   punch, or the london charivari was a british weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by henry mayhew and engraver ebenezer landells. historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 50s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration. it became a british institution, but after the 1940s, when its circulation peaked, it went into a long decline, closing in 1992. it was revived in 1996, but closed again in 2002. == history == punch was founded on 17 july 1841 by henry mayhew and engraver ebenezer landells, on an initial investment of Â£25. it was jointly edited by mayhew and mark lemon. initially it was subtitled the london charivari in homage to charles philipon's earlier french satirical humour magazine le charivari. reflecting their satiric and humorous intent, the two editors took for their name and masthead the anarchic glove puppet, mr. punch, of punch and judy; the name also referred to a joke made early on about one of the magazine's first editors, lemon, that "punch is nothing without lemon". mayhew ceased to be joint editor in 1842 and became "suggestor in chief" until he severed his connection in 1845. the magazine initially struggled for readers, except for an 1842 "almanack" issue which shocked its creators by selling 90,000 copies. in december 1842 due to financial difficulties the magazine was sold to bradbury and evans, both printers and publishers. bradbury and evans capitalised on newly evolving mass printing technologies and also were the publishers for charles dickens and william makepeace thackeray. the term "cartoon" to refer to comic drawings was first used in punch in 1843; the houses of parliament were to be decorated with murals, and "cartoons" for the mural were displayed for the public; the term "cartoon" then meant a finished preliminary sketch on a large piece of cardboard, or {{lang|it|carton
1841_establishments_in_the_United_Kingdom 2002_disestablishments_in_the_United_Kingdom British_satirical_magazines British_weekly_magazines Caricature Defunct_magazines_of_the_United_Kingdom Edwardian_era Magazines_disestablished_in_1992 Magazines_disestablished_in_2002 Magazines_established_in_1841 Magazines_established_in_1996 Victorian_era