The Passing Show had two distinct incarnations, both published by Odhams Press. The first series, which ran for 918 issues between 1915 and 1932, was a small tabloid-size magazine eventually grew in size to become a standard tabloid from January 1924. The emphasis was on cartoons and brief humorous stories, but it occasionally ran to longer items.
In 1932 Odhams completely reinvented the magazine, recognising this change by starting the issue numbering from Volume 1, No 1. Although it was initially published as The New Passing Show the title reverted back to its earlier name after eight issues. Under editor William A Williamson (who guided the magazine from 1925 until its end) The Passing Show ran for a further 362 issues, from 26 March 1932 to 25 February 1939.
The Passing Show became known as Illustrated from 4 March 1939 after Odhams merged it with another of their magazines, Weekly Illustrated.
[Source: SFE: The Science Fiction Encyclopedia (Sighted 1/11/2013)]
