In the mid 1830s, the engraver Ebenezer Landells and the journalist Henry Mayhew began discussions about establishing a satirical news magazine together. Landells and Mayhew wanted to create a London version of the contemporary Paris Charivari. Their aspirations were realized with the printing and circulation of the first issue of <i>Punch</i> on July 17, 1841; <i>Punch</i> was published continually for more than a century and a half from that time on. However, by the mid 1850s, the more radical ideas that had initially dominated <i>Punch</i> were stripped away and replaced with a more respectable worldview under the direction of the editor, Mark Lemon.<p> The increased emphasis on respectability in <i>Punch</i> can be explained by the desire of the <i>Punch</i> men to be recognized as gentlemen. The status of gentleman was much sought after in Victorian Britain, with the result that the varying definitions of this status were heavily contested. Although journalists had not frequently been recognized as gentlemen before, the efforts of William Makepeace Thackeray (a <i>Punch</i> man) to change the definitional terms of the gentleman made this possible. Based on Thackerays understanding of the gentleman, the Punchites used <i>Punch</i> magazine, and their commentary on morality, social class, and fads in Victorian mens fashion within it, to further both a shift in the popular understanding of the gentleman and their recognition as such.

In the mid 1830s, the engraver Ebenezer Landells and the journalist Henry Mayhew began discussions about establishing a satirical news magazine together. Landells and Mayhew wanted to create a London version of the contemporary Paris Charivari. Their aspirations were realized with the printing and circulation of the first issue of <i>Punch</i> on July 17, 1841; <i>Punch</i> was published continually for more than a century and a half from that time on. However, by the mid 1850s, the more radical ideas that had initially dominated <i>Punch</i> were stripped away and replaced with a more respectable worldview under the direction of the editor, Mark Lemon.<p> The increased emphasis on respectability in <i>Punch</i> can be explained by the desire of the <i>Punch</i> men to be recognized as gentlemen. The status of gentleman was much sought after in Victorian Britain, with the result that the varying definitions of this status were heavily contested. Although journalists had not frequently been recognized as gentlemen before, the efforts of William Makepeace Thackeray (a <i>Punch</i> man) to change the definitional terms of the gentleman made this possible. Based on Thackerays understanding of the gentleman, the Punchites used <i>Punch</i> magazine, and their commentary on morality, social class, and fads in Victorian mens fashion within it, to further both a shift in the popular understanding of the gentleman and their recognition as such.