Caricatures and cartoons by Paul Baker

Once it had achieved some backing and the benefit of offset litho printing, and once the suggested name 'Finger' had been rejected, the magazine became Private Eye in 1961 under the auspices of Christopher Booker as editor and Willie Rushton as the designer. Aspiring actor, Richard Ingrams gave up his thespian dreams at around issue of 40 of the Eye and became its full time editor.

Originally a repository for silly jokes, much like the original school magazine, Private Eye eventually reflected the zeitgeist by settling into the burgeoning satire boom exemplified by the Beyond The Fringe graduates of Cambridge Footlights, Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller, Dudley Moore and Peter Cook. And it was due to the extra investment by 'Establishment' Club owner Peter Cook that Private Eye was able to establish itself securely on the news stands.

The 'scourge  of the establishment' seeks to lampoon those in the public eye who have succumbed to hypocrisy, corruption, incompetence or self agrandissement of any sort. And quite rightly so.

The famous covers are put together by current editor Ian Hislop, resident cartoonist Nick Newman and Richard Ingrams. It is reported that they mull over a pile of news photos, bat about a few ideas for speech bubbles over about half an hour and then 'move on'.

Cartoons and Caricatures by Paul Baker