Fun (magazine)
Fun was a Victorian weekly humorous magazine, first published on 21 September 1861 in competition with Punch.
The magazine's first editors were
At a penny an issue Fun undercut its rival, Punch, and prospered into the 1870s, after which it suffered a gradual decline. It passed through various ownerships under different editors, and ceased publication in 1901, when it was absorbed into a rival comic magazine, Sketchy Bits.
History
Early years
Fun was founded in 1861 by a London businessman, Charles Maclean, who believed there was scope for a rival to the established comic weekly magazine
According to the introduction to the Gale Fun archive, the new magazine became Punch's most successful rival and surpassed the older publication in its commentary on literature, fine arts, and theatre.[5] The Gale site adds:
Fun was aimed at a well-educated readership interested in politics, literature and theatre.[4] Like Punch, it published satiric verse and parodies, as well as political and literary criticism, sports and travel information. These were often illustrated or accompanied by topical cartoons, often of a political nature.[4] The more conservative and establishment-minded Punch took a condescending view of its upstart competitor. William Makepeace Thackeray, a longstanding contributor to the older publication, dubbed the new magazine "Funch". Mark Lemon, the editor of Punch, nevertheless made frequent efforts to lure Fun's best contributors away. He succeeded with F. C. Burnand but failed with Fun's star contributor, W. S. Gilbert.[2][6]
Encouraged by the success of Fun and looking to make more money, Byron founded and became editor of another humorous paper, Comic News, in July 1863. He was succeeded at Fun by Hood in May 1865, when Edward Wylam, a prosperous manufacturer of dog biscuits, bought the business.[2][3][7]
Peak years: 1865–1874
Hood assembled a vivacious and progressive team, who liked to think of themselves as bohemian, albeit in a generally respectable way. The historian Jane Stedman describes them:
Notable contributors included
Hood, the son of a famous poet, was exacting in his standards. Clement Scott recalled, "In the matter of verse Tom Hood was a purist. A Cockney rhyme was to him an abomination. A false rhythm sent him crazy. It was an education, indeed, to be brought up under such a strict master".[2] As well as Gilbert, Hood's writers of verse included Mortimer Collins, Edmund Yates, Jeff Prowse and Harry Leigh.[2] Cartoonists included Arthur Boyd Houghton, Matt Morgan and James Francis Sullivan (1852–1936).
The Fun gang frequented the Arundel Club, the Savage Club, and especially Evans's Café, where they had a table in competition with the Punch "Round table".[10] Even though Fun was seen as liberal in comparison with the increasingly conservative Punch, it could cast satirical scorn or praise on either side of the political spectrum. For instance, Disraeli, whose unorthodox character and Jewish lineage made him a frequent target of attack, was praised in the magazine, particularly for his Reform Bill of 1867.[4]
Later years
The ownership of Fun passed in 1870 to the engravers and publishers
Hood was succeeded as editor by Henry Sampson until 1878, and then the editorship devolved to Charles Dalziel. In 1893 the Dalziel family withdrew from the journal, and Henry T. Johnson became editor.[12] Fun was bought by the publisher George Newnes, who sold it to Charles Shurey, proprietor of a rival comic paper early in 1901. It ceased publication in the same year, when it was absorbed into Shurey's Sketchy Bits.[5]
Gallery
Notes
- ^ a b Barrie, p. 217
- ^ a b c d e f Scott, Clement. "The Foundation of Fun", The Sketch, 20 September 1893, p. 412
- ^ a b Thomson, Peter. "Byron, Henry James (1835–1884), playwright and actor", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2008 (subscription or UK public library membership required)
- ^ a b c d "Fun, 1861–1901)", Bodleian Library. Retrieved 13 September 2022
- ^ a b c "Fun – About this publication", Gale Primary Sources. Retrieved 13 September 2022 (subscription required)
- ^ a b Stedman, Jane W. "Gilbert, Sir William Schwenck (1836–1911), playwright", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2008 (subscription or UK public library membership required)
- ^ Spielmann, p. 568
- ^ Stedman, pp. 13−14
- ^ Stedman, p. 11
- ^ Schoch, Richard. "Performing Bohemia", Nineteenth Century Theatre and Film, vol. 30, issue: 2, pp. 1–13, 1 November 2003
- ^ Stedman, p. 13
- ^ "Literary Gossip", The Globe, 19 August 1893, p. 6
Sources
- Barrie, Charles (2014). The Lucky Queen: The Eight Assassination Attempts on Queen Victoria. Stroud: Amberley. ISBN 978-1-4456-4369-4.
- Spielmann, M. H. (31 August 1895). "The Rivals of Punch". Littell's Living Age. Boston: Littell and Co. OCLC 608617909.
- Stedman, Jane W. (1996). W. S. Gilbert: A Classic Victorian and His Theatre. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-816174-5.
External links
- Waterloo Directory
- Fun is online with zoomable page images and searchable text at University of Florida's Comics Digital Collections