"My God, you've had trouble with vandals"

THE FOUNDERS of Punch certainly knew how to have a good time. They ate agreeable meals, drank tolerable wine, puffed at good cigars, and chuckled at their own amusing jokes. And, during the idle moments in between, they published a magazine.

A young Prince Charles gouges his initial in the table.

It is not surprising, then, that the main staff meeting of the week took place over dinner. What is surprising is that the tradition they established lasted for nearly 150 years.

The dinners were first held in a pub on Ludgate Hill run by the publisher's brother-in-law. Or if not there, anywhere that could stand the noise. Nobody can remember when the Punch Table made its first appearance, but it was probably around 1855, by which time the dinners were held at the office.

When Punch moved to a new building in 1865, the tradition was so well established that the magazine was given its own banqueting hall. It had quickly become the custom to discuss the contents of the week's main political cartoon when the meal was over. As the brandy was passed around and the cigars were lit up, the editor would call 'Gentlemen, the cartoon!' One of the writers would then suggest what a wheeze it would be to draw Disraeli in the style of a sphinx, or Gladstone the lion fighting the Russian bear, and the unfortunate artist would have the do the best job he could.