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A story paper is a periodical publication similar to a
literary magazine A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and lett ...
, but featuring illustrations and text stories, and aimed towards children and teenagers. Also known in Britain as "boys' weeklies", story papers were phenomenally popular before the outbreak of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. Among the most well-known British story papers was '' Boy's Own Paper'', which ran from 1879 to 1967.


Beginnings

The first known edition of what would later become known as a "story paper" was ''The Young Gentleman's Magazine'', published in 1777. The first story paper to really take off was ''The Boys' and Girls' Penny Magazine'', first published in September 1832. In 1866, Charles Stephens began selling ''Boys of England'' on the English streets for a penny—the first " penny dreadful". Story papers in this style minimized the expense of writing in order to produce an extremely cheap product. Strictly speaking, the "penny dreadful" died off by the turn of the century, but this term was still used to refer to story papers throughout their history. The ''
Halfpenny Marvel ''The Halfpenny Marvel'' was a British story paper for children of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, published by Amalgamated Press. Overview ''The Halfpenny Marvel'' was the first of Alfred Harmsworth's story papers aimed at putting the " ...
'', first published in 1893, was "founded to counteract the pernicious influences of the Penny Dreadfuls", according to its title page. A book about these weeklies (also called "bloods" because of their savage contents) was created in 1948 by E. S. Turner, called ''Boys Will be Boys''.


Golden Age

Denis Gifford designated the period between
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
and
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
as the "Golden Age" of story papers. Sales of the story papers were at their highest during these years, as were the fecundity of the authors, the range in genre of magazines, and the colourful variety of the heroes. The most famous story paper hero, Sexton Blake, reached his apex during these years. World War II caused chaos in Britain, and among other things the story papers had to be shut down as funds were redirected to the war. This is known as the ''Dark Ages'' for story papers, and nearly all of the papers ceased printing in 1939 or 1940.


Silver Age and modern comics

In the 1950s and 1960s, some story papers such as '' The Rover'' briefly flourished, but television had a growing influence on the attentions of British children. Mergers between publishing houses finished off the remaining story papers, or modified them to become comic books, in the 1970s. ''The Rover'' was the last survivor and ceased publishing in 1973.


Format and politics

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalit ...
's essay, '' Boys' Weeklies'', outlines the general themes of the story paper in the "Golden Age". As far as Orwell could tell, Britain was the only country in Europe in which story papers were produced. '' The Gem'' and '' The Magnet'', the oldest of their kind, featured school serials always centred on a group of characters any reader could identify with. More recent story papers focused on adventure and intrigue, and had a large teenage readership. According to Orwell, all of the English papers published at the time were stuck in the 1910s and had an underlying conservative slant, which taught children to be deferential to the upper-class. He suggested socialist values could be just as exciting if they followed the story paper format. There were story papers for children of both sexes, although there was a broad overlap in the actual readership of the two.


List of story papers


UK

*''
Adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...
'' *'' Aunt Judy's Magazine'' *'' Big Budget'' *'' Boy's Best Story Paper'' *'' Boys' Broadcast'' *'' Boy's Champion'' *'' The Boys' Friend'' *'' Boys' Magazine'' *'' Boys of England'' *'' The Boy's Own Paper'' *'' The Boys' Herald'' * '' The Boys' Leader'' *'' The Boys' Realm'' *'' Bullseye'' *''
The Captain ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'' *'' The Champion'' *'' The Children's Friend'' *'' Chums'' *'' Dixon Hawke Library'' *'' The Dreadnought'' *'' The Empire'' *'' The Gem'' *'' Girl's Best Friend'' *''
Girls' Crystal ''Girls' Crystal'' was a British weekly story paper and then a comic book published by Amalgamated Press (AP) that ran from 1935 to 1963. Along with ''School Friend'' and ''Girl'', it was one of the first British girls' comics. Publication histo ...
'' *'' The Girl's Home'' *'' The Girl's Own Paper'' *'' Girl's Reader'' *''
The Girl's Realm ''The Girl's Realm'' was a sixpenny monthly magazine, published by Hutchinson that ran for seventeen volumes from November 1898 to November 1915. Publishing history In August 1898 it was announced that Hutchinson was to launch a magazine for yo ...
'' *'' Girl's Weekly'' *'' The Greyfriars Herald'' *'' The Hotspur'' *''
Halfpenny Marvel ''The Halfpenny Marvel'' was a British story paper for children of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, published by Amalgamated Press. Overview ''The Halfpenny Marvel'' was the first of Alfred Harmsworth's story papers aimed at putting the " ...
'' *'' Jabberwock'' *'' The Jester'' *'' Joker'' *'' Lion (boys' magazine)'' *'' The Magnet'' *''
The Marvel ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'' *''
The Modern Boy ''The Modern Boy'' (later ''Modern Boy'') was a British boys' magazine published between 1928 and 1939 by the Amalgamated Press. It ran to some 610 issues. It was first launched on 11 February 1928 and cost 2d (two old pence, when there were 24 ...
'' *'' Nelson Lee Library'' *'' Our Girls'' *'' Pals'' *'' Peg's Paper'' *'' The Penny Popular'' *''
The Pilot A pilot is a person who flies or navigates an aircraft. Pilot or The Pilot may also refer to: * Maritime pilot, a person who guides ships through hazardous waters * Television pilot, a television episode used to sell a series to a television netw ...
'' *'' Pluck'' *'' Public School Magazine'' *'' The Ranger'' *'' Red Arrow'' *'' The Rover'' *'' School and Sport'' *''
School Friend ''School Friend'' was the name of two different British weekly publications marketed toward girls, both of which were pioneering in their respective categories. The first ''School Friend'', published from 1919 to 1929, was the first story paper ...
'' *'' Schoolgirls' Own'' *'' Schooldays'' *'' The Schoolgirl'' *'' Schoolgirls' Weekly'' *''
Scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, secti ...
'' *''
The Sexton Blake Library ''The Sexton Blake Library'' was a story paper of the first two-thirds of the 20th century, published by Amalgamated Press. It featured the adventures of private detective Sexton Blake, his boy assistant Tinker and their dog Pedro. Overview By th ...
'' *'' The Skipper'' *'' Startler'' *'' The Thriller'' *'' Tip Top'' *'' The Triumph'' *''
Union Jack The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...
'' *'' The Vanguard'' *'' The Wizard'' *'' Young England magazine'' *'' Young Folks''


Ireland

*'' Our Boys'' (Ireland)


Australia

*'' The Silver Jacket''


See also

* Penny dreadful *
Pulp magazine Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazine ...
* Dime novel * History of the British comic


References

{{Reflist


External links


British Juvenile Story Papers and Pocket Libraries IndexBritish Story Papers Flickr GroupUniversity of Minnesota Hess Collection: Story Papers 1850-1910
Periodicals British children's literature British culture Magazine genres