''School Friend'' was the name of a pioneering

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 popula ...

marketed exclusively to girls, published from 1919 to 1929. The name was later used by

Amalgamated Press The Amalgamated Press (AP) was a British newspaper and magazine publishing company founded by journalist and entrepreneur Alfred Harmsworth (1865–1922) in 1901, gathering his many publishing ventures together under one banner. At one point the ...

on a girls' comic (also the first of its kind) in 1950. The story paper focused on the Cliff House School for Girls, a fictional school first introduced ten years earlier in the boys' story paper ''

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 ...

''.''The Magnet'' #59 (Amalgamated Press, 1909). With the success of

(AP)'s boys' story papers like ''The Magnet'' and ''

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 ...

'', the publisher was seeking to expand into new markets. AP editor

Reg Eves Reginald Thompson Eves (12 December 1892 – 1972) was a British editor and writer of comics and story papers for the Amalgamated Press. He joined the company in 1908,Alan Clark, ''Dictionary of British Comic Artists, Writers and Editors'', The ...

, impressed by the letters he received from female readers of ''The Magnet'', launched ''School Friend'' in 1919, becoming its first editor. ''The School Friend'' was published in two series, from 17 May 1919 to 28 February 1925, for a total of 303 issues; and 7 March 1925 to 27 July 1929 for a total of 229 issues."The School Friend,"
Friardale Website. Retrieved 10 March 2021. (The series resumed the next week in the new publication ''

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 ...

''.) Regular characters in the Cliff House stories included

Billy Bunter William George Bunter is a fictional schoolboy created by Charles Hamilton using the pen name Frank Richards. He features in stories set at Greyfriars School, a fictional English public school in Kent, originally published in the boys' weekly ...

's sister,

Bessie Bunter Elizabeth Gertrude Bunter, better known as Bessie Bunter, is a fictional character created by Charles Hamilton, who also created her more famous brother Billy Bunter. History Billy Bunter was a central character in the Greyfriars School stori ...

, and Majorie Hazeldene, both having been introduced in ''The Magnet''; and new characters Barbara "Babs" Redfern, Clara Trevlyn, Mabs Lynn, Phyllis Howell, Pand Philippa Derwent. Despite the female audience, Eves primarily used male writers, such as Charles Hamilton, whom he was familiar with from the boys' papers. Hamilton created and introduced most of ''School Friend'''s main characters; he wrote issues 1–4, 9, and 11, before he was pulled back to write full time at ''The Magnet''. Later writers for ''School Friend'' were R.S. Kirkham, Horace Phillips, and L. E. Ransome (who wrote most Cliff House stories in the second half of the 1920s). Following the same practice as used in ''The Magnet'', all stories in ''School Friend'' were written under the pen name "Hilda Richards" — she being the supposed sister of ''The Magnet'''s "Frank Richards." Cliff House lost its cover feature status in the publication's second series, 1925 to 1929; ''School Friend'''s 1929 cancellation led to the relaunched girls' story paper, ''

'', which again featured Cliff House stories. ''The Schoolgirl'' continued until 18 May 1940, when paper rationing during the

Second World War 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 ...

resulted in its merger with the fellow girls' story paper ''

Girls' Crystal ''Girls' Crystal'' (also known as ''The Crystal'', ''Girls' Crystal Weekly'' and ''Girls' Crystal and School Girl'' at various points) was a British weekly fictional anthology publication aimed at girls. Published by Amalgamated Press and later ...

'' (which had debuted in 1935).

Sources

Notes

References

{{Reflist 1919 establishments in the United Kingdom 1929 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Defunct children's magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1919 Magazines disestablished in 1929 Weekly magazines published in the United Kingdom