After 1835, when the government banned political caricature, Le Charivari began publishing satires of everyday life.

The name refers to the folk practice of holding a charivari, a loud, riotous parade, to shame or punish wrongdoers.

Le Charivari was started by caricaturist Charles Philipon and his brother-in-law Gabriel Aubert to reduce their financial risk of censorship fines.

They also had published the satirical, anti-monarchist, illustrated newspaper La Caricature, which had more pages and was printed on more expensive paper.

Ownership of the paper changed often due to issues with government censorship, and related taxes and fines.