Illustrated London News, 1846 and 1972

We had a handful of Illustrated London News (ILN) to process recently, all from the early 1970s. I was surprised at what a glossy, chunky magazine it was, and all for 25p (going up to 30p for the 1974 copy). By the 1970s the ILN was a monthly, and ultimately it had fizzled out by 2003.

A bit of background to the ILN. The train network was sufficient by the 1840s, combined with the steady reduction of stamp duty on newspapers, to mean that national titles were becoming economically feasible. In this spirit the ILN started as a weekly in 1842 and set itself apart by the use of illustrations, all artists’ impressions, of course, and reproduced in print by the use of engravings. For the first time, readers had pictures to accompany their news. At sixpence the ILN was expensive but would have had a wide readership as newspapers became available in libraries and pubs. It was a 16-pager, all black and white, and had general-interest items, games, sports, poetry, market news and so on. Occasionally the last page was taken up by sheet music.

Advertising was restricted to the last inside page or so, with the ads densely packed and entirely textual – see image. Ads were for books, plays, newspapers, jewellery, clothing, insurance and tea.

What a change, then, to see the ILN for the 1970s. Taking the May 1972 edition, it is on high-quality paper in a smaller format but with 80 or more pages. There is full-page colour photography, used for editorial and ads. It had become a general-interest reader, with reviews for books, cinema, motoring and more. 

By the 1970s the colour advertising is dominated by cigarettes, alcohol, cars and airlines. There are other ads for travel and home improvements: there is one asking, ‘A swimming pool of your own? Why not?’ This self-improvement strand is reflected in the price – 25p meant it was a bit of an indulgence, but you got a lot of magazine for your money.

The days of the pictorial print publication, though, were numbered. With television and cinema, and rising mobility through mass motoring and cheaper air travel, people now had other outlets by which to see their sights and wonders.

We have now a good run of ILNs from the 1840s to the 1940s, and some for the period onwards. If you’d like to see them or help us process items like the ILN, get in touch.