1880-1882.
The Hornet, a colored cartoon weekly of sixteen pages of four columns each, proffered its right antenna of friendship to the reading public on September 11, 1880, and met with a hearty response. A.B. Cunningham, a bright young journalist, resigned the city editorship of The Post-Dispatch to publish The Hornet. The humor of the paper was broader and more American than Puck‘s and its satirical keenness soon won it a national reputation. Armand Welcker’s cartoons were admirable. After six months of publication The Hornet was transferred to a stock company, of which Cunningham became president and manager, and William H. Nave, secretary. Through bad management it came to an untimely end with the issue of June 24, 1882. It had a bona fide circulation of 8,000 copies, and a constantly increasing influence. The Hornet was almost entirely written by four young writers – A.B. Cunningham, Walt. S. Mason, Thomas Manning Page and Alexander N. De Menil.
(From the Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri by Alexander N. De Menil, 1901).
On Sept. 11, 1879, A.B. Cunningham established The Hornet, a humorous weekly illustrated by the chrome-lithograph process. In March, 1880, a stock company with twenty thousand dollars capital was organized, with Mr. Cunningham as president and W.H. Nave as secretary. In August, 1882, the publication suspended.
(From the History of St. Louis City and County by John Thomas Scharf, 1883).
