Victorian Newspapers, Journals, Ads, and Serial Fiction

Victorian Newspapers, Journals, Ads, and Serial Fiction Dalton, Glaser, Eippert

Popular news • Readers were interested in : • Serials (Charles Dickens) • Gossip (tabloid-like) • Comedy • World issues (current events, international happenings)

Broadsides • Sold on street corners by Peddlers • Typically sold for a half-penny or a penny • Published on cheap paper • Picture on the front • Often times picture was irrelevant to stories • Picture=attention grabber • Subjects varied drastically, but typically were gossip, much like tabloids of today

Sensationalism • Selling tool • Using exciting or shocking stories or language at the expense of accuracy • Provoked public interest and excitement

All the Year Round • Victorian weekly periodical founded, edited, and owned by Charles Dickens • Published between 1859-1895 throughout the UK • Hosted popular serials such as A Tale of Two Cities, and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens as well as Willkie Collins’ novel Woman in White • Focused on publishing serials

All the year round cont. • Almost all articles printed without naming their author; only the editor on the front and the heading of all pages. • “Conducted by Charles Dickens” • Unfortunately to this day many serials still have unknown authors, however Ella Ann Oppenlander published the 1984 book (which is not easy to get) Dickens’ All the Year Round: Descriptive Index and Contributor List which tried to answer some of these questions

The Illustrated London News • Wrote about local and international news • First copy had everything from a ball at Buckingham palace, the war in Afghanistan (not the one happening today) and the candidates for the U.S. presidency • First periodical to have weekly illustrations

Punch • Weekly British comedic magazine • Humor was their main focus • Established 1841 by Henry Mayhem and Ebenezer Landells • Most influential in the 1840’s and 50’s • Fun fact: finally halted its production in 2002 • Well known for its satirical illustrations • These later developed into cartoons similar to what we have today

Punch cont. • The term “cartoon” comes from the drawings in the House of Parliament known as “cartons” • Cartoons were an immediate hit and soon were included in all of Punch’s magazines • Covered more than just political cartoons - A cartoon on health and hygiene

Satire • “The use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc.”- Dictionary.com • Satire was used to entertain/ influence the public concerning current events and culture • Society was satirized for their ideals and how heavily concerned people were with being accepted into the backwards society they lived in where only the nobles could socially thrive • Picture- depicts the Victorian mindset that a high education and noble birth will lead to happiness, however the boy ends up alone, though he appears to be dressed in nice clothing

Serials • Publishing format by which a single narrative is presented in contiguous and chronological installments (i.e. Great Expectations) • These affected the style of these novels by putting suspenseful endings at the end of every publication, much like television series today (i.e. Lost, Breaking Bad)

Penny dreadfuls • Fictional short stories and segmented stories that were published every week • Sold for a penny and were usually printed on cheap paper • How it go the name “penny dreadfuls” tee hee • Usually had 8 pages and a title page for each volume • Victorian period mirrored the rise and decline of the Penny Dreadful

Victorian Newspapers, Journals, Ads, and Serial Fiction