The Amalgamated Press (AP) was a British newspaper and magazine publishing company founded by journalist and entrepreneur

Alfred Harmsworth Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe (15 July 1865 – 14 August 1922), was a British newspaper and publishing magnate. As owner of the ''Daily Mail'' and the ''Daily Mirror'', he was an early developer of popular journal ...

(1865–1922) in 1901, gathering his many publishing ventures together under one banner. At one point the largest publishing company in the world, AP employed writers such as

Arthur Mee Arthur Henry Mee (21 July 187527 May 1943) was an English writer, journalist and educator. He is best known for ''The Harmsworth Self-Educator'', ''The Children's Encyclopædia'', ''The Children's Newspaper'', and ''The King's England''. Ea ...

, John Alexander Hammerton, Edwy Searles Brooks, and Charles Hamilton. Its subsidiary, the Educational Book Company, published ''

The Harmsworth Self-Educator ''The Harmsworth Self-Educator'' was a British educational magazine series "published in forty eight issues between 1905 and 1907" at the instigation of newspaper owner Alfred Harmsworth and edited by Arthur Mee. The purpose of ''The Self-Educat ...

'', '' The Children's Encyclopædia'', and '' Harmsworth's Universal Encyclopaedia''. The company's newspapers included the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

'', the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

'', '' The Evening News'', ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'', and ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''. At its height, AP published over 70 magazines and operated three large printing works and

paper mills A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt, ...

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

."Amalgamated Press,"
''Grace's Guide to British Industrial History''. Retrieved Apr. 19, 2021.

History

Harmsworth Brothers Ltd

In 1888 Alfred Harmsworth and his younger brother Harold (1868–1940) started Harmsworth Brothers, with Alfred acting as publisher and Harold handling the finances. The first thing they did was found a paper called '' Answers to Correspondents'', which was modeled after another popular paper called ''

Tit-Bits ''Tit-Bits from all the interesting Books and Newspapers of the World'', more commonly known as ''Tit-Bits'' and later as ''Titbits'', was a British weekly magazine founded by George Newnes, a founding figure in popular journalism, on 22 Octo ...

'' (published by

George Newnes Sir George Newnes, 1st Baronet (13 March 1851 – 9 June 1910) was a British publisher and editor and a founding figure in popular journalism. Newnes also served as a Liberal Party Member of Parliament for two decades. His company, George Newne ...

). Harmsworth entered the

comic magazine Comic magazine or comics magazine may refer to: * A comic book * A comics anthology * ''Comic Magazine'', a 1986 Japanese film * Comic Magazines, the parent company of Quality Comics * British comics * List of Franco-Belgian comics magazines, Franc ...

market in 1890 with '' Comic Cuts'' and ''

Illustrated Chips ''Illustrated Chips'' was a British Comics anthology, comic magazine published between 26 July 1890 and 12 September 1953. Its publisher was the Amalgamated Press, run by Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe, Alfred Harmsworth. Priced at a ...

''; The comic '' Wonder'', launched in 1892, was part of a long string of connected titles which stretched from 1892 to 1953, known by a variety of additional names, including '' Funny Wonder'' and ''Jester''. Also in 1890, Harmsworth began publishing periodicals to challenge and compete with the penny dreadfuls popular among British youth. Priced at one half-penny, Harmsworth's story papers were cheaper and, at least initially, were more respectable than the competition. Harmsworth claimed to be motivated by a wish to challenge the pernicious influence of penny dreadfuls. AP's '' Halfpenny Marvel'', launched in 1893, was soon followed by a number of other Harmsworth half-penny periodicals, such as '' The Union Jack'' (1894–1933) and ''Pluck'' (also started in 1894), and the serialized boys' story papers '' The Boys' Friend'' (1895). At first the stories were high-minded moral tales, reportedly based on true experiences, but it was not long before these papers started using the same kind of material as the publications they competed against. Beginning in 1894, the Harmsworth brothers dove into the newspaper business, first acquiring '' The Evening News'' and the ''Edinburgh Daily Record''. Harmsworth founded the ''

'' in 1896, which was a success, having the world record for daily circulation until Harmsworth's death. Harmsworth founded the woman's magazine '' Home Chat'' (1895–1959) to compete with C. Arthur Pearson's '' Home Notes''. In 1896, Harmsworth Brothers Ltd was incorporated as a

limited company In a limited company, the Legal liability, liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a c ...

. By this time, combined weekly sales of the company's publications exceeded one million copies, more than any other magazine publisher in the world.

Formation and expansion of Amalgamated Press

In 1901, Harmsworth gathered his many publishing ventures together under the banner of Amalgamated Press. In 1902, the company opened offices in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, also setting up a system of codes and telegraphs that streamlined the layout and printing process. Expanding his newspaper empire, Harmsworth initiated the ''

'' during 1903, and rescued the financially desperate ''

'' and ''

'' during 1905 and 1908, respectively. During 1908, he also acquired ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

''. The quality of the AP story papers began to improve throughout the early 20th century. They also proliferated, with AP launching new boys' papers like ''

The Gem ''The Gem'' (1907–1939) was a story paper published in Great Britain by Amalgamated Press in the early 20th century, predominantly featuring the activities of boys at the fictional school St. Jim's. These stories were all written using the pe ...

'' (1907–1939) and ''

The Magnet ''The Magnet'' was a British weekly boys' story paper published by Amalgamated Press. It ran from 1908 to 1940, publishing a total of 1,683 issues. Each issue contained a long school story about the boys of Greyfriars School, a fictional publ ...

'' (1908–1940). By the time of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, papers such as ''Union Jack'' dominated the market in the UK. Post-World War I story papers launched by AP included '' The Champion'' (1922–1955) and ''The Thriller'' (1929–1937). Recognizing the popularity of the story papers with girls, AP editor Reg Eves launched a girl's line, the most notable being ''

School Friend ''School Friend'' was the name of two different British weekly publications marketed toward girls, both of which were pioneering in their respective categories. Although both published by Amalgamated Press and both marketed toward girls, the cont ...

'' (1919–1929), '' Schoolgirls' Own'' (1921–1936), and ''

The Schoolgirl ''The Schoolgirl'' was a British weekly story paper aimed at girls. Published by Amalgamated Press (AP), ''The Schoolgirl'' ran in two series, the first from 1922 to 1923, and the second (essentially continuing a sister publication) from 1929 to ...

'' (1922–1923; 1929–1940). AP's '' My Magazine'' was published from 1908 to 1933 with different names; it had articles on science, technology, geography, and current events. From 1912 Amalgamated Press was based at Fleetway House in Farringdon Street, London.W. O. G. Lofts, "Fleetway House is no more," ''C.D.'' #375 (March 1978)
Archived at the Friardale website
Amalgamated Press acquired the assets of James Henderson & Sons Ltd in 1920. "James Henderson and Sons", ''Graces Guide''
Retrieved 22 November 2020 AP story papers faced tougher competition in the 1930s with the rise of

DC Thomson DC Thomson is a media company based in Dundee, Scotland. Founded by David Couper Thomson in 1905, it is best known for publishing ''The Courier (Dundee), The Courier'', ''Evening Telegraph (Dundee), The Evening Telegraph'' and ''The Sunday Pos ...

's line, including ''

The Hotspur ''The Hotspur'' was a British boys' paper published by D. C. Thomson & Co. From 1933 to 1959, it was a boys' story paper; it was relaunched as a comic in October 1959, initially called ''The New Hotspur'', and ceased publication in January 19 ...

'' (launched in 1933). '' Comic Cuts'' and ''

'' continued strongly into the 20th century; other notable pre-

War War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

humorous comics titles published by AP included ''

Film Fun ''Film Fun'' was a British celebrity comics comic book that ran from (issues dates) 17 January 1920 to 15 September 1962, when it merged with '' Buster'', a total of 2,225 issues. There were also annuals in the forties and fifties. As the title ...

'' (launched in 1920), '' Radio Fun'' (1938), and ''

Knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...

'' (1939).

Harmsworth's death; Allied Newspapers; William Berry

Alfred Harmsworth died in 1922, and in 1926 Amalgamated Press was bought by

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

and Gomer Berry of Allied Newspapers.Herbert Allingham biography
golden-duck.co.uk website; accessed 2013-09-16. Shortly after this sale, in 1927, AP acquired and continued publishing a number of Cassell & Co.'s periodicals, including ''

Cassell's Magazine ''Cassell's Magazine'' is a British magazine that was published monthly from 1897 to 1912. It was the successor to ''Cassell's Illustrated Family Paper'', (1853–1867) becoming ''Cassell's Family Magazine'' in 1874, ''Cassell's Magazine'' in 1897 ...

'', ''

The Story-Teller ''The Story-Teller'' was a monthly British pulp magazine, pulp Literary magazine, fiction magazine from 1907 to 1937. ''The Story-Teller'' is notable for having published some of the works of prominent authors, including G. K. Chesterton, Will ...

'', and '' Chums''. The Berry brothers dissolved their partnership in 1937, with William Berry (Lord Camrose) retaining Amalgamated Press. Editor Leonard Matthews (1914–1997), who joined AP in 1939, was a leading figure in the company's comics titles for 20 years, eventually becoming Manager Editor. The onset of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, in the years 1940–1942, brought the merger and cancellation of a number of long-running AP comics titles, including ''Butterfly'' and ''Puck'' (both launched in 1904), ''

Jester A jester, also known as joker, court jester, or fool, was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch kept to entertain guests at the royal court. Jesters were also travelling performers who entertained common folk at fairs and town ma ...

'' (launched in 1912), '' Tiger Tim's Weekly'' (1919), ''Sunbeam'' (1922), ''The Joker'' (1927), ''Larks'' (1927), ''Bubbles'' (1921), ''Chicks' Own'' (1929), and '' Funny Wonder'' series 3 (dating back to 1914).

Seymour Berry, 2nd Viscount Camrose John Seymour Berry, 2nd Viscount Camrose (12 July 1909 – 15 February 1995) was a British nobleman, politician, and newspaper proprietor. Early life Berry was born in Surrey on 12 July 1909, the eldest son of William Berry, later first Visc ...

, the eldest son of William Berry, was Vice Chairman of Amalgamated Press from 1942 until the company's sale in 1959. In May 1949, AP acquired the publisher J. B. Allen, including their comics titles '' The Comet'' and ''

Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

'', which they continued under the same names. AP launched a number of notable comics in the 1950s, including ''

'' (launched in 1950; considered the first girls' comic), ''

Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...

'' (1952), ''

Tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...

'' (1954), and the young children's comics '' Jack and Jill'' and '' Playhour'' (both 1954). Another round of mergers and cancellations of long-running AP comics titles occurred in the years 1952–1957, including ''

'' and '' Comic Cuts'' (both launched in 1890), ''Jingles'' (launched in 1934), ''Tip Top'' (launched in 1934), ''Playbox'' (launched in 1925), ''The Rainbow'' (launched in 1914), and ''Tiny Tots'' (launched in 1920).

Acquisition by the Mirror Group/IPC

In 1959, Amalgamated Press was bought by the

Mirror Group Reach plc (known as Trinity Mirror between 1999 and 2018) is a British newspaper, magazine and internet journalism, digital publisher. It is one of the UK's biggest newspaper groups, publishing 240 regional papers in addition to the national ' ...

and renamed

Fleetway Publications Fleetway Publications was a magazine publishing company based in London. History It was founded in 1959 when the Mirror Group acquired the Amalgamated Press, then based at Fleetway House, Farringdon Street, London. It was one of the companies ...

(after the name of AP's headquarters, Fleetway House). AP titles that were continued by IPC/Fleetway included: * ''Confessions Library'' (1959 series) * ''Cowboy Picture Library'' (1950 series; originally known as ''Cowboy Comics'') * ''Famous Romance Library'' (1956 series) * ''

'' (1920 series) * '' Girls' Crystal'' (1935 series) * ''

'' (1939 series) * ''

'' (1952 series) * ''Marilyn'' (1955 series) * '' Playhour'' (1954 series) * '' Radio Fun'' (1938 series) * ''Roxy'' (1958 series) * ''

'' (1950 series) * ''Super Detective Library'' (1953 series) * '' Thriller Comics'' (1951 series) * ''

'' (1954 series) * ''Top Spot'' (1958 series) * ''TV Fun'' (1953 series) * ''Valentine'' (1957 series) With the transition to Fleetway, the AP titles '' The Comet'', ''

'', and '' Tiny Tots'' were all merged into other AP titles: ''

'', ''

'', and '' Playhour'', respectively. '' Radio Fun'' was continued by Fleetway for a short time and then merged into '' Buster'' in 1960. Similarly, ''TV Fun'' was renamed ''TV Fan'', continued for a short time, and then was merged into ''Valentine''. In 1961, the Mirror Group also acquired

Odhams Press 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 Fleetway Publications in 1961 and th ...

(which by that point owned Longacre Press and Newnes/ Pearson). The group was renamed the

International Publishing Corporation TI Media Ltd. (formerly International Publishing Company, IPC Magazines Ltd, IPC Media and Time Inc. UK) was a consumer magazine and digital publisher in the United Kingdom, with a portfolio selling over 350 million copies each year. Most of it ...

in 1963, although the component companies continued to use their own names until 1968 when they were reorganised into the unitary IPC Magazines. The "Fleetway" banner continued to be used for some publications until IPC's

comics a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

line was sold under the name Fleetway Publications to

Robert Maxwell Ian Robert Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, politician and fraudster. After escaping the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, ...

in 1987. Of the comics titles IPC acquired from Amalgamated Press, only five survived into the 1970s: '' Jack and Jill'', ''

'', '' Playhour'', ''

'', and '' Valentine''; of those five, ''Jack and Jill'', ''Playhour'', and ''Tiger'' survived until the mid-1980s.

Rebellion Developments Rebellion Developments Limited is a British video game developer based in Oxford. Founded by Jason Kingsley (businessman), Jason and Chris Kingsley in December 1992, the company is best known for ''Sniper Elite'' and multiple games in the ''Lis ...

currently owns all comics characters and titles created by IPC's subsidiaries after 1 January 1970, together with 26 specified characters which appeared in '' Buster''; while IPC currently retains its other comics characters and titles, including

Sexton Blake Sexton Blake is a fictional British detective, whose adventures captivated readers for over eight decades from 1893 to 1978. Blake featured in more than 4,000 stories by approximately 200 different authors, making him one of the most prolifica ...

, The Steel Claw, and Battler Britton.

Newspapers

* ''

'' (founded 1896; acquired by Harold Harmsworth in 1922) * ''

'' (founded 1903; sold to Harold Harmsworth in 1913) * '' The Evening News'' (acquired in 1894; sold to Harold Harmsworth in 1922) * Edinburgh '' Daily Record'' (founded 1894) * ''

'' (acquired in 1903; sold in 1911) * ''

'' (acquired in 1908; sold in 1915) * ''

'' (acquired in 1908; sold in 1922)

Books

* ''The Boy's Book of Everyday Science'' (1937), edited by Charles Ray * ''The Concise Household Encyclopedia'' (1932–1939) edited by J A Hammerton. * '' Everybody's Enquire Within'', edited by Charles Ray, published in 55 weekly instalments from 1937 to 1938. * ''The Great War: The Standard History of the All-Europe Conflict'' (1914-1919), edited by Wilson and Hammerton * '' Harmsworth's Universal Encyclopaedia'' (1921/1922) * "Wonders" — all edited by Clarence Winchester, and published by Amalgamated Press as weekly instalments, with a book binding service available to keep as two volumes for each series. ** ''Railway Wonders of the World'', 50 installments (1935–36) ** ''Shipping Wonders of the World'', 55 installments (1936–37) ** ''Wonders of World Engineering'', 53 installments (1937–38) ** ''Wonders of World Aviation'', 40 installments (1938) * ''The World of Wonder: 10,000 Things Every Child Should Know'' (1933), edited by Charles Ray. Published in two volumes: Vol. One, pages 1 to 732; Vol. Two, pages 733 to 1460. An illustrated compendium of mainly science and technology, with some historical subjects.

Periodicals

* ''

'' (1927–1932) — acquired from Cassell & Co., where it originated in 1897; merged into ''Storyteller'' * '' The Children's Encyclopædia'' (1908–1964) * ''

The Children's Newspaper ''The Children's Newspaper'' was a long-running newspaper published by the Amalgamated Press (later Fleetway Publications) aimed at pre-teenage children founded by Arthur Mee in 1919. It ran for 2,397 weekly issues before being merged with '' ...

'' (1919–1965) * '' Everybody's Weekly'' (1950–1959) — acquired from Everybody's Publications Ltd., where it originated in 1913; merged into Odhams' ''

John Bull John Bull is a national personification of England, especially in political cartoons and similar graphic works. He is usually depicted as a stout, middle-aged, country-dwelling, jolly and matter-of-fact man. He originated in satirical works of ...

'' * ''The Green Magazine'' (1922–1923) * '' The Harmsworth Red Magazine'' (1908–1939) * ''

'' (1905–1907) * '' Home Chat'' (1895–1959) * ''

London Magazine ''The London Magazine'' is the title of six different publications that have appeared in succession since 1732. All six have focused on the arts, literature and poetry. A number of Nobel Laureates, including Annie Ernaux, Albert Camus, Doris L ...

'' (1898–1933) * '' The Modern Boy'' (1928–1939) * '' My Magazine'' (1908–1933) * '' Picture Show'' (1919–1960) * '' Storyteller'' (1927–1937) — acquired from Cassell & Co., where it originated in 1907 * '' Woman & Home'' (from 1926) * '' Woman's Weekly'' (from 1911) * '' The World'' (1905-1920), a weekly society paper originated in 1874 — acquired from the widow of Edmund Hodgson Yates in 1905 * ''The Yellow Magazine'' (1921–1926)

Story papers

* '' The Boys' Friend'' (1895–1927) * ''

The Boys' Herald ''The Boys' Herald'' was a British boys' story paper published by the Amalgamated Press in the early 20th century. Launched in August 1903, it was the third in a trio of successful boys’ publications under the direction of Hamilton Edwards, fo ...

'' (1903–1913) * ''The Boy's Realm'' (1902–1916; 1919–1929)"The Boys' Realm,"
Comic Book+. Retrieved Apr. 15, 2021. * '' The Champion'' (1922–1955) * '' Chums'' (1927–1941) — acquired from Cassell & Co., where it originated in 1892 * ''

'' (1907–1939) * '' Halfpenny Marvel'' (1893–1922) * ''

'' (1908–1940) * ''Pluck'' (1894–1916; 1922–1924) * ''

'' (1919–1929) * ''

'' (1922–1923; 1929–1940) * '' Schoolgirls' Own'' (1921–1936) * ''The Thriller'' (1929–1937) * ''The Triumph'' (1924–1940) * '' The Union Jack'' (1894–1933)

Notable comics titles

Notes

References

External links

Complete List of Harmsworth/Fleetway/IPC comic titles

Amalgamated Press
at the Grand Comics Database * {{Authority control 1901 establishments in England British companies established in 1901 Comic book publishing companies of the United Kingdom Magazine publishing companies of the United Kingdom Publishing companies established in 1901 Publishers of Sexton Blake Fleetway and IPC Comics