About Which? No advertising, no bias, no hidden agenda

Celebrating 50 years of Which? Go back to where it all began with our digital supplement - simply click below

Which? first ever front cover

The first ever front cover of Which?

Which? hit the grand old age of 50 in 2007 and we celebrated by taking a nostalgic look back over how things have changed since the magazine was first published on 7 October 1957.

Which? launched in 1957

Which? was started by a group of friends at a disused garage in East London to offer people independent advice and comparative testing of the new consumer goods that were starting to appear in shops.

There was little such advice around at the time. Many thought publishing such advice (and especially naming products) would be impossible because of the strict libel laws in this country.

Say something bad about a product and it was feared the manufacturer would sue.

Jammed pillar boxes

Which first ever front cover

Visit our digital nostalgia guide. You will need Adobe Flash.

The magazine was so popular that pillar boxes for a mile around the garage were jammed with copies being sent out to subscribers. There were 10,000 members signed up in the first month.

Members come from all over the world: among the first to sign up were 1,500 women in Kenya. Today there are members in New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Hong Kong, Brazil and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Nostalgic about Which?

To commemorate our 50th anniversary, we produced a digital nostalgia guide looking at why the organisation was started, some key figures involved and how we reported on issues important to our members’ lives such as money, cars and holidays.

We also report back on about some of the nation’s favourite products including the Goblin Teasmade and the ZX81 computer, as well as the vacuum cleaners, toasters and cookers that have faithfully served you for 30, 40 and even 50 years.

Resources

PDF files require Adobe Acrobat Reader software (opens in a new window).