''The Boys' Friend'' was a British

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 popular ...

of the early 20th century, published by Amalgamated Press from 1895 to 1927.

Overview

''The Boys' Friend'' was a large, tabloid-sized story paper priced one penny (later 2d)."The Boys' Friend," ''Collecting Books & Magazines'' (Jan-March 1941)
Archived at CollectingBooksAndMagazines.com
It was produced by Amalgamated Press, and was part of Alfred Harmsworth's campaign to put the Penny Dreadfuls out of business. The paper generally contained 4-5 serial story installments, printed in very small text (the paper was 16 pages long). A 10,000 word complete story was also presented in each issue. The order of stories would be rotated so that each serial had an instalment on the cover (with accompanying large title and illustration). At other times the complete story would feature on the cover. The stories were typical of the ''

Boys Own ''Boys' Own'' or ''Boy's Own'' or ''Boys Own'', is the title of a varying series of similarly titled magazines, story papers, and newsletters published at various times and by various publishers, in the United Kingdom and the United States, fro ...

'' fare of the era, with adventure, detective and western stories predominating. Several Amalgamated Press characters such as Sexton Blake, Nelson Lee, Jack, Sam & Pete and

Buffalo Bill William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), known as "Buffalo Bill", was an American soldier, Bison hunting, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa, Le Claire, Iowa Territory (now the U.S. state of Iowa), but ...

appeared, in either serials or complete stories. Later issues featured stories of Jimmy Silver of Rookwood School, written by

Charles Hamilton Charles Hamilton may refer to: People in Canada * Charles Hamilton (bishop) (1834–1919), Anglican bishop of Ottawa * Charles Edward Hamilton (1844–1919), Canadian politician * Sir Charles Hamilton, 2nd Baronet, of Marlborough House (1767–184 ...

, creator of Billy Bunter. The paper would also run an editorial page, mostly given over to the editor answering questions from readers, other short articles appeared in the paper, primarily concentrating on tips and facts revolving around sport, particularly

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

. Other articles on emigration to parts of the British Empire, and about life at sea, appeared frequently. ''The Boys' Friend'' was the companion to '' The Boys' Herald'' and ''

The Boy's Realm ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in En ...

''. It was printed on paper with a slight green tint, and was therefore referred to by collectors as "The green 'un". All three of the papers were served by the same writers: Sidney Drew, Maxwell Scott, Herbert Maxwell, S. Clark Hook, T.C. Bridges, Reginald Way, Henry Johnson, Alec G. Pearson, Henry St. Jon,

John Tregellis John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, John Hunter,

William Murray Graydon William Murray Graydon (February 4, 1864 – April 5, 1946) was an extremely prolific American writer who also wrote under the pen-names Alfred Armitage, William Murray, and Tom Olliver. He wrote adventure, historical fiction and Sexton Blake ...

, Robert Leighton and Arthur S. Hardy.

Notes

References

External links

Magazine Data File

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boys' Friend, The British boys' story papers Magazines established in 1895 Magazines disestablished in 1927 Publications of Sexton Blake