From it’s first issue in 1925, the New Yorker magazine was intended to be funny and witty; its breezy, urbane aloofness was all the rage in the 1920s and it appealed to a certain very literate sector of the city. In the prospectus for the magazine, founder Harold Ross explained, “The New Yorker will be a magazine that is not edited for the little old lady in Dubuque.” By the end of the decade it was firmly established in the world of New York arts and letters and known throughout the country for its blend of literature and social satire. It has always been known for its hilarious cartoons as well as its insightful text, and W.H. Auden once called it “the best comic magazine in existence.”