Punch (magazine)
Overview
Humour
Humour or humor is the tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement...
and satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew
Henry Mayhew
Henry Mayhew was an English social researcher, journalist, playwright and advocate of reform. He was one of the two founders of the satirical and humorous magazine Punch, and the magazine's joint-editor, with Mark Lemon, in its early days...
and engraver Ebenezer Landells
Ebenezer Landells
Ebenezer Landells was an English wood-engraver, illustrator, and magazine proprietor....
. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 50s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration. It became a British institution, but after the 1940s, when its circulation peaked, it went into a long decline, finally closing in 1992.
Quotations
I used your soap two years ago; since then I have used no other.
Volume lxxxvi, 1884, page 197. Illustration by Harry Furniss|Harry Furniss.
(Cartoon True Humility, curate Jones having breakfast at his Bishop's house.) Bishop: I'm afraid you've got a bad egg, Mr Jones. Jones (apparently trying not to give offence): Oh, no, my Lord, I assure you that parts of it are excellent!
By George du Maurier|George du Maurier, 9 November 1895.