coffee.[3]
Northcliffe also conducted a number of promotional competitions.[3] One of the most successful, credited with raising circulation to 200,000 per week, offered £1 per week for life to the reader who could most accurately guess the total value of gold and silver stored in the Bank of England on a certain date. The competition received 718,218 entries. Northcliffe required each entry to bear the signatures of five witnesses as a way to further increase the number of people exposed to Answers' brand.[5]
Later history
Answers is thought to have attained a maximum circulation of 830,000 in 1906.[6] The magazine's final issue was dated 18 February 1956, by which point it had rebranded itself Answers & TV Pic.[6]
References
- ^ .
- ^ ISBN 9781398508705.
- ^ a b c Griffen-Foley, B (2004). "From Tit-Bits to Big Brother: A century of audience participation in the media" (PDF). Media, Culture & Society.
- ^ a b "The Press:Death of a Viscount". Time. 9 December 1940.
- ^ a b c d e f Brendon, Piers (1979). "Lord Northcliffe". Eminent Edwardians. Penguin Books.
- ^ a b Quinn, Tony. "General weekly magazines". Magforum. Retrieved 14 October 2022.