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 H. J. Byron and Tom Hood. They had many well-known contributors, including Tom Robertson, Ambrose Bierce, G. R. Sims and Clement Scott but the most important contributor to its success in its first decade was W. S. Gilbert, whose Bab Ballads were almost all first published in ''Fun'' between 1861 and 1871, along with a wide range of his articles, drawings and other verses.

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 '' Punch''. Scott, Clement. "The Foundation of ''Fun''", ''The Sketch'', 20 September 1893, p. 412 He established its premises at 80 Fleet Street, London, and installed the writer H. J. Byron as its titular editor, although in the early days the editing seems to have been a collective effort by Byron, Tom Hood and others. ''Fun'' became known as "the poor man's ''Punch''": at a penny for its weekly issue of twelve pages, it sold at a third of the price of its older rival. According to the historian Charles Barrie, ''Fun'' "had a young upstart liveliness, which by then ''Punch'' had lost, and was well received, reaching a circulation of 20,000 by 1865".Barrie, p. 217 Each issue of ''Punch'' featured a drawing of Mr Punch and his dog, Toby: ''Fun'' parodied them with its own jester, Mr Fun, and his cat."Fun, 1861–1901)"
Bodleian Library. Retrieved 13 September 2022

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."Fun – About this publication"
Gale Primary Sources. Retrieved 13 September 2022
The Gale site adds:

''Fun'' was aimed at a well-educated readership interested in politics, literature and theatre. 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. 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.Stedman, Jane W
"Gilbert, Sir William Schwenck (1836–1911), playwright"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', 2008

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.Thomson, Peter
"Byron, Henry James (1835–1884), playwright and actor"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', 2008

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 Tom Robertson, Ambrose Bierce, G. R. Sims and, most importantly for the magazine's fortunes, W. S. Gilbert, who was an unknown novice when ''Fun'' began, but who rapidly became its most valuable asset. His Bab Ballads were almost all published in ''Fun'', along with other articles, verses, illustrations and drama criticism over a ten-year period.

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". As well as Gilbert, Hood's writers of verse included Mortimer Collins, Edmund Yates, Jeff Prowse and Harry Leigh. 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". 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.

Later years

The ownership of ''Fun'' passed in 1870 to the engravers and publishers George and Edward Dalziel, who had previously engraved drawings for ''Punch''. Two years later they transferred it to their nephew Gilbert Dalziel (1853–1930). After the death of Hood in 1874 the quality of the content began a slow decline. Gilbert's contributions ceased in the early 1870s, and although ''Fun'' still had talented writers including Clement Scott and Arthur Wing Pinero, the magazine lost a key asset without his unique combination of what Stedman calls "squibs, fillers, puns, verses, drawings, social and dramatic criticism, suggestions for double acrostics (a special ''Fun'' feature), absurd letters, and, of course, the Bab Ballads, which out-laughed anything ''Punch'' had to offer".

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."Literary Gossip", '' The Globe'', 19 August 1893, p. 6 ''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''.

Gallery

Notes

Sources

*
*
*

External links

Waterloo Directory''Fun''
is online with zoomable page images and searchable text a
University of Florida's Comics Digital Collections

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fun (Magazine)
Satirical magazines published in the United Kingdom
Caricature
Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom
Magazines established in 1861
Magazines disestablished in 1901
Weekly magazines published in the United Kingdom
1861 establishments in the United Kingdom
1901 disestablishments in the United Kingdom