Odhams Press
IPC Magazines (1963–1969) | |
Status | defunct (1969) |
---|---|
Founded | 1870s (as William Odhams) 1920 (as Odhams Press) |
Founders | William Odhams |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Headquarters location | 64 Long Acre, London |
Key people | John Lynch Odhams, William James Baird Odhams, Julius Elias, 1st Viscount Southwood, Edwin Embleton, Alf Wallace, Pippa King Melling[1] |
Publication types | magazines, books, comics |
Nonfiction topics | history, lifestyle, fashion, animals |
Fiction genres | humour, adventure, superhero |
Imprints | Odhams Books Ltd Longacre Press Power Comics (1966–1968) |
Odhams Press was a British publishing company, operating from 1920 to 1968. Originally a magazine publisher, Odhams later expanded into book publishing and then children's comics. The company was acquired by
History
William Odhams; Odhams Bros.
In 1834 William Odhams left Sherborne, Dorset, for London,[a] where he initially worked for The Morning Post. In 1847, he went into partnership with William Biggar in Beaufort Buildings, Savoy, London; and in the 1870s he started the business known as William Odhams. Originally a jobbing printer and newspaper publisher, William Odhams sold the business to his two sons, John Lynch Odhams and William James Baird Odhams, in 1892. The business, then a small printing firm in Hart Street employing about twenty people, became known as Odhams Bros.
Magazine and book publishing
Odhams Limited was created in 1898. Julius Elias, who left school at the age of 13 before going to work as an office boy at Odhams Bros, worked his way up to become managing director and eventually chairman of the firm, which after a merger with John Bull in 1920 took the name Odhams Press Ltd. That same year, the company also founded Ideal Home and acquired the equestrian magazine Horse & Hound.
Odhams acquired a 51% share in the Trades Union Congress paper the Daily Herald in 1930 (by that point, Odhams was already publishing The Sunday People). A promotion campaign ensued, and in 1933, the Herald became the world's best-selling daily newspaper, with certified net sales of 2 million. This accomplishment set off a war with more conservative London papers, such as the Daily Express.
By 1937 Odhams had founded the first colour weekly, Woman, for which it set up and operated a dedicated high-speed print works. Odhams also expanded into book publishing, for example publishing Winston Churchill's Painting as a Pastime (1965), Rupert Gunnis's Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660–1851 (1953), and an edition of the complete works of William Shakespeare.
In 1954, Odhams Press Hall was built in Watford, designed by Yates, Cook and Derbyshire. The building was later protected by the Watford Borough Council because of the innovative clock tower, which houses a water tank for use in printing.[2]
In the 1950s, Odhams was one of London's three leading magazine publishers – along with
Throughout the 1960s, Odhams Books Ltd (likewise founded by Odhams Press) operated the Companion Book Club (CBC). This published a large series of hardcover novels.
Children's comics and acquisition by Fleetway/IPC
Odhams published Mickey Mouse Weekly from the 1930s (acquiring it from Willbank Publications), which featured American reprints as well as original British Disney comics material, including a number of non-Disney-related strips. Odhams lost the rights to Disney characters in 1957, and almost immediately launched the weekly comic Zip, which inherited the non-Disney strips from Mickey Mouse Weekly.
In 1959, Odhams purchased George Newnes Ltd[3][4][5] as well as its imprint C. Arthur Pearson Ltd. Notable comics titles originally published by Pearson and continued by Odhams included the romance comics Mirabelle and Marty, and the Picture Stories and Picture Library series.
In 1959–1960, Odhams acquired
.In 1960
Odhams' "juveniles" (i.e., children's comics) competed for readers with DC Thomson, publisher of such popular titles as The Beano, The Dandy, and Commando. Alf Wallace, who had found success at Fleetway with his line of War Picture Library comics, was brought over to oversee Odhams' comics line. He was, however, unable to reverse the declining popularity of Eagle and Swift, or succeed with Boys' World, launched in 1963.[10] In fact, by early 1964, Swift and Boys' World had both been absorbed by Eagle, which, along with Girl, was then taken over by IPC.[citation needed]
In desperation, Wallace recruited veteran cartoonist
Close of business
In 1968 Odhams encountered financial problems, partly due to unfavourable economic conditions in Britain.
Newspapers
- Daily Herald (1930–1964)
- The Sunday People (circa 1920–circa 1963)
- The Sun (1964–1969)
Magazines
- Geographical (1965–1968)
- Horse & Hound (from 1920)
- Ideal Home (founded 1920)
- John Bull (1920–1964)
- Kinematograph Weekly
- Leader Magazine
- News Review (c. 1940–1950) — merged into Illustrated magazine
- NME (1962–1968)
- Picturegoer (from 1921)
- Rugby World (from 1960)
- The Motion Picture Studio (founded 1921)[15]
- Woman (from 1937)
Book series
- Beacon Books[16]
- Britain Illustrated
- Colourama Series (also known as: Colourama: A Pictorial Treasury of Knowledge)[17]
- Exploring Series
- Famous Criminal Trials
- Hippo Books[18][19]
- Man's Book Series
- Modern Living Series
- New Educational Library
- Odhams Owner-Driver Handbooks
- The People's Home Library
- Popular Library
- University Series
- The War in Pictures
Comics titles
Title | Odhams' pub. dates | Fate | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Mickey Mouse Weekly | 1936–1957 | Cancelled | Odhams lost rights to Disney characters in 1957 |
Zip[20] | 1958–1959 | Merged into Swift | Contained many strip originally from Mickey Mouse Weekly |
Eagle | 1960–1963 | Taken over and continued by IPC | Originally launched by Hulton Press in 1950; merged into Lion in 1969 |
Girl |
1960–1964 | Merged into IPC's Princess | Originally launched in 1951 by Hulton Press |
Robin[21] | 1960–1963 | Taken over and continued by IPC | Originally launched by Amalgamated Press in 1953; merged into IPC's Playhour in 1969 |
Swift | 1960–1963 | Merged into Eagle | Originally launched by Hulton Press in 1954 as a junior companion to Eagle |
Boys' World | 1963–1964 | Merged into Eagle | Published under the Longacre Press imprint |
Wham! | 1964–1968 | Merged into Pow! | |
Smash! | 1966–1969 | Taken over by IPC | Absorbed Pow! and Wham! and then Fantastic and Terrific in 1968; merged into Valiant in 1971 |
Pow! | 1967–1968 | Merged into Smash! | |
Fantastic | 1967–1968 | Merged into Smash! | |
Terrific | 1967–1968 | Merged into Fantastic |
See also
References
Notes
- ^ According to Susan M. Penn's history of Long Street at Sherborne, Dorset,[citation needed] as verified by Harrop's historical house survey and by local census information, the house known since 1968 as Mistletoe Cottage was occupied in 1834 by John Odhams. His eldest son, William, grew up to be a compositor: possibly serving his apprenticeship with Langdon and Harker at the Sherborne Mercury printing office in Long Street, according to his great-granddaughter,[citation needed] although there is no other evidence to support this. At the rear of Mistletoe Cottage, however, is a substantial brick-built shed. The flat flooring of this shed is very solid, complete with thick oak planking, well able to support and withstand heavy items of machinery such as a printing press. Earthworks next to the shed in or around 2002 revealed evidence of many-colored printing inks still visible in the soil.[citation needed]
- ^ Odhams' headquarters were at 64 Long Acre, London, inspiring the new name.
- IPC, ended up using Marvel Comics reprint material in 1970–1971.
Citations
- ^ Murray, Chris. "Mergers and Marvels (1962–1980)," The British Superhero (Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2017), p. 173.
- ^ "Locally Listed Buildings in Watford". Watford Borough Council. 13 December 2010. Archived from the original on 29 September 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
- ^ The Times (19 June 1959).
- ^ "George Newnes Co," Grace's Guide to British Industrial History. Retrieved 1 Apr. 2021.
- ^ "Odhams Press," International Catalogue of Super-Heroes. Retrieved 3 Mar. 2021.
- ISBN 978-0-7528-8895-8.
- ^ A Tribute to Frank Hampson 1918–1985, tameside.gov.uk, 12 September 2007, retrieved 24 June 2010
- . Retrieved 24 August 2013.
- ^ Birch, Paul. "Speaking Frankly," Archived 20 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Birmingham Mail (14 December 2008).
- ^ a b Coates, Alan and David. "Smash!" British Comic World #3 (A. & D. Coates, June 1984).
- ^ Collins, Robert M. "The Economic Crisis of 1968 and the Waning of the 'American Century,'" The American Historical Review Vol. 101, No. 2 (Apr., 1996), pp. 396-422.
- ^ Martin, Patrick. "Eugene McCarthy, dead at 89, played pivotal role in 1968 political crisis," World Socialist Web Site (30 December 2005).
- ^ George Beal, Obituary: Leonard Matthews, The Independent, 5 December 1997
- ^ Stringer, Lew. "Flashback 1969: TV21 & Joe 90 No.1," Blimey! The Blog of British Comics! (25 November 2007).
- ^ "Printed and Published by ODHAMS PRESS Ltd. Long Acre, W.C.2—May 13, 1922". The Motion Picture Studio. Vol. 1, no. 49. London, UK: Odhams Press. 13 May 1922. p. 20. Retrieved 30 June 2023 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Beacon Books (Odhams Press) - Book Series List, publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
- ^ Colourama + Odhams, worldcat.org. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
- ^ Hippo Books / New Hippo Books (Odhams; then Hamlyn) - Book Series List, publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
- ^ DUMPY and other pocket-sized books, collectingbooksandmagazines.com. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
- ^ Swift at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ Robin at the Grand Comics Database
External links
- The IPC Media website
- Howard Cox and Simon Mowatt, "Technology and Industrial Change: The Shift from Production to Knowledge-Based Business in the Magazine Print Publishing Industry", paper presented to the 2001 Association of Business Historians Conference, 2001 (Research Papers in International Business no. 27).