Page 8 - Smile Sample - Chorlton

S
Sample Chapter.ample Chapter.
T
To buy book click here.o buy book click here.
A HOMAGE TO 2 WILLIAM JAMES CURTIS’

Long before William James Curtis Snr. had designs on creating
Billy’s Weekly Liar, there were at least two satirical newspapers:
The Daily Liar, which was a parody of The Daily Mail, and Kaiser
Bill’s Weekly Liar, which was set up to ridicule Wilhelm II (1859-
1941), the German Emperor.
Not since the 13th century BC, when Rameses the Great
spread lies and propaganda portraying the Battle of Kadesh as a
stunning victory for the Egyptians, had there been such an
opportunity for fake news to play a part in history. The sole
intention of these newspapers was to boost the morale of the
British people and demoralise that of the Germans. The Daily
Liar was a four page Demy newspaper (17.75 x 22.5 inches) and
there was only one version ever produced by BURGESS, who
printed and published it from “No. 8 York Place, Strand, London
W.C.” It contained witty anecdotes and tall stories of how well
our troops were doing and how
stupid the Germans were. To the left
is a little jest from page three. In the
same vein Kaiser Bill’s Weekly Liar
was filled from beginning to end with
farcical stories about the ineptitude
and the demise of Kaiser Bill, from
The Weekly Bulletine (could be a
typo but that’s how it’s spelt)
Agency, “13 Harp Alley Farringdon
Street, E.C.” So, looking at these
two rib ticklers, it isn’t difficult to see
how Billy Snr. might have been
influenced by them.

6