Fun (magazine)

"Fun" was a Victorian weekly magazine, first published on September 21 1861. ["Fun", volume 1.] The magazine was founded by the actor and playwright H. J. Byron in competition with "Punch" magazine.

Like "Punch", the journal 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 "Punch" mascot, Mr. Punch and his dog Toby were lampooned by Fun's jester, Mr. Fun, and his cat. [http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwmss/projects/disraeli/funstoryboard.html Article on "Fun"] ] The magazine was aimed at a well educated readership interested in politics, literature, and theatre. [Vann, J. Don, "Comic Periodicals," in "Victorian Periodicals & Victorian Society" (Aldershot: Scholar Press, 1994), pp. 284-5)]

[
bustle, from "Fun", 16th Nov, 1872] Fun was sold for a penny and was sometimes characterised as a 'poor man's "Punch"'. Thackeray called it "Funch" [Sullivan, Alvin, "British Literary Magazines: The Victorian and Edwardian Age", 1837-1913 (London: Greenwood Press, 1984), p. 135)] . "Fun" silenced its critics by publishing lively fare, whereas "Punch" was criticised as dull and tired. One area in which "Fun" clearly bested its rival was in its close connection to popular theatre.

Byron and his successor as editor, Tom Hood, the son of the first "Punch" contributor, assembled a vivacious, bohemian and progressive staff. Notable contributors included playwrights Tom Robertson, Hood, Clement Scott, F. C. Burnand (who defected to "Punch" in 1862), satirist Ambrose Bierce, G. R. Sims and especially W. S. Gilbert, whose Bab Ballads were almost all published in its pages, among other articles, poems, illustrations and drama criticism over a ten-year period. [cite book|last=Stedman|first=Jane W.|year=1996|title=W. S. Gilbert – A Classic Victorian and His Theatre|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press, p.11] Cartoonists included Matt Morgan (1839-1890) 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'. [See [http://journals.mup.man.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pdfdisp//MUPpdf/NCTF/V30I2/300001.pdf Schoch, Richard, "Performing Bohemia" (2004)] (accessed March 13, 2007). See also Tom Robertson's play "Society", which fictionalised the evenings in Evans's café in one scene.] 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 ethnic lineage made him a popular focus of attack, was praised in the magazine, including for his Reform Bill of 1867.

Byron ceded the editorship of the paper to Hood in 1865 and sold "Fun" to engravers and publishers George and Edward Dalziel in 1870, 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 and the end of contributions from Gilbert by 1874, the quality of the content began a slow decline. During the 1870s, the circulation of "Fun" is estimated at 20,000, compared to "Punch"'s 40,000. [Ellegard, Alvar, "The Readership of the Periodical Press in Mid-Victorian Britain," in "Victorian Periodicals Newsletter", 3 (September, 1971), p. 20)] Hood was succeeded as editor by Henry Sampson until 1878, and then the editorship devolved to Charles Dalziel. [ [http://www.philsp.com/data/data127.html Publisher and editor data] ] In 1893, the Dalziels withdrew from the journal.

"Fun" ceased publication in 1901, when it was absorbed into "Sketchy Bits".

Notes

External links

* [http://www.victorianperiodicals.com/series3/showarticlespecial.asp?id=80598 Waterloo Directory]
* [http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/UFDC/?c=punch&b=UF00078627 "Fun"] online and open for all through the [http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/UFDC/?c=punch University of Florida's Comics Digital Collection]