SPGB Tote Bags (2026)

 Party Merchandise advertised in the August 2026 issue of the Socialist Standard

New World Socialist Journal (1984)

Party News from the December 1984 issue of the Socialist Standard

All of the second issue of the World Socialist is on the blog. Click on the link.

Socialist Party Merchandise (2008)

Advert from the October 2008 issue of the Socialist Standard

'Make Capitalism History' (2025)

Advert from the August 2025 issue of the Socialist Standard

Blogger's Note:

I'm not going to lie; I'm not a fan of the colour of the T shirt.

I actually think this would be a cooler T shirt . . . but what do I know?

SPGB adverts. (1931)

From the May 1931 issue of the Socialist Standard

Knowledge. (1931)

Advert from the May 1931 issue of the Socialist Standard

Blogger's Note:

It's always interesting to note what books and pamphlets were advertised for sale in the pages of the Socialist Standard back in the day. Quite a narrow list in 1931, but you have to take into account that in the midst of the Great Depression buying books was beyond the means of many people. Note the inclusion of Louis Boudin's book in the list, which is interesting because he's not a writer who is mentioned much these days. I can't find a review of his book from this period but when it was reprinted in the late 1960s, it was reviewed in both the Socialist Standard and The Western Socialist:

• A Marxist Text Book (May 1968 Socialist Standard)
• The Theoretical System of Karl Marx (#3 1968 The Western Socialist)

Similar type adverts of books for sale were published in the Socialist Standard over many decades and you get a flavour of particular times from what books at what time were being 'promoted' by the SPGB. Here's a similar type list from the March 1906 issue of the Socialist Standard.

"We're All Marxists Now" (1983)

Advert from the March 1983 issue of the Socialist Standard

SPGB Advert (1985)

Advert from the December 1985 issue of the Socialist Standard

Blogger's Note:

The Winter 1985-6 issue of the World Socialist is available at the following link.

Advertising (1939)

Party News from the June 1939 issue of the Socialist Standard

During 1937 the Publicity Committee spent £5 on Press advertising; during 1938 the amount spent was £19. These sums are mere drops in the bucket compared with the vast sums spent on Press advertising by Capitalist firms. The advertising appropriation of a large firm may in fact be anything from £5,000 to £50,000. Space is expensive, and a single inch in the column of a national paper costs from £3 10s. to £5 in only one issue.

Press advertising is, however, one of the most efficient means of making contact with people who will become energetic and enthusiastic propagandists of the Socialist case. It is like a fine-tooth comb which can be drawn through the whole of the population, collecting those who are interested in fundamentals—those who are likely, therefore, to be supremely useful in Socialist propaganda.

To illustrate the results achieved with our present infinitesimal expenditure, let us give a short resume of our activities. Small advertisements have appeared in the national dailies, in Sunday Papers read by the politically interested, in reviews like Plebs and Controversy, while articles in the Socialist Standard on certain subjects have been advertised in periodicals which are read by people who are interested in those subjects. Such advertisements cost anything from 6s. to £3 10s. each.

The results have more than justified this advertising policy.

Enquiries have been received from all parts of the world, e.g., from France, Hungary, Norway, Roumania, Palestine, India, Japan, the East Indies and the West Indies, Canada, the United States, Mexico and South America. At home there is hardly a county in Great Britain from which we have not received an enquiry—from the Orkneys in the north to Cornwall in the south—from Carnarvon in the west to Norfolk in the east.

As a result of the correspondence which has ensued, many COMPLETE SETS of our pamphlets have been sent out, the regular readership of the Socialist Standard has been increased, much correspondence has been passed to the Editorial Committee to be dealt with in the columns of the Socialist Standard, and back volumes of the Socialist Standard have been sent out. New members of the Party have been made, including potential writers and speakers for the Party.

Comrades, this work must go on. Due to the exigencies of the forthcoming Parliamentary election, the General Party Fund is low, and so far a sum of only £15 has been allocated for 1939 advertising. But this amount can be supplemented by donations. Hence we make this pressing appeal to you.

Donations, which will be acknowledged in the Socialist Standard, should be addressed to the Publicity Committee. Postal orders and cheques should be crossed and made payable to the Socialist Party of Great Britain.

Remember, with £40 we can cover the world once a year. With £80 we could cover the world twice a year!

Blogger's Note:

Via the excellent Splits & Fusion website, I was actually able to find one of the aforementioned SPGB adverts. It appeared in the November 1937 issue of the ILP theoretical magazine, Controversy. Interesting to note that the advert appeared alongside an advert for the magazine, International Review. It's a shame that there's been little or no research about that particular magazine. Based out of New York, I believe it was largely written by European exiles, and if it's known at all today, it's because it first published the pamphlet, The State and the Socialist Revolution by Julius Martov. 

The Socialist Party of Great Britain and Questions of the Day (1933)

Party Notice from the April 1933 issue of the Socialist Standard

The Socialist Party of Great Britain 

and Questions of the Day

Deals with the founding of the Socialist Party, the Liberal, Tory, Labour and Communist parties and the I.L.P., the Russian Dictatorship, War, Trade Unions, Social Reforms etc

80 Pages—Price 3d. (Post free—4d.)

War and Socialism

Do you know why modern wars occur ?

Do you know what is the Socialist attitude towards war ?

Do you know why Socialists are not  Pacifists?

Do you know that the S.P.G.B. was the only political organisation in Great Britain which proclaimed its Socialist opposition to the Great War immediately it broke out and kept to that attitude throughout the War ?

Do you know what attitude you as a worker should take up towards war?

For answers to these and other questions read

“THE S.P.G.B. AND QUESTIONS 
OF THE DAY."

80 pages for 3d. Post free 4d.

"Irish Freedom" Declines our Advertisements (1944)

From the November 1944 issue of the Socialist Standard

Although the journal “Irish Freedom” solicits paid advertisements and had agreed to insert a notice of our July issue, the Editor, Mr. Pat Dooley, later wrote saying that his Editorial Board had decided it was unable to insert it. Could it be that they did not approve the Socialist comment on the Irish General Election?

Books and pamphlets for sale. (1906)

Advert from the March 1906 issue of the Socialist Standard

An interesting selection of books and pamphlets. The following are available online:

• Capital
• Six centuries of work and wages
• Poverty
• Communist Manifesto
• Wage Labour and Capital
• Socialism and the Worker
• How I Became a Socialist
• The Social Revolution

Spokeshave's 'Jones' Boy' is not available on the net but there's an interesting article on its background over at the Kate Sharpley Library blog.

"The Social Revolution," by Karl Kautsky. (1906)

Advert from the March 1906 issue of the Socialist Standard

"The Social Revolution," by Karl Kautsky, author of "The Extinction of Petty Enterprise", will be sent post free to any address for 6½d. Orders should be addressed, The Socialist Party of Great Britain, 1a, Caledonian Road, London, N.

"Wearing badges is not enough in days li . . . ooh, that's nice" (2020)

Advert from the October 2020 issue of the Socialist Standard

This advert has pretty much appeared in every issue of the Socialist Standard over the last few years (how dare you think 'space filler') but I've never thought to mention it on the blog before now. It's a slight adaptation of an old Party badge which - I think - dates from the 1950s and, though it does look like an old London Underground badge, I rather like it. 

I had an original version of the badge a few years back which I bought via eBay but, sadly, it's long since gone. It was lost in a move we made. Not sure if you can purchase this version if you're living outside the UK.

"Wearing badges is not enough"? I know, you've heard that line before. From here. Enjoy.

Don't be a number (1984)

Advert from the October 1984 issue of the Socialist Standard

'Pack Up Your (Capitalist) Troubles' (1983)

Socialist Standard advert from the September 1983 issue of the Socialist Standard

"Subscribe!" (1984)

SPGB Advert from the August 1984 issue of the Socialist Standard

Socialists and the Press (1957)

From the July 1957 issue of the Socialist Standard

We live in what is claimed to be a “free country," where there is "free expression of opinion," but this must not be taken literally. It does not mean that anyone can say or write just what he likes. The Official Secrets Act and the libel laws cut off considerable areas of expression, into which you trespass at your peril. Much greater restriction arises because we live in a money world, in which capacity to make views known depends largely on what you can afford to pay. If your resources run into hundreds of thousands or millions of pounds, you can publish the Daily Worker, Daily Herald, Daily Express, etc.: if not you may have to be content with a monthly journal. But what about the possibility of the “free” expression of varied points of view in the columns of those and other journals with the big circulations? This again is a very narrowly circumscribed possibility when it is a question of securing publicity for a minority and not popular point of view, such as that of the S.P.G.B. When daily newspapers misreport matters of concern to us, or when they refuse to publish our letters or advertisements, there is no remedy—and this notwithstanding the existence of the Press Council, which is supposed to keep an eye on the conduct of the Press.

Another approach to the Press Council

In 1956 we approached the General Council of the Press about an incorrect statement (one of many in the Beaverbrook newspapers) that occurred in the Evening Standard, followed by editorial refusal to correct it (The matter in question was the practice of the Evening Standard of describing Labour Party conferences as conferences of "The Socialist Party of Great Britain.")

The Press Council declined to interfere, on the ground that readers would not be misled. (See Socialist Standard January and March, 1956.)

In May of this year we wrote again to the Press Council about the refusal of the Daily Telegraph to publish an advertisement of the Socialist Standard, the only reason given being that there is no refusal to publish our advertisements on principle, each advertisement being dealt with on its merits.

The Press Council replied on 29th May, 1957:—

“ Dear Sir,

"I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of May 27. The question of whether a particular advertisement will be published rests entirely with the Editor, whose decision is absolutely final. It may help you to quote the statement which appears on this subject in The Times every day. It reads

" 'All orders for advertising in The Times are accepted on the express terms— (a) that they are subject to cancellation at the discretion of the Editor,' etc., etc.

"Yours faithfully,

“(Sgd.) Alan Pitt Robins, C.B.E."

Of course, we don't feel at all helped. Either the Press Council approves of newspapers refusing advertisements or it disapproves, and it doesn't add anything to be told that The Times does it as well as the Daily Telegraph.

The Royal Commission on the Press

The Press Council arose out of recommendations of the Royal Commission on the Press (1947-1949). In the report of that body the question of refusing advertisements was dealt with; though we confess we cannot be certain what exactly the Royal Commission was trying to say. The relevant passages in the Report (paragraphs 529 and 530) are as follows:—

"We consider it entirely wrong for a newspaper to boycott a particular advertiser arbitrarily and for personal reasons."

“We have received evidence that some newspapers refuse all advertisements of a particular class. This is a different matter. We consider that a newspaper has a right to refuse advertisements of any kind which is contrary to its standards or may be objectionable to its readers. This right, however, should not be exercised arbitrarily."

This statement may have the appearance of being both clear and reasonable. It is the last sentence that makes the meaning unclear. The Royal Commission appears to be saying that it would be quite right for the Daily Telegraph to refuse all advertisements from the S.P.G.B., because the S.P.G.B. is objectionable to the readers of the Telegraph, but wrong for the Daily Telegraph to decide, arbitrarily and without giving a reason, to publish some and exclude others: but that is what the Telegraph does.

By curious coincidence we received from the News-Chronicle an almost directly opposite point of view. Having written to them about a misstatement in someone else's advertisement, a member of the S.P.G.B. received a reply to the effect that of course the News-Chronicle could not possibly interfere with statements made in advertisements.

The freedom to express Socialist ideas

The fact is that the possibility of making Socialist ideas known to the population is very narrowly restricted in this country. Newspapers and periodicals almost never give space to the Socialist viewpoint, and letters are comparatively rarely published. With paid advertisements we have somewhat better results, though refusals (sometimes masquerading under “no space available") are frequent. As the Royal Commission on the Press was supposed to be concerned with "free expression of opinion and the accurate presentation of news," they might have been expected to face the issue squarely: instead they sidestepped it by the insertion of the qualifying word "important,” (Report, page 676), and considered whether “ the Press as a whole gives an opportunity for all important points of view to be effectively presented."

Is the expression of Socialist ideas important? Certainly it isn't with the Tory, Liberal, Labour and other giants of the newspaper and periodical Press.

Not that the Royal Commission found everything to be satisfactory—far from it, and they half-understood the reason. "The failure of the Press to keep pace with the requirements of society is attributable largely to die plain fact that an industry that lives by the sale of its products must give the public what the public will buy. A newspaper cannot, therefore, raise its standard far above that of its public, and may anticipate profit from lowering its standard in order to gain an advantage over a competitor." (Paragraph 680.)

Nationalisation no remedy

We say that the Royal Commission only half understood the nature of the problem. This is amply proved by the fact that they took for granted that publication can only be for the purpose of selling and making a profit—they never considered the possibility that the only way of securing "freedom of expression" is through Socialism, when the question of sale and profit would not arise.

And they are not the only ones who do not understand. A delegate at the recent conference of the Electrical Trades Union, speaking on the Press, said:—

"An end must be put to its reports of sadism, sensationalism and pornography. We shall nationalise this monopoly so that its views shall be that of the working masses for Socialism ."—{Daily Worker, 7th June, 1957.)

It is difficult to imagine anything more contrary to every experience. We are asked to believe that nationalisation would change the Press into a vehicle for enabling the workers to express Socialist ideas. Let us look at a few facts. Where the Press has passed under direct Governmental control, as in Russia, it is not only impossible to publish a journal putting Socialist ideas for a Socialist organisation, but it is legally forbidden for a Socialist political organisation to exist at all. Secondly, the broadcasting service in this country has been nationalised for 30 years after a five year life of the original British Broadcasting Company. Do we find the nationalised B.B.C. putting over Socialist propaganda? It is in fact even worse than the capitalist Press. For a quarter of a century the S.P.G.B. has tried to get the Socialist case put on the radio, but with never a single success. Not that the B.B.C. says it will on principle not let the S.P.G.B. broadcast—nothing so crude —but each time application is made the application is refused.

One of our adverts, refused by the Daily Telegraph mentioned that the S.P.G.B. is barred from the air by the B.B.C. Those who are silly enough to think that there is some essential difference between the “private enterprise” capitalist Telegraph and the State capitalist B.B.C. may wonder why the former didn’t jump at the chance of chiding the latter for its opposition to “freedom of expression.” Instead they showed their true affinity by behaving in the same way, suppressing the Socialist case.

Edgar Hardcastle

SPGB Notices. (1904)

Party Notices from the December 1904 issue of the Socialist Standard

SPGB Pamphlets (1964)

Party Notice from the June 1964 issue of the Socialist Standard

Links to the above SPGB pamphlets from 1964:

• The Case for Socialism (1962)
• 50th Anniversary of the Socialist Standard (1954)
• Art, Labour and Socialism by Willam Morris (with a modern assessment, 1962)
• Questions of the Day (1953) 
• Is Labour Government the Way to Socialism? (1946)
• Nationalisation or Socialism? (1945)
• The Communist Manifesto and the Last 100 Years (1948)
• The Socialist Party – Its Principles and Policy (1956)
• The Socialist Party and War (1950)
• Socialist Comment (1956)
• Schools Today (1961)

Blogger's Note:

No links for Questions of the Day (1953) and The Socialist Party – Its Principles and Policy (1956) because the versions of both pamphlets on the SPGB website are different editions.