Chums March 1927 part 1

Chums was one of the finest boys' papers of all time in the UK and may well be the finest. There were three papers generally grouped together  when we talk of the story paper greats: Boys' Own Paper, The Captain and Chums.

Of these, the Boys' Own Paper was a little too preachy due to its religious background and The Captain could be a little smug and sycophantic towards the public schools it supported—and for those of you outside the UK, public schools here means expensive, fee-paying boarding schools for the rich. Both featured very good writers and top class illustrations, but Chums was far more adventurous from day one when Max Pemberton was the editor and the debut serial was Pemberton's "The Iron Pirate".

So, to my mind, Chums was the best of the three. I was rather pleased to have two issues of the monthly edition given to me recently as it has meant I can show off a selection of the paper's superb illustrations. H. M. Brock, Paul Hardy and Albert Morrow were amongst the illustrators and all three can be found in this single issue. We'll see Hardy and Morrow later in the week. In the meantime, here's a handful of pictures by H. M. Brock and J. Greenup.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(* All images © IPC Media.)