Madeline and Mabel discuss the founding of Punch Magazine, the most popular satirical magazine of the 19th century, and muse on its enduring influence. The girls also touch on a sensational murder/botched abortion case, Summer House, a US president you’ve never heard of, and more!!
Show notes:
Births, Deaths
* Renoir, Blousy Nudes
* https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/08/26/renoirs-problem-nudes
* Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr
* https://www.mandylionpress.com/shop/p/elsievenner
Mary Rogers Murder, Restellism, and the Great Moon Hoax
* Mary Rogers Disappearance and Murder
* Great Moon Hoax of 1835
* Madame Restell “Lunar animals and other objects Discovered by Sir John Herschel in his observatory at the Cape of Good Hope and copied from sketches in the Edinburgh Journal of Science.” An illustration for The New York Sun, credited to Benjamin Day, 1835.
* Penny press image of Madame Restell, “The Female Abortionist, March 13 1847. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madame_Restell#/media/File:National_Police_Gazette_Restell.jpg
* Poe, Edgar A. 1842. The Mystery of Marie Roget.
The Thirty-Day Presidency and Questionable 19th-Century Medical Practices
* Nathaniel Currier, Death of Harrison, 1841. https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.81.49
* “US Const”. Section 1, Article 2, Section 6. https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/article-2/
* Gran Columbia https://www.britannica.com/place/Gran-Colombia#/media/1/241012/99781
* The Election of 1840, National Park Service
Tyler receiving the news of Harrison’s death, [April 5, 1841]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/00650917/
Punch Magazine; Revolutionary Satire & Cartoons
* Punch was founded by Henry Mayhew and Ebenezer Landells in 1841; it was a magazine of humour and satire. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punch_(magazine)
* Sketch of Henry Mayhew, Co-Founder of Punch Magazine
* Maidment, B. (2013). The Presence of Punch in the Nineteenth Century. In: Harder, H., Mittler, B. (eds) Asian Punches. Transcultural Research – Heidelberg Studies on Asia and Europe in a Global Context. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28607-0_2
* Sperrin, Dan. State of Ridicule: A History of Satire in English Literature. Princeton University Press, 2025. https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.22679818.
* Ebenezer Landells (13 April 1808 – 1 October 1860) was a British wood-engraver, illustrator, and magazine proprietor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebenezer_Landells
* Mark Lemon
* The Illustrated London News https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Illustrated_London_News
* Punch Magazine Archival Listings: browse through! https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/serial?id=punch
* Ye olde morality-enforcement brigades. https://daily.jstor.org/ye-olde-morality-enforcement-brigades/.
* Le Charivari: European Folk Custom of Public Shaming
* Cashmere, John. “The Social Uses of Violence in Ritual: Charivari or Religious Persecution?” European History Quarterly, (1991). Accessed July 13, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1177/026569149102100301.
Punch & Judy
Book illustration of Pulcinella in 1700 (1860) by Maurice Sand, found in Masques et bouffons: comédie italienne. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulcinella
* Mr Punch depicted on the cover of Punch magazine, 26 April 1916. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punch_and_Judy
* Punch or May Day, 1829 painting by Benjamin Robert Haydon depicting a street scene in London including a Punch and Judy show
* “That’s the Way to do it!” A History of Punch & Judy . Accessed July 13, 2026. https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/thats-the-way-to-do-it-a-history-of-punch-and-judy.
* Photograph of a Punch and Judy show at Ilfracombe, by Paul Martin, about 1895, England. Museum no. PH.1900-1980. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
* The History of Punch Magazine
* The Punch Prospectus: The text of the Prospectus is repeated in the first issue, published on July 17, 1841. https://archive.org/details/sim_punch_1841-1846_1/page/4/mode/1up
* Punch Prospectus.
* Punch, “Boots” Chapter.
Vanity Fair
It was printed in 20 monthly parts between January 1847 and July 1848 for Punch by Bradbury & Evans in London.
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