Early Humor Magazines. Art from: Early Humor Magazines. The humor magazine has had a long and illustrious (ouch!) career in American magazine publishing. Here are some examples of rare and early humor magazines, from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Political humor and editorial cartoons were major features in these journals, and some of the most famous of them (such as PUCK and JUDGE) were explicitly connected with political parties of the day.