Chums Boys Annual
| Type | Weekly paper (1892 – 1932) Monthly (1932 – 1934) Yearly |
|---|---|
| Owner(s) |
Cassell & Company (1892–January 1927) Amalgamated Press |
| Publisher | Cassell and Company (1892–January 1927) Amalgamated Press |
| Founded | 1892 |
| Ceased publication | September 1941 |
| Sister newspapers |
Modern Boy Ranger |
Chums was a boys' weekly newspaper started in 1892 by Cassell & Company and later, from 1927, published by Amalgamated Press. The publisher gathered the weekly paper into monthly and annual editions. The serial ceased publication in 1941.
Chums was notably the sponsor of the Chums League, Chums Society of Stamp Collectors, Chums Scouts, the British Boy Scouts and the British Boys Naval Brigade/National Naval Cadets.
Started by Cassell & Company in 1892 as a weekly newspaper for boys, it was apparently modelled on—and in competition for readers with—the Boy's Own Paper, having articles and stories covering various topics. Chums launched with a serial "For Glory and Renown" by D. H. Parry and articles on football training, Harrow School, and Julius Caesar in Britain. Initially Chums had problems gaining readers but two serials, "The Iron Pirate", by first editor Max Pemberton in 1892, and Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1894, pushed the paper into some success.
Amalgamated Press bought Chums in January 1927 and continued as a weekly. With the 2 July 1932 issue, its publishing schedule was reduced to a monthly issue. The last monthly issue was in July 1934 and became an annual publication issued in September. The serial ceased publication with its 9 September 1941 issue due to paper shortages.
Chums was issued in three different formats, weekly, monthly and annually. While initial published as a weekly paper, a monthly edition was issued including all the weekly issues with a color cover. Some material were only included in the weekly or monthly formats. In the weekly this showed up as an eight-page article insert pages numbered i-viii. The monthly had a color print included.
Chums' "On the Watch Tower" news column reported on 11 September 1907 that Robert Baden-Powell's Brownsea Island Scout camp was proposed and his recommendation that Boy Scout groups should be formed. In the 12 February 1908 issue, the editor indicated there was a reader proposing to start a scout company under the "Chum Scout" name and suggested that they wear the 'Chums' League badge. In the next issue, the editor indicated more readers had written in about starting a League of Chums Scouts with a reply that they were in discussions with Baden-Powell. The following issue had an article on the Brownsea Island Camp by Baden-Powell and indicated future news on the proposed 'Chums' League of Scouts. However,the publication then fell silent on the 'Chum' Scouts. In October 1908, a recurring character, Waggles, made fun of boy scouts. The silence, then the turnabout to being negative may have stemmed from C. Arthur Pearson Limited launching "The Scout" paper which was denoted as 'Founded by" Baden-Powell and the "Official Journal" of Baden-Powell's own Boy Scout organization.
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