| Mucha | |
| Editor6: | --> |
| Editor Title6: | --> |
| Category: | Satire |
| Format: | Magazine |
| Founder: | Józef Kaufman |
| Founded: | 1868 |
| Finaldate: | 1952 |
| Country: | Poland |
| Based: | Warsaw |
| Language: | Polish |
Mucha (in Polish pronounced as /ˈmu.xa/) was a Polish satirical magazine published in Warsaw in the periods 1868-1939 and 1946–1952. In 1953 it was merged into another satirical one, Szpilki.[1] [2]
The magazine was founded and edited by bookseller Józef Kaufman, followed by other owners.[1] It included caricatures, jokes and humorous verses and short stories.
While mucha means "fly" in Polish, actually the magazine was named after a daredevil acrobat Antoni Mucha, whose caricatures were prominent in the first issues.[1]
Among its many writers, editors, and illustrators were Franciszek Kostrzewski and Bolesław Prus, however the vast majority of contributions were anonymous.[1]
The pre-1939 version was known for its right-wing, nationalistic, and xenophobic topics.[1] [2] The level of the humor was rather low;[1] examples:
- Doctor, please help, my wife ate too much during the holiday and now it hurts her!
- Indeed?
- No, in the belly!
-
- Mr. advocate, sir, did you have happy holidays?
- They were happy for me, indeed: three cases of battery, two of insult, and three dozens of rejected promissory notes!
-
- Horror! Yesterday a young girl jumped from a bridge!
- Did she fall in love badly?
- No, in Vistula.
Scans of Mucha may be found in the searchable online library polona.pl.[3]