Tag Archives: UK

Punch Parodies 1: 1954-1956

Posted on March 30, 2021 by Cullum Rogers

Punch (1841-1992) loved parody from birth, but it waited over a century to do a full-scale takeoff of another publication. The main holdup was its mid-Victorian layout, which left targets from The Yellow Book to yellow journalism looking very much like … Continue reading →

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The New Yorker’s “Paunch,” 1934

Posted on July 6, 2020 by Cullum Rogers

Parody Of: Punch. Title: “Paunch.” In: The New Yorker, January 13, 1934, pp. 17-24. By: Thurber, Benchley, White, Irvin, etc. Availability: Sometimes findable on eBay, Abebooks, etc.; archived online at newyorker.com (subscription required). “By humorous [art] we do not mean comic … Continue reading →

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“A Word with Punch,” 1847

Posted on February 25, 2019 by Cullum Rogers

Parody Of: Punch. Title: “A Word with Punch.” Date: November 11, 1847. Parody By: Alfred Bunn. Format: 12-page magazine. Contributors: Albert Smith, Shirley Brooks, George Augustus Sala. Availability: Nowhere online;  held by the British Library and a few other collections. Strange … Continue reading →

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Playboy Parodies 3: Foreign, 1963-2017

Posted on December 11, 2018 by Cullum Rogers

Playboy has launched dozens of international editions since 1972, but only a handful of foreign parodists have returned the favor. In 1963, students at Toronto’s Queens University Law School put out a 12-page tabloid called “Lawboy.” A collection of local … Continue reading →

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William Hone’s “A Slap at Slop,” 1821.

Posted on July 27, 2016 by Cullum Rogers

Parody Of: The New Times (London). Title: “A Slap at Slop.” Parody By: William Hone. Date: 1821. Pages: 4. Contributors: William Hone (writer), George Cruikshank (art). Availability: PDF of pamphlet version online here. William Hone may have been the original pop-culture fanatic. Born in London in 1780, he was drawn to the … Continue reading →

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Punch’s first “Pl*yb*y,” 1966

Posted on June 16, 2016 by Cullum Rogers

Parody Of: Playboy. Title: “Pl*yb*y.” Parody By: Punch.  Date: July 13, 1966. Pages: 4. Contributors: Alexander Frater, Norman Mansbridge, William Hewison. Availability: Occasionally sighted on eBay. Two months before the Harvard Lampoon used the same asterisk-specked title, the 125th birthday number of Punch contained a brief parody of Playboy called “Pl*yb*y.” British magazines Queen and Country Life were targeted … Continue reading →

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“The New Times,” 1794

Posted on June 12, 2016 by Cullum Rogers

Parody Of: The Times (London). Title: “The New Times.” Parody By: The Times — and the Tories.  Date: Sept. 6, 1794. Pages: 1. Availability: Reprinted much reduced but still legible in The History of the Times, Volume I: The Thunderer in the Making (London: Times Publishing Co., 1935). The earliest known … Continue reading →

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