Chap Timeline

TheTimeline

Issue no.1 of The Chap is published. Initial attempts at self-distribution, in a Triumph Vitesse around London, receive a mixed reception. One doyen of a comic shop in Camden looks at it and says, “What the bejesus is this?”

The Chap’s first shindig takes place on HMS President moored on the Thames. Entertainment includes a snake charmer and a man reciting dada poetry through a megaphone.

Chaps, attired as Edwardian mountaineers, attempt to scale the north face of ‘Embankment’ by Rachel Whiteread at Tate Modern, a 40-foot pile of resin casts of cardboard boxes. They are successful but escorted from the premises.

FEBRUARY 1999 NOVEMBER 2002 APRIL 2005

OCTOBER 2001

Publication of The Chap Manifesto by Fourth Estate. The title is followed by The Chap Almanac and Around the World in 80 Martinis.

OCTOBER 2003

The Chap’s first protest against vulgarity, Civilise the City, takes place in London. Protesters enter McDonald’s and order devilled kidneys, before being escorted from the premises.

JULY 2005

The inaugural Chap Olympiad takes place in Regent’s Park, London. 25 competitors alarm tourists by performing Trouser Gymnastics and Raconteur’s Relay.

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The key points in the founding, development and manifesto-spreading exercises of this 20-year-old journal for the modern gentleman

The Chap expands to a larger A4 format and nearly goes bankrupt. The publication is saved by its readers in a fundraising campaign and quietly goes back to its former size.

The Chap’s second major protest is against Abercrombie & Fitch opening a store on Savile Row. The slogan is ‘Give Three-Piece a Chance’. They didn’t.

After years of failed attempts, The Chap finally secures an interview with Fenella Fielding, which turns out to be her last full published interview before she dies in 2018.

DECEMBER 2008 APRIL 2012 JUNE 2016

APRIL 2008 JULY 2012 MAY 2017

The Chap recreates the famous tennis match in School For Scoundrels at the 1960 film’s original location, Corus Hotel Elstree.

The Chap mistakenly agrees to field a mini version of The Chap Olympiad at the Olympic Games in London. Hardly anyone shows any interest except Linford Christie, who asks us where the toilets are.

The Chap relaunches as a quarterly (which it was in the first place, before becoming bi-monthly in 2005), redesigns all its logos and graphics and doubles in size. There are a few letters from disgruntled subscribers.

ISSUE 92 • SUMMER 2017

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