The Saturday Evening Pile (Al Ambler) - Stanford Chaparral - March 10, 1954 - 56 pages

https://madcoversite.com/modern_magazine_parodies.html

The distinguishing feature of the Pile is the excellent cover art by "Normal Wellwell" to parody the great artist, Norman Rockwell (1894-1978).  The scene is typical of one that Rockwell would paint with the parents and the family dog at home watching as their beautiful daughter is walking down the steps to meet her prom date.  The subtle differences that make this a parody are the expressions on the faces of the father and the boyfriend, and the reflexive crushing of the corsage as he sees his girlfriend in her low-cut prom dress.  Rockwell would not have depicted the tension and sexiness of the situation in this manner.  The name of the actual artist is a mystery as the parody name is also used on the index page and in the short biography of "Wellwell" on page 56.  The magazine editors achieved the look of The Saturday Evening Post although the "Short Stories", "Articles" and "Serials" are just pointless fillers that are designed to be short and not to get in the way of the humorous flow of the annual parody issue.  The index lists Adolf Hitler as "Foreign Editor" and "Associate Editors" are Eartha Kitt, Buster Crab and Gnatnoop ("Poontang" backwards) Murietta.  The best humor can be found in the parody advertisements that are placed almost seamlessly among the long list of actual ads.  Although the parody ads are pure examples of college humor, they are often upstaged by some of the actual ads.  The obligatory back-cover ad for Camel cigarettes provides a timeless warning about the product being sold.  Brothers Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey offer their testimonies to "... Camel's swell flavor and wonderful mildness" and "... guys who enjoyed smoking were guys who smoked Camels."  Tommy Dorsey (1905-1956) choked to death in his sleep at the age of 51, and Jimmy Dorsey (1904-1957) died of lung cancer at 53.  [JAM 6/27/2015]

Front Cover - Prom Date (Normal Wellwell)
2 - Smylon wrinkle-retaining fiber (ad parody)
3 - Index and Nuckleson File Co. (ad parody)
4 - Ethyl Vaseline (ad parody) - "There's a big difference between a beer ... and a ... queer"
6 - Letters to the Editors
8 - Fleet's Brown Stick (ad parody)
10 - Deathbuoy (ad parody) - "to make ugly skin for ugly people"
12 - Editorials ("Rise in Tuition" drawing by Bob Haydock)
15 - Pictures with a Past: Remember When? (non sequitur photos including Hitler)
17 - I Was The World's Greatest Spy by Jascha Troubetzkoy alias Benedict Hari, alias Mata Arnold
20 - Athanasius Butts Saves the Day by Warthog Hamhead Upchuck (drawings by Tom Allen)
22 - The Cities of America: Moldy City by Joe Baedecker and Lucius Beebe (photography by Doug Van Orden)
24 - The Popanowski Story by Bill Corr (drawings by Bill Davis)
26 - It Lowered The VD Rate by Dr. Aran B. Crossfield, A.B., C.B., Ph.D., B.O., D.C. (photography by Ron Poze)
28 - Up The Canyon A Piece by Tex Hindle (drawing by Tex Hindle)
30 - Piled Scraps (misc. jokes and uncredited cartoons)
31 - Crudential (ad parody with drawing by "Farmer")
32 - Night Train For Haiti by Clarence Cruddington Belthound (drawing by "Johnson")
34 - Chartreuse Kid by Bayshore Chones (drawing by Mike Angelo)
38 - Can You Name This Star? by Raymond U. Mongrel
39 - Cartoon by "Ambler"
40 - The Role I Liked Best by Pistol (a horse)
41 - Cartoon by Jim Skinner
43 - What Would You Have Done? by Gladda Rider (uncredited drawing)
44 - What's Going On Here? by Johnson Q. Braverman (drawing by "Gnarled Toes")
45 - You Be the Judge by Shorr Nuff and Hurbut Cheryton (finger tip cigarette ad parody)
46 - Put It This Way by Jean Bashor
47 - Cartoon by Tom Hunderslung
49 - Famous Last Words (cartoon by "Irvin Capgun")
50 - The Perfect Squelch by Abner J. Slub (drawing by "S D")
52 - So You Think You Know Baseball by John Woehler and "Look in the Brown Pages of your Sears Roebock Book" (ad parody)
54 - Hazell by "Tur Key" (cartoon parody)
55 - Stanfordized (ad parody with drawings by Tur Key, Chop Hay, Don Totin and A. Toiler)
56 - Keeping Piled (misc.); My Three Years and Six Months as a Dead Man by General Bean; and Wildcream Root-Oil Hair Tonic (ad parody with drawing by "R.M.B.")
Back Cover - The Fabulous Dorseys (real Camel cigarette ad)