In the mid 1830s, engraver Ebenezer Landells and journalist Henry Mayhew began discussions about establishing a satirical news magazine together. Their aspirations were realized with the printing and circulation of the first issue of Punch on July 17, 1841. By the mid 1850s, however, the radical ideas that had initially dominated Punch were stripped away and replaced with a more respectable worldview under the editor, Mark Lemon. The increased emphasis on respectability in Punch can be explained by the desire of the Punch men to be recognized as gentlemen. The status of gentleman was...