''The Union Jack'' was a British

story paper A story paper is a periodical publication similar to a literary magazine, but featuring illustrations and text stories, and aimed towards children and teenagers. Also known in Britain as "boys' weeklies", story papers were phenomenally popular ...

for children of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There were two story papers called ''Union Jack''. The first appeared in the 1880s but was only very short-lived. The name was then used by Alfred Harmsworth in 1894 for a new halfpenny story paper intended as a companion to the successful ''

Halfpenny Marvel ''The Halfpenny Marvel'' was a British story paper for children of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, published by Amalgamated Press. Overview ''The Halfpenny Marvel'' was the first of Alfred Harmsworth's story papers aimed at putting the " ...

''. Harmsworth considered it his moral duty to put the "

penny dreadful Penny dreadfuls were cheap popular serial literature produced during the nineteenth century in the United Kingdom. The pejorative term is roughly interchangeable with penny horrible, penny awful, and penny blood. The term typically referred to ...

s" out of business, though some considered his papers to simply be "halfpenny dreadfullers". The first issues of the ''Union Jack'' stated that it was a "Library of high class fiction". The

editorial An editorial, or leading article (UK) or leader (UK) is an article written by the senior editorial people or publisher of a newspaper, magazine, or any other written document, often unsigned. Australian and major United States newspapers, such ...

at the end of the very first issue stated "there will be nothing of the 'dreadful' type in our stories. No tales of boys rifling their employers' cash-boxes and making off to foreign lands, or other such highly immoral fiction products". The paper claimed to be offering good value by "securing the very best authors" but only presenting their stories on cheap paper, rather than "wasting" money on colourful bindings and high-quality paper. However, the actual quality of the stories, especially in the early years, could be variable. Also many writers used

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individu ...

s to make it appear that more people were writing for the paper than actually were.

Types of stories

The paper initially focused on '' Boy's Own'' type adventure stories, set mainly around the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

and at sea. The very first story was entitled "The Silver Arrow" and featured the many trials of the hero across mountains and jungles in Mexico to rescue his wife-to-be from red Indians. Another type of story featured in the early days was the

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

story, with the second issue featuring a tale of

Sexton Blake Sexton Blake is a fictional character, a detective who has been featured in many British comic strips, novels and dramatic productions since 1893. Sexton Blake adventures were featured in a wide variety of British and international publications ...

. This was, in some sources, quoted as the first ever Sexton Blake tale, however, earlier ones had been published in the ''Halfpenny Marvel'' in 1893, so it was actually the fourth. Even by issue 7, the editorial page announced a system of voting for the story that was liked best, to allow the writers to provide more of the type of story the readers wanted. Issues beyond this tended to concentrate on

westerns The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referred ...

(though set in British territories in South America and Canada rather than the United States) and detective stories, including another Sexton Blake story in issue 15. As the 1900s began, Sexton Blake stories began to appear in more and more issues, and major plot developments in the overall Sexton Blake saga took place in the ''Union Jack'' (for instance the introduction of Tinker, his assistant). The "new" ''Union Jack'' paper began in 1903, a continuation of the old paper but with the price increased to 1d and the issue numbers being restarted these issues where labeled "New Series" for many years. In 1905 the paper became "Sexton Blake's Own paper", and featured a Sexton Blake story in every issue. In the 1920s an article in the centre appeared called "Tinker's Notebook" which contained assorted items of interest, mainly relating to crime and punishment from around the world, supposedly related by Sexton Blake's young assistant (in early issues the editorial contained a selection of interesting facts). This section was renamed "From information received" in the 1930s, and dropped the pretence of being written by Tinker. The serials, too, took on crime/punishment themes, serialising books by writers such as

Edgar Wallace Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was a British writer. Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was a war correspondent during th ...

. They also contained serials specifically written by the paper, which at times were also Sexton Blake stories. The

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, and declining circulation, saw the end of many papers which had published Sexton Blake stories; however the Sexton Blake Library (started in 1915) and ''Union Jack'' continued.

History

By the end of the 1890s, the paper featured a single complete story in addition to a serial instalment. In 1904 the price was raised to 1d and the

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wo ...

, until then variable, was changed to be the same for each issue, and featured a large image of a lion sitting on a

Union Jack The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

flag. Pink paper began to be used for the covers, perhaps to make the paper more readily identifiable on newsagents' shelves. In 1918 the price increased to a "war time price" of 1½d. This price continued well after the

, however. In 1920 the price again increased, to 2d, and colour covers were introduced. The logo had, after the first world war, become variable again, but now settled down into a bold and simple "UNION JACK" title with rounded edges to the letters. The logo did often slightly vary in size and colour as it was painted directly onto the artwork used for the cover. In 1933, the ''Union Jack'' came to an end with the final issue containing a Sexton Blake story called "The Land of Lost Men", though the cover announced "Sexton Blake's Secret – specially important announcement inside!". The issue was numbered 1531, but owing to the numbers being re-organised in 1903 it was actually the 2018th issue.Editorial, final issue. After running 38 years, 10 months and 2 weeks, it was replaced by '' Detective Weekly'', a larger paper with less-striking covers using fewer colours. This paper would continue until the introduction of paper rationing in 1940.

''Union Jack'' today

There remains a ready market for ''Union Jack'' papers today, with issues often available on

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. They appeal to

fans,

detective story Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as specu ...

fans in general (particularly later numbers), and to lovers of "Boy's Own" Victorian and Edwardian stories (particularly earlier numbers). Older issues on their own are scarce, but bound volumes occasionally appear. Later numbers from the 1920s and 30s are comparatively common.

Reference in fiction

The ''Union Jack'', as well as the ''

'' and ''Pluck'', are referenced by

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the Modernism, modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important ...

in the short story "

An Encounter "An Encounter" is a short story by James Joyce. It is second in a collection of Joyce's short stories called ''Dubliners''. In the story, two young boys experience an eerie encounter with a strange, old man. It deals with themes such as routine a ...

", part of Joyce's ''

Dubliners ''Dubliners'' is a collection of fifteen short stories by James Joyce, first published in 1914. It presents a naturalistic depiction of Irish middle class life in and around Dublin in the early years of the 20th century. The stories were writ ...

''. These magazines are mentioned as highly popular among Dublin schoolboys of the time, who are especially attracted to the

Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

stories published in them. The story opens: The ''Union Jack'' is also mentioned in

Philip Pullman Sir Philip Nicholas Outram Pullman (born 19 October 1946) is an English writer. His books include the fantasy trilogy '' His Dark Materials'' and '' The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ'', a fictionalised biography of Jesus. In 2008, ''T ...

's ''

The Ruby in the Smoke ''The Ruby in the Smoke'' (1985) is a novel by the English author Philip Pullman. This book went on to win the 1987 Lancashire Children's Book of the Year Award. It was also adapted for television in 2006. It is the first of the Sally Lockhart ...

'', which is set in Victorian London.

References

{{Authority control Magazines established in 1894 Magazines disestablished in 1933 British boys' story papers Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom 1894 establishments in the United Kingdom 1933 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Publications of Sexton Blake