'One of the treasures in the Ballarat Mechanics' Institute collection is the
Ballarat Punch which was published weekly for just under three years in the 1860s. We decided ... to blend the old with the new in a journal we could call
Ballarat Punch at the Mechanics'.'
The journal contains selections from Ballarat Punch together with new writing and explanations from the editors 'about the origin of the Punch concept and its adaptation to colonial life'.
Source: 'Editorial', Ballarat Punch at the Mechanics' (2007): 4