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The Fun Factory of Farringdon Street
The story of the comic and story papers published by AMALGAMATED PRESS from its headquarters at Fleetway House, Farringdon Street, London. Years: 1890-1960.
ARTISTS & WRITERS: Tom Browne, Julius Baker, Percy Cocking, Alex Akerbladh, Harry O'Neil, Tom Wilkinson, Frank Holland, Roy Wilson, Reg Parlett, Bertie Brown, H.S. Foxwell, Percy Cocking, Charlie Pease, John Jukes, Walter Bell, Reg Perrott, Eric Parker, Frank S. Pepper, Charles Hamilton, Harry Blyth, George Teed, Rex Hardinge and scores of others.
PUBLISHERS: Harmsworth, Amalgamated Press.
TITLES: Comic Cuts, 'Chips, Wonder, Funny Wonder, Magnet, Gem, Sexton Blake, Boys' Realm, Schoolgirls' Own, Pluck, Boys Herald, The Marvel, Jester & Wonder, Puck, Firefly, Film Fun, Kinema Comic, Chuckles, Jungle Jinks, Union Jack, Tiger Tim's Weekly, Rainbow, Comic Life, Lot-o'-Fun, Bubbles, Playbox, Tiny Tots, Knock-Out, Radio Fun, Lion, Tiger. And many more!
Extensive Information. Rare Comic Papers.
THE FUN FACTORY OF FARRINGDON STREET is a 264 page, small size (A5), non-profit, limited edition publication the purpose of which is to promote and provide information about the editors. artists, writers and publisher of Amalgamated Press comics and story papers.
Well illustrated. Text rich.
ARTISTS & WRITERS: Tom Browne, Julius Baker, Percy Cocking, Alex Akerbladh, Harry O'Neil, Tom Wilkinson, Frank Holland, Roy Wilson, Reg Parlett, Bertie Brown, H.S. Foxwell, Percy Cocking, Charlie Pease, John Jukes, Walter Bell, Reg Perrott, Eric Parker, Frank S. Pepper, Charles Hamilton, Harry Blyth, George Teed, Rex Hardinge and scores of others.
PUBLISHERS: Harmsworth, Amalgamated Press.
TITLES: Comic Cuts, 'Chips, Wonder, Funny Wonder, Magnet, Gem, Sexton Blake, Boys' Realm, Schoolgirls' Own, Pluck, Boys Herald, The Marvel, Jester & Wonder, Puck, Firefly, Film Fun, Kinema Comic, Chuckles, Jungle Jinks, Union Jack, Tiger Tim's Weekly, Rainbow, Comic Life, Lot-o'-Fun, Bubbles, Playbox, Tiny Tots, Knock-Out, Radio Fun, Lion, Tiger. And many more!
Extensive Information. Rare Comic Papers.
THE FUN FACTORY OF FARRINGDON STREET is a 264 page, small size (A5), non-profit, limited edition publication the purpose of which is to promote and provide information about the editors. artists, writers and publisher of Amalgamated Press comics and story papers.
Well illustrated. Text rich.
264 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2021
About the author
Alan Clark
124 books21 followersAlan Clark was an English Conservative MP, historian and diarist.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 14, 2021
Amalgamated Press produced loads of comics I know well from my childhood and knowing it was founded by Lord Northcliffe (Alfred Harmsworth) and this is the first history of its kind, focusing on comics - not magazines, or reference works produced by this publisher, PLUS the fact Alan Clark's knowledge of the earlier part of the 20th century and comics is exceptional, I decided to go for it.
There are loads of colour illustrations showing examples of artwork on comic covers from the late 19th century through to the 1960s as well as some original artwork too in this A5 sized paperback. There are many photos of the pioneers of UK comic publishing - editors, artists, writers and others. There are also photos of building associated with Amalgamated Press! All are fascinating but my quick comment here is that Alan could do with an editor to peruse duplicated images and places where captions say contradictory things, but this is a small quibble. The bigger issue I had was how the focus might be on a particular artist with a lovely biography but his work is further on in the book with no clue to that. I understand this is a really difficult thing to achieve, but the repetition throughout the text makes it hard to see the progression of historical data, versus biographies and little asides. All are entertaining and educative, but hard to retrieve after the event - especially as there's no index. Such a shame in this age of word processors that allow for such things!
But the data in this book is invaluable and such a benefit to any UK comic historian. The section on takeovers of 1959 - which saw Hulton Press Odhams, Newnes and other publishers swallowed up in Cecil King's aggressive activities and leading to the gigantic IPC's formation was very interesting. A very rare book worth grabbing while still available as it's self-published
There are loads of colour illustrations showing examples of artwork on comic covers from the late 19th century through to the 1960s as well as some original artwork too in this A5 sized paperback. There are many photos of the pioneers of UK comic publishing - editors, artists, writers and others. There are also photos of building associated with Amalgamated Press! All are fascinating but my quick comment here is that Alan could do with an editor to peruse duplicated images and places where captions say contradictory things, but this is a small quibble. The bigger issue I had was how the focus might be on a particular artist with a lovely biography but his work is further on in the book with no clue to that. I understand this is a really difficult thing to achieve, but the repetition throughout the text makes it hard to see the progression of historical data, versus biographies and little asides. All are entertaining and educative, but hard to retrieve after the event - especially as there's no index. Such a shame in this age of word processors that allow for such things!
But the data in this book is invaluable and such a benefit to any UK comic historian. The section on takeovers of 1959 - which saw Hulton Press Odhams, Newnes and other publishers swallowed up in Cecil King's aggressive activities and leading to the gigantic IPC's formation was very interesting. A very rare book worth grabbing while still available as it's self-published
Displaying 1 of 1 review