Liff (Ken Eichenbaum) - Wisconsin Octopus - April 1953 - 40 pages

https://madcoversite.com/modern_magazine_parodies.html

The cover of this Life magazine parody shows "Toulouse Ladrec" with his paints and brushes for the "Movie of the Week" feature ("Moulin Rouge").  The parody articles, with mostly mismatched, non sequitur, photos are typical of 1950s college humor.  There are also two full pages of fake letters from the likes of Hans Brinker, A. Jerke, Mrs. Bobby Taft, Veronica Leak, Isaac Fignewton, Sensuela Zduzee (a recurring last name), Telephone Booth Loose et al.  However, the Octopus unearths buried treasure with its fine array of advertisement parodies.  The first appears on page 4 with "Clor-O-Pills" - "I laughed right in their faces when they told me my breath smelled like a men's locker room" and "9 Out of 10 Morticians Use It on Their Bodies."  Another strange one appears on page 22 ("Maxwell Street and Son").  It is a stylish ad that never describes the product.  The full-page 29 ad declares: "Used To Be Fat" (before) "the Feggy system Removes the Bulges to More Prominent Positions For You!"  Three more ads appear on page 22 - "Navajo (silver coat) Hangers", "Apricot Rotgut" and "angora by Gora".  All of the fake ads are neatly designed to merge with real ads within the issue.  The final duo of parody ads appear on page 38 - "Rat-Fur T-Shirts" ("Choose from peal grey, oxford grey, and longtail grey."), and a movie: "I Saw My Sweetheart" ("See Mickey Rooney as Nero" etc.).  Two years before Harvey Kurtzman's MAD magazine began to spoof the national magazine format, college humor publications like Octopus were already doing a good job of it.  The actual commercial fare was so awful that humorous parodies flowed easily from the pens of our precocious youth.  [JAM 3/27/2015]

Front Cover - Painter, Toulouse Ladrek
3  Contents
4  Clor-O-Pills (ad parody)
5  Letters to the Editors
8  Speaking of Letters
10 Guerrillas Stage Hairy Revolt
13 Government: Kummers Convicted
15 University Picks "Dream Girl"
16 The Better Mouse Trap
18 Education: Female Labors Prove Charming
20 Movie of the Week: Moulin Rouge
23 Travel: Liff Goes to HELLsinki
25 Theater: Magical Horse
27 Liff Goes to a Party: French University Apache Stomp
29 The Feggy System (ad parody)
30 Editorials
32 Apricot Rotgut; Navajo Hangers; Spider Goro Knitting Mills (ad parodies)
33 Fashion: Sweaters on the Rise
35 Marguerite's War Memoirs
36 Science: Secret Ingredient Propels Jalopy
38 Rat-Fur T-Shirts (ad parody); "I Saw My Sweetheart" (movie ad parody)
39 B Cup Bazaar Has Big Show
40 Miscellany: Lincoln Makes a Speech
Back Cover - Camel cigarettes (real ad)