''Answers'' was a British weekly paper founded in 1888 by

Lord Northcliffe 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 ...

(then known as Alfred Harmsworth). Originally titled ''Answers to Correspondents'', before being shortened soon after, it initially consisted largely of answers to reader-submitted questions, along with articles on miscellaneous topics, jokes, and serialized literature. Its content was similar to and inspired by ''

Tit-Bits ''Tit-Bits from all the interesting Books and Newspapers of the World'', more commonly known as ''Tit-Bits'', was a British weekly magazine founded by George Newnes, a founding figure in popular journalism, on 22 October 1881. History In 1886 ...

'' (which carried a section called 'Answers to Correspondents'), a popular British weekly founded in 1881 which appealed to a wide audience of newly literate Britons. It was the first periodical founded by Northcliffe (who was 23 years old at the time of its founding), who would go on to become a publishing magnate, later founding and acquiring a number of highly successful and influential periodicals, including the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

''. Northcliffe employed his brother,

Harold Harmsworth Harold Sidney Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere, (26 April 1868 – 26 November 1940) was a leading British newspaper proprietor who owned Associated Newspapers Ltd. He is best known, like his brother Alfred Harmsworth, later Viscount Northcl ...

, as business manager for the paper. ''Answers'' was twelve pages in length, and was priced at two cents each.

''Answers'' purported to answer questions submitted by readers, though many were written under false names by Northcliffe or plagiarized from American sources. Example topics included 'Can Monkeys Smoke?', 'How to Cure Freckles', 'Why Jews Don't Ride Bicycles', 'How Madmen Write', 'What the Queen Eats', and 'Can Insects Feel Pain?'. The paper also included humorous anecdotes, quotations, and jokes (example: "There is a man in Birmingham who has been asleep seven years. This, we believe, beats the best yet done by any member of the Metropolitan Police Force"). ''Answers'' included

serialized fiction In literature, a serial is a printing or publishing format by which a single larger work, often a work of narrative fiction, is published in smaller, sequential instalments. The instalments are also known as ''numbers'', ''parts'' or ''fascicle ...

, which Northcliffe was said to sometimes rewrite himself to ensure that each part ended on a

cliffhanger A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode or a film of serialized fiction. A cliffhang ...

with the line "To be continued".

Promotions

''Answers'' failed to turn a profit during its initial months of publication, but Northcliffe was able to effectively increase the paper's circulation by the use of a variety of promotional gimmicks. Northcliffe sold a number of branded novelties, among the first being a "Pigs in Clover" puzzle, a form of

ball-in-a-maze puzzle Ball-in-a-maze puzzles are dexterity puzzles which involve manipulating either a maze (or labyrinth) or one or several balls so that the ball or balls are maneuvered towards a goal. Toys like this have been popular since '' Pigs in Clover''(also ...

, with colored marbles spelling out 'Answers' when rolled into the correct holes. Other merchandise included fountain pens,

patent medicine A patent medicine, sometimes called a proprietary medicine, is an over-the-counter (nonprescription) medicine or medicinal preparation that is typically protected and advertised by a trademark and trade name (and sometimes a patent) and claimed ...

s,, pipes and coffee. Northcliffe also conducted a number of promotional competitions. One of the most successful, credited with raising circulation to 200,000 per week, offered £1 per week for life to the reader who could most accurately guess the total value of gold and silver stored in the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

on a certain date. The competition received 718,218 entries. Northcliffe required each entry to bear the signatures of five witnesses as a way to further increase the number of people exposed to ''Answers brand.

Later history

''Answers'' is thought to have attained a maximum circulation of 830,000 in 1906. The magazine's final issue was dated 18 February 1956, by which point it had rebranded itself ''Answers & TV Pic''.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite book , last=Roberts, first=Andrew , title=The Chief: The Life of Lord Northcliffe Britain's Greatest Press Baron , year=2022, publisher=Simon and Schuster , isbn=9781398508705 , chapter='Schemo Magnifico' {{cite journal , last=Bleyer, first=W. G. , title=Answers to Correspondents in Early English Journalism , journal=Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly , doi=10.1177/107769903000700104 , year=1930 {{cite periodical , work=Time , date=9 December 1940 , title=The Press:Death of a Viscount , url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,765027,00.html {{cite journal , last=Griffen-Foley, first=B , journal=Media, Culture & Society, year=2004 , title=From Tit-Bits to Big Brother: A century of audience participation in the media , url=https://www.academia.edu/download/37406621/Tit_Bits.pdf {{cite book , last=Brendon, first=Piers , title=Eminent Edwardians , publisher=Penguin Books, year=1979 , chapter=Lord Northcliffe {{cite web , work=Magforum , last=Quinn, first=Tony , title=General weekly magazines , url=http://www.magforum.com/general_weekly_magazines.htm , access-date=14 October 2022 1888 establishments in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1888 Weekly magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines disestablished in 1956

Contents

Promotions

Later history

References