The New Yorker (George Plimpton) - Harvard Lampoon - May 15, 1948 - 52 pages

https://madcoversite.com/modern_magazine_parodies.html

Author George Plimpton (1927-2003) is listed as "President" of the Harvard Lampoon in this parody issue of the weekly college magazine.  The New Yorker Lampoon is loaded with fiction, cartoon and "Goings On About Town" jokes in the New Yorker style including parodies of Charles Addams (1912-1988), Chon Day (1907-2000), Ogden Nash (1902-1971), S.J. Perelman (1904-1979), James Thurber (1894-1961) and many others.  This parody magazine is one of the earliest examples of the classic Lampoon humor that has become the standard by which all others are measured.  Buried within the "Goings On" under "Sports" is the following: "Lynching: Alabama State Finals, Governor Folsom Officiating May Oui [date joke], 2 P.M., WONT [fake radio station].  Big Jim Folsom (1908-1987) was 42nd governor of Alabama serving from 1947-1951 and again from 1955 to 1959.  Under "Talk Of The Town", Lampoon editors provide some useful information about "Anyguay", a fictional South American country [i.e. where am I, anyguay?].  Also in the issue, "Robert M. Cootchie" reports on "The Art Galleries" and important works such as "Sun-Goddess Scratching the Fleabites on a Monkey" and "Man and Woman Eating Banyans Under a Banyan Tree".  There are numerous theatre and movie reviews as well as many, many inside jokes that are mostly lost to the ages.  One tiny, irreverent joke summarizes the Lampoon humor for me: "At the drug store fountain I ordered up three banana splits, two cherry sundaes with hot fudge sauce, four chocolate sodas with tutti-fruitti ice cream and buulotxtghfyjd dkrn ietfbvhkqpzb dkghie. -- From a story in Liberty.  A large napkin, perhaps?"  Meanwhile, the cigarette wars continue in the real (and really bad) paid advertisements.  Camel states: "More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette" and "Let your 'T-Zone' [mouth & throat] tell you why!"  Chesterfield countered with a quote from actress Claudette Colbert (1903-1996): "I've tried them all.  Chesterfield is my favorite cigarette."  And from farmer J. Hogan Ballard (1889-1962): "I know they're made of mild ripe tobacco because that's the kind they buy from me."  The battle for the addiction of college students was hot and heavy in post-war America.  [JAM 2/26/2015]

Front Cover - Sailor is painting white wall on the black life preservers (painting by A. Birmbarn)
Inside Front Cover - Camel cigarettes (real ad)
2  Goings On About Town
5  Cartoon by Fitz
9  The Talk of the Town
10 Cartoon by Chon Dam
11 Cartoon by Chase Afterem (Chas. Addams parody)
12 Cartoon by O. Goslow
13 Cartoon by Geo. Price, Jr.
14 Subway Cartoon
15 The Night All Hell Broke Loose by James Thurwood
16 Afternoon of a Fan by Ogden Gnash
17 The Robin's Egg Blues by Jack O'Malley; Cartoon by Stingberg
18 Cartoon by Alan Dusin
19 Who'll Buy My Beautiful Life for Free? by Sidney Namlerrep ("Perlman" backwards)
20 Profiles - Charm for the Little People - II by John Riant
21 Cartoon by Lowbeam
22 Ten-frame Cartoon by de la Catessen
30 The Theatre: The Whole Thing is Tragic by Woodcott Gibbs (drawing by Frueh)
32 The Art Galleries: South Seas Sundries by Robert M. Cootchie
34 Mother Was Super by D. Winterreise
37 The Current Cinema: Mostly Canine by John Netraem
39 Musical Events: Something New, Something Borrowed by Simple A. Simon
40 On and Off the Avenue: Feminine Fashions by S.H.; Cartoon by Helen E. Hokhison
42 Of All Things by Boward Hubaker
43 Tables for Two: Spy Trouble by Y.M.C.A.
45 The Race Track: Horse Player's Luck by Timidus Magnus
46 Sports: Terrors from Fuego by W.P.A., Jr.
50 Books: New Documents on the Joneses by Edmund Guest Wilson
Inside Back Cover - Easy Money Department (cartoon by Browne)
Back Cover - Chesterfield cigarettes (real ad)