Description
Like Punch, the journal published satiric verse and parodies, as well as political and literary criticism, sports and travel information. These were often illustrated or accompanied by topical cartoons (often of a political nature). The Punch mascot, Mr. Punch and his dog Toby were lampooned by Fun's jester, Mr. Fun, and his cat. The magazine was aimed at a well educated readership interested in politics, literature, and theatre.
Fun was sold for a penny and was sometimes characterised as a 'poor man's Punch'. Thackeray called it "Funch". Fun silenced its critics by publishing lively fare, whereas Punch was criticised as dull and tired. One area in which Fun clearly bested its rival was in its close connection to popular theatre.
Byron and his successor as editor, Tom Hood, the son of the first Punch contributor, assembled a vivacious, bohemian and progressive staff. Notable contributors included playwrights Tom Robertson, Hood, Clement Scott, F. C. Burnand (who defected to Punch in 1862), satirist Ambrose Bierce, G. R. Sims and especially W. S. Gilbert, whose Bab Ballads were almost all published in its pages, among other articles, poems, illustrations and drama criticism over a ten-year period. Cartoonists included Arthur Boyd Houghton, Matt Morgan and James Francis Sullivan (1852–1936). The Fun gang frequented the Arundel Club, the Savage Club, and especially Evans's café, where they had a table in competition with the Punch 'Round table'. Even though Fun was seen as liberal in comparison with the increasingly conservative Punch, it could cast satirical scorn or praise on either side of the political spectrum. For instance, Disraeli, whose unorthodox character and ethnic lineage made him a popular focus of attack, was praised in the magazine, including for his Reform Bill of 1867.
Read more about this topic: Fun (magazine)
Famous quotes containing the word description:
“Do not require a description of the countries towards which you sail. The description does not describe them to you, and to- morrow you arrive there, and know them by inhabiting them.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“God damnit, why must all those journalists be such sticklers for detail? Why, they’d hold you to an accurate description of the first time you ever made love, expecting you to remember the color of the room and the shape of the windows.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)
“I fancy it must be the quantity of animal food eaten by the English which renders their character insusceptible of civilisation. I suspect it is in their kitchens and not in their churches that their reformation must be worked, and that Missionaries of that description from [France] would avail more than those who should endeavor to tame them by precepts of religion or philosophy.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)