Punch, or The London Charivari, was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and wood-engraver Ebenezer Landells.
Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 1850s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration.
The Founding and Early Years
Punch was founded on 17 July 1841 by Henry Mayhew and wood-engraver Ebenezer Landells, on an initial investment of £25 (equivalent to £2,871 in 2023). It was jointly edited by Mayhew and Mark Lemon.
It was subtitled The London Charivari in homage to Charles Philipon's French satirical humour magazine Le Charivari.
Reflecting their satiric and humorous intent, the two editors took for their name and masthead the anarchic glove puppet Mr. Punch.
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Mayhew ceased to be joint editor in 1842 and became "suggestor in chief" until he severed his connection in 1845.
The magazine initially struggled for readers, except for an 1842 Almanack issue which shocked its creators by selling 90,000 copies.
In December 1842, due to financial difficulties, the magazine was sold to Bradbury and Evans, both printers and publishers.
The Rise of Cartoons
The term "cartoon" to refer to comic drawings was first used in Punch in 1843, when the Houses of Parliament were to be decorated with murals, and "cartoons" for the mural were displayed for the public; the term "cartoon" then meant a finished preliminary sketch on a large piece of cardboard, or cartone in Italian. Illustrator Archibald Henning designed the cover of the magazine's first issues.
John Leech, Substance and Shadow (1843), published as Cartoon, No. 1
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The cover design varied in the early years, though Richard Doyle designed what became the magazine's masthead in 1849. Artists who published in Punch during the 1840s and 1850s included John Leech, Doyle, John Tenniel, and Charles Keene.
This group became known as "The Punch Brotherhood", which also included Charles Dickens, who joined Bradbury and Evans after leaving Chapman and Hall in 1843.
Punch's authors and artists also contributed to another Bradbury and Evans literary magazine called Once A Week (est. 1859).
Success and Influence
After months of financial difficulty and lack of market success, Punch became a staple for British drawing rooms because of its sophisticated humour and absence of offensive material, especially when viewed against the satirical press of the time.
The Times and the Sunday paper News of the World used small pieces from Punch as column fillers, giving the magazine free publicity and indirectly granting a degree of respectability, a privilege not enjoyed by any other comic publication.
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Punch shared a friendly relationship with not only The Times, but also journals aimed at intellectual audiences such as the Westminster Review, which published a 53-page illustrated article on Punch's first two volumes.
Increasing in readership and popularity throughout the remainder of the 1840s and '50s, Punch was the success story of a threepenny weekly paper that had become one of the most talked-about and enjoyed periodicals.
"True Humility": Bishop: "I'm afraid you've got a bad egg, Mr Jones"; Curate: "Oh, no, my Lord, I assure you! Parts of it are excellent!"
Punch enjoyed an audience including Elizabeth Barrett, Robert Browning, Thomas Carlyle, Edward FitzGerald, Charlotte Brontë, Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emily Dickinson, Herman Melville, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and James Russell Lowell.
Punch gave several phrases to the English language, including The Crystal Palace, and the "Curate's egg" (first seen in an 1895 cartoon by George du Maurier).
Several British humour classics were first serialised in Punch, such as the Diary of a Nobody and 1066 and All That.
Towards the end of the 19th century, the artistic roster included Harry Furniss, Linley Sambourne, Francis Carruthers Gould, and Phil May.
Among the outstanding cartoonists of the following century were Bernard Partridge, H. M. Bateman, and Rowland Emett. Circulation broke the 100,000 mark around 1910, and peaked in 1947-1948 at 175,000 to 184,000.
Punch was widely emulated worldwide and was popular throughout the British Empire.
The experience of Britons in British colonies, especially in India, influenced Punch and its iconography.
Tenniel's Punch cartoons of the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny led to a surge in the magazine's popularity.
Punch material was collected in book formats from the late 19th century, which included Pick of the Punch annuals with cartoons and text features, Punch and the War (a 1941 collection of WWII-related cartoons), and A Big Bowl of Punch - which was republished a number of times.
Decline and Revival
After the 1940s, when its circulation peaked, it went into a long decline, closing in 1992.
In early 1996, businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed bought the rights to the name, and Punch was relaunched later that year.
The new version of the magazine was intended to be a spoiler aimed at Private Eye, which had published many items critical of Fayed.
In 2004, much of the archives was acquired by the British Library, including the Punch table.
The long, oval, Victorian table was brought into the offices some time around 1855, and was used for staff meetings and on other occasions.
The wooden surface is scarred with the carved initials of the magazine's long-term writers, artists, and editors, as well as six invited "strangers", including James Thurber and Charles III (then Prince of Wales).
International Versions
Punch was emulated in other countries, leading to the creation of international versions.
A whole-page cartoon from Punch in Canada, volume 1 issue 6 (31 March, 1849), by its founder John H. Walker
- A Canadian version, Punch in Canada, was launched on 1 January 1849. The magazine was published by Thomas Blades de Walden, a dilapidated member of one of the great aristocratic families of England, and an associate of the officers of the garrison stationed in Toronto. According to John Henry Walker, a wood engraver working for Punch, the magazine was doing well.
- China Punch, established in 1867 in Hong Kong, was the first humour magazine in greater China.
Punch magazine, with its satirical and humorous intent, left a lasting impact on British culture and the world of cartoons.