A History of the Daily Mail

Daily Mail Original Newspapers

The Daily Mail is the second biggest selling newspaper in the UK, printing from Monday to Saturday. The newspaper’s sister paper, The Mail On Sunday, publishes once a week, and the Daily Mail has an average daily circulation of 1,134,184 copies as of February 2020. Many original Daily Mail newspapers are housed in our Daily Mail archive, letting you explore issues from the date of your choice.

Daily Mail Original Newspapers

Daily Mail, January 13, 1960


Early History

The Daily Mail history begins when the newspaper was founded by Alfred Harmsworth and his brother Harold Harmsworth, who would later become Lord Northcliffe and Lord Rothermere, respectively. The first edition of the newspaper was printed in broadsheet format on 4th May 1896. The paper had enormous success in its early years, particularly since it embraced Britain’s entry into a new technological era. It also emphasised fast delivery of news, using new technology such as mechanical typesetting on a linotype machine and rotary printing machines, to deliver news stories quicker than other newspapers of the time.

When Lord Northcliffe died in 1922, Lord Rothermere took full control of the paper and it would subsequently pass down through the generations of his family. His son Esmond Harmsworth (2nd Viscount Rothermere) was appointed Chairman of Associated Newspapers in 1932. During the 1930s, Esmond Harmsworth had depicted the regimes of Hitler and Mussolini in a positive light due to his admiration of the two men. In turn, the paper encouraged the expansion of the fascist movement. This makes reading back issues of the newspaper from the 1930s particularly interesting.

The Harmsworth Family

Esmond was then succeeded by his son Vere Harmsworth (3rd Viscount Rothermere) in 1971. Following the death of Vere Harmsworth in 1998, his son Jonathan Harmsworth (4th Viscount Rothermere) became Chairman of both Associated Newspapers and its parent company, The Daily Mail and General Trust.

The Daily Mail has remained since its conception within the Harmsworth family. The paper had been cleverly captioned ‘A Penny Newspaper for One Halfpenny,‘ at a time when all other London daily newspapers were priced at one penny.

The paper adopted an imperialist-patriotic stance during the Boer War and became the first UK newspaper to achieve sales of over one million, marking an important milestone in Daily Mail history. After this, the newspaper became the largest in the world.

daily mail clock

The Daily Mail Clock
Image: Wikimedia Commons

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Front Page Printing

The Daily Mail began to print headlines and news stories on the front page from 4th September 1939, which coincided with the outbreak of the Second World War. The front cover had previously been dedicated to advertisements, as advertising revenue helped towards the cost of producing the paper. During the war, newsprint rationing meant the Daily Mail had to reduce its size to just four pages, but it gradually increased again when the 1950s began.

Other Editions of the Daily Mail

The Scottish edition of the paper has been circulating since 1946, and in 1960, Associated Newspapers purchased Daily News Limited, publishers of the News Chronicle, from the Cadbury family. The Irish edition of the paper emerged much later in 2006. Currently, the newspaper is one of the top three biggest selling newspapers in the UK, following The Sun and Metro, and its website has more than 100 million visits per month.

scottish daily mail original newspaper archive

Scottish Daily Mail, July 1, 1960

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Current Ownership

Currently, the Daily Mail is part of Associated Newspapers, which is a subsidiary of the Daily Mail and General Trust, owned by Jonathan Harmsworth (4th Viscount Rothermere). The Daily Mail and General Trust also owns several other newspaper titles, with total revenues of around £2 billion.

Political Stance

The paper takes a centre-right political stance and is considered to be the voice of ‘Middle-England‘. It strongly defends conservative or traditional values and regularly speaks-out against liberal views. Although now printed in tabloid format, the Daily Mail continues to position itself in the middle market between the tabloid and broadsheet newspapers.

The Daily Mail has always been associated with politics and dominates coverage on political life. It has also been known for its coverage of foreign news affairs, expanding on simply national news stories. You can search our Daily Mail front page archives for more in-depth features on the paper’s political landscape.

Femail Section

The newspaper also changed the nature of news publishing by introducing a ‘Femail’ section that appealed directly to female readers, and even today, women make up the majority of the readership.

News Chronicle and Daily Sketch Mergings

The News Chronicle was subsequently merged with the Daily Mail on 18th October 1960 and relaunched in tabloid format on 3rd May 1971, to mark the 75th anniversary of the newspaper. Finally, the paper merged with its sister-tabloid, the Daily Sketch, on 11th May 1971. The newspaper experienced journalistic success throughout the 1980s, incorporating many great writers such as Nigel Dempster, a gossip columnist, Lynda Lee-Potter and Ian Wooldridge, a sportswriter.

The Mail on Sunday

The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982 as its sister paper. It was the UK’s first new national Sunday newspaper in over 21 years and it’s the second highest selling Sunday newspaper in the UK. The Mail on Sunday takes a centre-right political stance, but offers a more limited endorsement of the Conservative Party than the Daily Mail. It supported the Social Democratic Party in 1983 and moved to full colour production in 2008 when the newspaper was redesigned. Although printed in tabloid format, the newspaper positions itself in the middle-market, between the tabloid and broadsheet papers. To read a copy of the Daily Mail’s sister paper for yourself, explore our Sunday mail archives.

Daily Mail

Daily Mail, May 3, 2011

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Daily Mail Circulation Figures

Date Circulation
1910 900,000
1930 1,845,000
1939 1,533,000
1947 2,076,000
1956 2,071,708
1961 2,610,000
1966 2,318,000
1976 1,755,000
1980 1,948,000
1987 1,759,000
1992 1,675,453
1997 2,344,183
2010 2,120,347
2015 1,688,727
2020 1,134,184


As we can see from the circulation figures (average circulations for each year), the Daily Mail’s circulation reached a peak in 1961 and has varied in the years since. There wasn’t much change between 1976 and 1987, but the circulation figures have gradually declined since 1997.

Despite this, the rise in the Internet as a news source for the publication means not all readers will be buying print copies, which accounts for the declining figures. The website has more than 218 million unique visitors a month, and its average daily readership between April 2019 and March 2020 was around 2.18 million.

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frequently asked questions

Newspaper Books

What are newspaper books?

Each of our Newspaper Books are created with copies of authentic newspapers from specific dates or categories. Each book allows you to choose from various cover colours and designs, and to make it truly special by personalising it with a name and dedication, printed right in the book.

With Newspaper Date books you choose a specific date, for example a birthdate, and we'll create a book containing the front page for the specified date for every subsequent year since. For example, a date of July 13th, 1978, would contain the front page for July 13th for each year forward.

Our History books offer a glimpse into the past, bringing together headlines and articles relating to some of history's most fascinating or iconic events. Choose from Military History, British Royal History, and World Events; each book revisits key events, all through the eyes of the reporters who were there.

If Sports History is more your interest, you can revisit key matches, events, tournaments and races from decades past. Select your favourite team from Football, Hockey, Rugby, and more, and relive every glorious moment through the magic of print.

And, Pop Culture fans won't be left out - get an all access pass and revisit events in Music, Film, & TV. Relive the history of Classic Rock, Star Wars, Taylor Swift, and more, all through newspaper headlines.

Note that each of our Newspaper Books contain true copies of real newspaper content. We don't edit, change, or censor what was originally included in each paper. This means that each book will reflect the true history as it was printed, good or bad.

Personalising Newspaper Books
How does personalisation work?

As you create your Newspaper book, you'll be prompted to personalise it in a few different ways.

First, you'll be able to choose from a selection of cover colours, as well as a cover design. Simply click the options available, and you'll see the image update to match your selection, helping you to choose your favourite.

In addition to the look of your cover, you're also able to add the recipient's name, which will be printed right on the front cover. You can see how this looks in the example images on our website, it appears right next to the words "Presented To"

And finally, a special dedication is printed right inside the book. You can opt to use or add to our pre-written sentiment, or write your very own from scratch.



Does it have to be personalised?

At this time, there isn't any way to create one of our newspaper books without a First Name. It's a request we've shared with our product team, but at the moment don't know when this option might be available.

Please note that anything that is entered into the recipient's name box will print exactly as it's entered. This means that writing 'no personalisation' for example, will result in your book printing with that showing on the cover.

If you prefer not to use a first name, we suggest using a phrase related to your chosen book. For example for writing "A big fan", or using nickname or relationship, such as "My Partner", or simply "You" or "Me"

Original Newspapers
What are Original Newspapers?

Our Original Newspapers are just that - authentic, original papers that were once hot off the press and sold at actual newsstands in the UK and US. Each paper is stored in our archive of over 3 million newspapers, dating back to the early 1900's and featuring 100s of editions.


What can I expect with my paper?

When you purchase one of our original newspapers, our team of archivists will carefully review your paper page by page. Being careful to examine and press each paper flat, they'll also repair any flaws and reinforce the paper as necessary with a special archival repair tape. This work ensures the paper you receive will be strong enough to enjoy for years to come.

Note that as these are real newspapers and not replicas, you'll be holding a piece of treasured history in your hands, one that others may have enjoyed throughout the decades before you. While our team takes care to ensure that each paper is suitable for gifting, due to the nature of newspapers and time itself, there may be minor flaws or imperfections, or signs of age.


I can't find what I'm looking for, do you have more in stock?

To see what options are available, visit our Original Newspapers Page and enter in your desired date. Upon clicking 'search' you'll see any editions available to order, clicking 'select' will allow you to view the price for the paper you've selected, as well as various gift box options available. Newspapers are priced based on age, rarity, and special historic events, and can vary between editions.

Please note that every newspaper within our archive is catalogued and listed. If no results appear or the edition you were hoping to see is not listed, and the date you've entered is more than 2 weeks ago, we unfortunately do not have any items in stock, and are not likely to receive more at a future time.

Gifting
Can I send a gift directly to the recipient

Yes indeed! Both our Newspaper Books and Our Original Newspapers make incredible gifts for the special people in your life.

While placing your order you'll have the option to add a special gift box, which your item will be carefully placed inside prior to packaging and shipping.


For our Newspaper Books, you can also include a special dedication which will be printed directly in the book you've created - free of charge.


During checkout, you'll be able to enter in the recipient's shipping address, separately from your billing one. And, we never include any pricing or invoices within the parcels themselves, so the recipient won't see those details at all.


Note that at this time we're unable to include any gift notes or separate gift messages within the orders.

Placing an Order

Add content here...What happens when I place an order?

Once your order has been placed, the details are immediately sent to our workshops for processing.

If you've ordered an Original Newspaper, our team of Archivists in our warehouse located in Western Scotland will carefully pick, examine, prepare, and package your order.


If you've ordered a Newspaper Book, details for your customised book will be sent directly to our Printhouse located in the United Kingdom, where an automated printing process will print, trim, bind, and cure you book before it is carefully packaging it for shipping.

Note that as our orders are processed very soon after they're received, we are not able to make any changes or amendments, or cancel any orders.

Returns, Cancellation, and Edit Policies

Due to the automated nature of our order processing, we're unable to make changes or amendments to an order once it's been completed, nor are we able to cancel orders once after they've been placed.

For information about our Returns Policy, please visit this link >> HERE