The Pioneers
The Pioneers |
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Page 9 of 35  Kissing Hands by H Heath, demonstrating some eleaginous behaviour at the Court of Queen Caroline, 1827. By the t820s, it is passible to speak of a 'satire industry' existing in the big cities. This is a typical print designed for a middle class audionce, making extensive use of word - ballons. In time, the dreadfuls gave way to another kind of story paper, in many ways a reaction against them. These were designed to offer boys a 'wholesome' alternative, which usually meant an emphasis on the ideals of 'muscular Christianity' popular at the time. 'Adventure' in this context denoted stories about proving one's 'moral fibre' on the sports field and also the battlefield: yarns about the moral rectitude of 'killing natives' for one's country were especially popular. The tone was set by Boys of England (1866), which in its regular editorial explained that: 'true manliness [is] the cause of England's moral as well as physical supremacy over the other nations of the earth'. It was followed by The Boy's Own Paper (1879), published by the Religious Tract Society, which followed a similar patriotic/Christian/conservative line. |