''Funny Folks'' was a British periodical published between 1874 and 1894. It was published in London by Scottish newspaper proprietor
James Henderson. It has been called "the first English 'comic' paper",
[ and "the model for all later British comics".][
The first issue, on 12 December 1874, was produced as a supplement to the special Christmas edition of Henderson's weekly magazine '' The Weekly Budget''. Its popularity led to its subsequent publication as a free-standing periodical, priced at 1 d. per copy. It was subtitled ''A Weekly Budget of Funny Pictures, Funny Notes, Funny Jokes, Funny Stories''.][
The newspaper-format journal was innovative in combining entertaining stories and puzzles with large cartoons.][ Louis James, "''Funny Folks''", in ''Dictionary of Nineteenth-century Journalism in Great Britain and Ireland'', Academia Press, 2009, p.238]
/ref> These were often satirical in tone, with some by John Proctor, known as Puck,[ John Adcock, "Funny Folks", ''Yesterday's Papers'', 29 September 2009]
Retrieved 22 November 2020 and some from German and French sources. It was aimed at an adult lower middle-class audience, rather than at children, and benefitted from innovations in the use of cheap paper and photo-zincography printing.[ Nicholas Hiley, "Comic Periodicals", ''Gale.com'']
Retrieved 22 November 2020 One of the contributors to the journal was Alfred Harmsworth
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 ...
, who launched his own ''Comic Cuts
''Comic Cuts'' was a British comic magazine. It was published from 1890 to 1953, lasting for 3006 issues. It was created by the reporter Alfred Harmsworth through his company Amalgamated Press (AP). In its early days, it inspired other publishe ...
'' a few years later.[
]
References
Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom
Humor magazines
Magazines published in London
Satirical magazines published in the United Kingdom
Weekly magazines published in the United Kingdom
Magazines established in 1874
Magazines disestablished in 1894
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