Grip (magazine)

Defunct Canadian satirical magazine

Grip

Cover of Grip's last issue, December 29, 1894

Editor| John Wilson Bengough (1873–1892)
Thomas Phillips Thompson (1892–1894)
Publisher| Grip Ltd
First issue| May 24, 1873
Final issue| December 29, 1894
Country| Canada
ISSN| 0702-3987
OCLC| 604715074

Grip was a satirical magazine published in Toronto by John Wilson Bengough between 1873 and 1894.[1]

Grip's first issue was released on May 24, 1873.[1] The magazine's title was taken from the name of a raven in Barnaby Rudge, a novel by Charles Dickens.[1] Its weekly circulation peaked at approximately 7,000 copies per week.[2] Ramsay Cook argues that the magazine first entered mainstream consciousness during the Pacific Scandal.[3]

Bengough took inspiration from the cartoons of Thomas Nast,[4][3] particularly those mocking William M. Tweed, a Tammany Hall boss, that appeared in Harper's Weekly.[5] Cumming argues that Grip was strongly influenced by Punch, a British magazine of political satire.[6]

Mendelson suggests that Grip's political line was strongly influenced by the political economy of Henry George, who argued for free trade and a single land tax.[7] Mendelson also points out that the publication espoused racist, antisemitic, and nativist views by perpetuating stereotypical portrayals of Black and Jewish people, non-white immigrants, and others.[8] Grip generally had Grit leanings.[9]

Thomas Phillips Thompson became Grip's editor in 1892 after Bengough was removed.[10]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Mendelson 2007, p. 2.
2. ^ Cook 1985, p. 123.
3. ^ a b Cook 1985, p. 126.
4. ^ Hustak, Alan; Monet, Don (July 8, 2015). "Political Cartoons". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
5. ^ Cumming 1997, p. 34.
6. ^ Cumming 1997, p. 38.
7. ^ Mendelson 2007, p. 4.
8. ^ Mendelson 2007, pp. 6–7.
9. ^ Cumming 1997, p. 40.
10. ^ Cumming 1997, p. 28.

## Sources

[edit]

* Cook, Ramsay (1985). The Regenerators: Social Criticism in Late Victorian English Canada. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-5670-9. OCLC 16710349.
* Cumming, Carman (1997). Sketches from a Young Country: The Images of Grip Magazine. University of Toronto Press. doi:10.3138/9781442679993. ISBN 978-1-4426-7999-3. OCLC 666916855.
* Mendelson, Alan (May 2007). "Grip Magazine and 'the Other': The Genteel Antisemitism of J. W. Bengough". Histoire Sociale/Social History. 40 (79): 1–44\. ISSN 0018-2257.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Burr, Christina (December 2002). "Gender, Sexuality, and Nationalism in J.W. Bengough's Verses and Political Cartoons". Canadian Historical Review. 83 (4): 505–554\. doi:10.3138/CHR.83.4.505. ISSN 0008-3755. S2CID 143792273. Project MUSE 591235.
* Spadoni, Carl (1988). "Grip and the Bengoughs as Publishers and Printers". Papers of the Bibliographical Society of Canada. 27 (1). doi:10.33137/pbsc.v27i1.17697. ISSN 2562-8941.

## External links

[edit]

* Media related to Grip (magazine) at Wikimedia Commons
* Grip issues online via Canadiana.org

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF
* FAST

National|

* United States
* Israel