Harmsworth Brothers Ltd In 1888 Alfred Harmsworth and his younger brother
Harold (1868–1940) started
Harmsworth Brothers, with Alfred acting as publisher and Harold handling the finances. Beginning in 1894, the Harmsworth brothers dove into the newspaper business, first acquiring
The Evening News and the
Edinburgh Daily Record. Harmsworth founded the
Daily Mail in 1896, which was a success, having the world record for daily circulation until Harmsworth's death. Harmsworth founded the woman's magazine
Home Chat (1895–1959) to compete with
C. Arthur Pearson's
Home Notes. In 1896, Harmsworth Brothers Ltd was incorporated as a
limited company. During 1908, he also acquired
The Sunday Times. The quality of the AP story papers began to improve throughout the early 20th century. They also proliferated, with AP launching new boys' papers like
The Gem (1907–1939) and
The Magnet (1908–1940). By the time of the
First World War, papers such as
Union Jack dominated the market in the UK. Post-World War I story papers launched by AP included
The Champion (1922–1955) and
The Thriller (1929–1937). Recognizing the popularity of the story papers with girls, AP editor
Reg Eves launched a girl's line, the most notable being
School Friend (1919–1929), ''
Schoolgirls' Own (1921–1936), and The Schoolgirl'' (1922–1923; 1929–1940). AP's
My Magazine was published from 1908 to 1933 with different names; it had articles on science, technology, geography, and current events. From 1912 Amalgamated Press was based at Fleetway House in
Farringdon Street, London. Amalgamated Press acquired the assets of
James Henderson & Sons Ltd in 1920. AP story papers faced tougher competition in the 1930s with the rise of
DC Thomson's line, including
The Hotspur (launched in 1933).
Comic Cuts and
Illustrated Chips continued strongly into the 20th century; other notable pre-
War humorous comics titles published by AP included
Film Fun (launched in 1920),
Radio Fun (1938), and
Knockout (1939).
Harmsworth's death; Allied Newspapers; William Berry Alfred Harmsworth died in 1922, and in 1926 Amalgamated Press was bought by
William and
Gomer Berry of
Allied Newspapers. Shortly after this sale, in 1927, AP acquired and continued publishing a number of
Cassell & Co.'s periodicals, including ''
Cassell's Magazine, The Story-Teller, and Chums''. The Berry brothers dissolved their partnership in 1937, with William Berry (Lord Camrose) retaining Amalgamated Press. and
Sun, which they continued under the same names. AP launched a number of notable comics in the 1950s, including
School Friend (launched in 1950; considered the first
girls' comic),
Lion (1952),
Tiger (1954), and the young children's comics
Jack and Jill and
Playhour (both 1954). Another round of mergers and cancellations of long-running AP comics titles occurred in the years 1952–1957, including
Illustrated Chips and
Comic Cuts (both launched in 1890),
Jingles (launched in 1934),
Tip Top (launched in 1934),
Playbox (launched in 1925),
The Rainbow (launched in 1914), and
Tiny Tots (launched in 1920).
Acquisition by the Mirror Group/IPC In 1959, Amalgamated Press was bought by the
Mirror Group and renamed
Fleetway Publications (after the name of AP's headquarters, Fleetway House). AP titles that were continued by IPC/Fleetway included: •
Confessions Library (1959 series) •
Cowboy Picture Library (1950 series; originally known as
Cowboy Comics) •
Famous Romance Library (1956 series) •
Film Fun (1920 series) • ''
Girls' Crystal'' (1935 series) •
Knockout (1939 series) •
Lion (1952 series) •
Marilyn (1955 series) •
Playhour (1954 series) •
Radio Fun (1938 series) •
Roxy (1958 series) •
School Friend (1950 series) •
Super Detective Library (1953 series) •
Thriller Comics (1951 series) •
Tiger (1954 series) •
Top Spot (1958 series) •
TV Fun (1953 series) •
Valentine (1957 series) With the transition to Fleetway, the AP titles
The Comet,
Sun, and
Tiny Tots were all merged into other AP titles:
Tiger,
Lion, and
Playhour, respectively.
Radio Fun was continued by Fleetway for a short time and then merged into
Buster in 1960. Similarly,
TV Fun was renamed
TV Fan, continued for a short time, and then was merged into
Valentine. In 1961, the Mirror Group also acquired
Odhams Press (which by that point owned
Longacre Press and
Newnes/
Pearson). The group was renamed the
International Publishing Corporation in 1963, although the component companies continued to use their own names until 1968 when they were reorganised into the unitary
IPC Magazines. The "Fleetway" banner continued to be used for some publications until IPC's
comics line was sold under the name Fleetway Publications to
Robert Maxwell in 1987. while IPC currently retains its other comics characters and titles, including
Sexton Blake,
The Steel Claw, and
Battler Britton. == Newspapers ==