1835.
The St. Louis Budget of Fun was established in St. Louis in 1835. As the title suggests, it was to be a humorous paper. It became very popular and received a wide circulation. Little has been recorded of its actual history but its frequent mention in contemporary newspapers gives evidence of its popularity. The prospectus of the Budget of Fun was printed in the Republican on May 12, 1835 and was in part as follows: “And say to all, both great and small, no matter what their politics, that we’ve begun a print of fun, of humor and of witty tricks.”
(From Early St. Louis Newspapers, 1808-1850, a Washington University dissertation by Dorothy Grace Brown, 1931).
