Though posing at first only as the puppet who waded knee-deep in comic vice, punch has worked as a teacher as well as a jester -- a leader, and a preacher of kindness. nor was it simple humour that was punch's profession at the beginning; he always had a more serious and, so to say, a worthier object in view.-- The History of Punch, by M. H. Spielmann (Cassell and Company, 1895).
Founded in 1841, Punch was initially titled Punch, or The London Charivari was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and wood-engraver Ebenezer Landells. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 1850s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration. The London Charivari, for the satirical french humor magazine Le Charivari. punch brought the modern use of the word "cartoon" to refer to a comic drawing. (WIKIPEDIA)
