MAGAZINES, CLOSED & NON-EXISTENT

Miss Practical Moped

The band's vocalist was George Melly (1926-2007). During the 1960s the rise of rock music meant that nearly all of Britain's jazz musicians had to find alternative employment. Mr Melly became a media hack. He drove around London on a moped. His family, for their own entertainment, decided to exploit the fact that he would churn out journalism for any party that would pay him to do so. With the assistance of his secretary, they created the fictional monthly publication Practical Moped which asked him to provide it with a monthly column. This he did. The joke went on for a year, his secretary confirming that he was being paid for his copy.

The family then invented a sister publication Miss Practical Moped. This magazine asked him to be one of the judges for its Miss Practical Moped competition, the second prize of which would be a night on the town with him. He was informed that the first prize was a double album by the popular singer Val Doonican. Mr Melly declined the offer.

Punch

In 1841 The Punch Tavern was the birthplace of Punch, a humorous magazine. The publication was launched by the engraver Ebenezer Landells and the writer Henry Mayhew, who were reforming Liberals who sought to combine humour and political comment. As the later 20^thC progressed, the organ became increasingly identified with dentists waiting rooms. In 1992 the magazine was closed. It was relaunched in 1996 but closed for a second time in 2002. In 2004 The British Library bought Punch s archive.

Location: The Punch Tavern, 99 Fleet Street, EC4Y 1DE. A tiled and mirrored pub. (purple, red)

David Backhouse 2024