Tit-Bits from all the interesting Books and Newspapers of the World, more commonly known as Tit-Bits, was a British weekly magazine founded by George Newnes, a founding figure in popular journalism, on 22 October 1881.[1]
In 1886, the magazine's headquarters moved from Manchester to London[2] where it paved the way for popular journalism – most significantly, the Daily Mail was founded by Alfred Harmsworth, a contributor to Tit-Bits, and the Daily Express was launched by Arthur Pearson, who worked at Tit-Bits for five years after winning a competition to get a job on the magazine.[3] Their first offices were at 12 Burleigh Street, off the Strand.
From the outset, the magazine was a mass-circulation commercial publication on cheap newsprint which soon reached sales of between 400,000 and 600,000. By the turn of the century, it became the first periodical in Britain to sell over one million copies per issue.[4] Like a mini-encyclopedia it presented a diverse range of tit-bits of information in an easy-to-read format, with the emphasis on human interest stories concentrating on drama and sensation.[5] It also featured short stories and full-length fiction, including works by authors such as Rider Haggard and Isaac Asimov, plus three very early stories by Christopher Priest.
Virginia Woolf submitted her first article to the paper in 1890, at the age of eight, but it was turned down.[6] The first humorous article by P. G. Wodehouse, "Men Who Missed Their Own Weddings", appeared in Tit-Bits in November 1900.[7] During the First World WarIvor Novello won a Titbits competition to write a song soldiers could sing at the front: he penned Keep the Home Fires Burning.[8]
Pin-ups appeared on the magazine's covers from 1939, and by 1955, circulation peaked at 1,150,000. At the beginning of 1973, Tit-Bits lost the hyphen from its masthead. In 1979 Reveille (a weekly tabloid with a virtually identical demographic) was merged into Titbits, and the magazine was briefly rebranded as Titbits incorporating Reveille. This, however, was dropped in July 1981. Following a wage dispute at owner IPC Magazines, publication ceased on 9 June 1984 and its closure was announced at the end of June. At the time, Titbits was selling only 200,000 copies per issue.[4] A final issue was published on 18 July 1984[8] under its last editor Paul Hopkins. It was taken over by Associated Newspapers' Weekend. At the time, the Financial Times described Titbits as "the 103-year-old progenitor of Britain's popular press".[8]Weekend itself closed in 1989.
Imitators
The success of Tit-Bits inspired a number of other inexpensive weeklies aping its format, some short-lived and others, such as Answers becoming major successes in their own right. Within the first six months of its existence, Tit-Bits had inspired twelve imitators, growing to 26 within a year of its debut.[9] Examples of papers said to be imitators include:
The magazine name survived as a glossy adult monthly, Titbits International.
References
^Bridget Griffen-Foley (2004). "From Tit-Bits to Big Brother: a century of audience participation in the media" (PDF). Media, Culture & Society. 26 (4). Retrieved 17 March 2016.
^Howard Cox; Simon Mowatt (2003). "Technology, Organisation and Innovation: The Historical Development of the UK Magazine Industry" (Research paper). Auckland University of Technology. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
^Amy Licence, Living in Squares, Loving in Triangles: The Lives and Loves of Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group (Amberley Publishing, 2015), p. 20
^From the chronology maintained by the Russian Wodehouse Society
^ abc"Tit-Bits/Titbits". Magforum. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
^ abcdeSpiers, John (2017). "Picturing the Mass Market, from the 1880s, in Britain" (PDF). Victorian Popular Fiction Association 9th Annual Conference.
^ abcLysack, Krista (2013). "The Productions of Time: Keble, Rossetti, and Victorian Devotional Reading". Victorian Studies. 55 (3): 451. doi:10.2979/victorianstudies.55.3.451. JSTOR 10.2979/victorianstudies.55.3.451. S2CID 145243634.
^"In the tabledrawer he found an old number of Titbits." Calypso episode of Ulysses by James Joyce.
^pg 210 in Volume 2 of the three-volume edition of Strangers and Brothers
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February 24, 2023
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Not to be confused with Tidbits Tit Bits from all the interesting Books and Newspapers of the World more commonly known as Tit Bits was a British weekly magazine founded by George Newnes a founding figure in popular journalism on 22 October 1881 1 Tit BitsThe first issue of Tit Bits dated Oct 22 1881FrequencyWeeklyFounderGeorge NewnesFounded1881First issue22 October 1881 1881 10 22 Final issue18 July 1984 1984 07 18 CountryUnited KingdomBased inLondonLanguageEnglish Contents 1 History 2 Imitators 3 Cultural influence 4 ReferencesHistory EditIn 1886 the magazine s headquarters moved from Manchester to London 2 where it paved the way for popular journalism most significantly the Daily Mail was founded by Alfred Harmsworth a contributor to Tit Bits and the Daily Express was launched by Arthur Pearson who worked at Tit Bits for five years after winning a competition to get a job on the magazine 3 Their first offices were at 12 Burleigh Street off the Strand From the outset the magazine was a mass circulation commercial publication on cheap newsprint which soon reached sales of between 400 000 and 600 000 By the turn of the century it became the first periodical in Britain to sell over one million copies per issue 4 Like a mini encyclopedia it presented a diverse range of tit bits of information in an easy to read format with the emphasis on human interest stories concentrating on drama and sensation 5 It also featured short stories and full length fiction including works by authors such as Rider Haggard and Isaac Asimov plus three very early stories by Christopher Priest Virginia Woolf submitted her first article to the paper in 1890 at the age of eight but it was turned down 6 The first humorous article by P G Wodehouse Men Who Missed Their Own Weddings appeared in Tit Bits in November 1900 7 During the First World War Ivor Novello won a Titbits competition to write a song soldiers could sing at the front he penned Keep the Home Fires Burning 8 Pin ups appeared on the magazine s covers from 1939 and by 1955 circulation peaked at 1 150 000 At the beginning of 1973 Tit Bits lost the hyphen from its masthead In 1979 Reveille a weekly tabloid with a virtually identical demographic was merged into Titbits and the magazine was briefly rebranded as Titbits incorporating Reveille This however was dropped in July 1981 Following a wage dispute at owner IPC Magazines publication ceased on 9 June 1984 and its closure was announced at the end of June At the time Titbits was selling only 200 000 copies per issue 4 A final issue was published on 18 July 1984 8 under its last editor Paul Hopkins It was taken over by Associated Newspapers Weekend At the time the Financial Times described Titbits as the 103 year old progenitor of Britain s popular press 8 Weekend itself closed in 1989 Imitators EditThe success of Tit Bits inspired a number of other inexpensive weeklies aping its format some short lived and others such as Answers becoming major successes in their own right Within the first six months of its existence Tit Bits had inspired twelve imitators growing to 26 within a year of its debut 9 Examples of papers said to be imitators include The Ha porth 9 Illustrated Bits 10 Rare Bits 9 Scraps 10 Sketchy Bits published in London by Charles Shurey 9 Spare Time 10 Tid Bits published in the United States 9 Cultural influence EditIn All Things Considered by G K Chesterton the author contrasts Tit Bits with the Times saying Let any honest reader ask himself whether he would really rather be asked in the next two hours to write the front page of The Times which is full of long leading articles or the front page of Tit Bits which is full of short jokes Reference to the magazine is also made in James Joyce s Ulysses 11 George Orwell s Animal Farm C P Snow s The Affair 12 James Hilton s Lost Horizon Virginia Woolf s Moments of Being H G Wells The First Men in the Moon and Kipps A J Cronin s The Stars Look Down and P G Wodehouse s Not George Washington It has been also mentioned in Stanley Houghton s play The Dear Departed Wells also mentioned it in his book Experiment in Autobiography The magazine is parodied as Chit Chat in George Gissing s New Grub Street In the closing scene of the film Kind Hearts and Coronets 1949 the protagonist Louis Mazzini Dennis Price is approached by a journalist Arthur Lowe from Tit Bits The magazine name survived as a glossy adult monthly Titbits International References Edit Bridget Griffen Foley 2004 From Tit Bits to Big Brother a century of audience participation in the media PDF Media Culture amp Society 26 4 Retrieved 17 March 2016 Howard Cox Simon Mowatt 2003 Technology Organisation and Innovation The Historical Development of the UK Magazine Industry Research paper Auckland University of Technology Retrieved 25 June 2016 Friederichs Hulda 1911 George Newnes London Hodder amp Stoughton 1911 Kessinger Publishing 2008 ISBN 978 0 548 88777 6 republished 2008 a b Hamilton Alan 28 June 1984 Titbits cradle of popular journalism closes after 103 years The Times p 32 Martin Conboy Journalism A Critical History Amy Licence Living in Squares Loving in Triangles The Lives and Loves of Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group Amberley Publishing 2015 p 20 From the chronology maintained by the Russian Wodehouse Society a b c Tit Bits Titbits Magforum Retrieved 30 January 2017 a b c d e Spiers John 2017 Picturing the Mass Market from the 1880s in Britain PDF Victorian Popular Fiction Association 9th Annual Conference a b c Lysack Krista 2013 The Productions of Time Keble Rossetti and Victorian Devotional Reading Victorian Studies 55 3 451 doi 10 2979 victorianstudies 55 3 451 JSTOR 10 2979 victorianstudies 55 3 451 S2CID 145243634 In the tabledrawer he found an old number of Titbits Calypso episode of Ulysses by James Joyce pg 210 in Volume 2 of the three volume edition of Strangers and Brothers Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tit Bits Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Tit Bits amp oldid 1137938421, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
