# Did Mad Magazine change our world? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 9, 2016, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mad-magazine-change-our-world/751631 "2016-04-09T11:19:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2016, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mad-magazine-change-our-world/751631/41 "2016-04-10T17:39:47Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > It was only later that I found about the past history of MAD magazine, but its subversive nature was even noticed by me during the dark days of the civil war era of the old country (EL Salvador). Anyone making parodies like those ones in MAD in the local media against the military governments of the old country would had been lucky not to be shot and dropped in a ditch. > > Mad magazine did teach me an important lesson: There were indeed people that did not swallow the American government message that the USA was doing good in places like Central America. And critics of the American government were not shot and dropped in a ditch. Freedom of expression was indeed a real thing. That there was a sizable dissent of opinion in the USA does explain the contradiction that seems to exist when you realize how many refugees and immigrants from El Salvador came to the very nation that was responsible for a lot of the damage done there, and yet many like me choose to eventually become citizens. My father was a Greek immigrant, and I remember him disagreeing with my mother on \*Mad \*(she thought it was OK for us to read it because of the obvious erudition of the writers, which you noticed if you looked past the broad humor). Dad once objected to a sticker that read: Mail early! [SIZE=“1”]Before they raise postal rates again![/SIZE] Hardly a call to revolution. But dad thought it was disrespectful, and declared that they wouldn’t be allowed to do that in the old country. It was years before I learned about the perennial civil wars that had prompted him to come to America, and realized how such events will condition a person to keep their mouth shut, even after they’re in the past. And how I had never had to experience such conditioning here. > [@Cumberdale](#): > > … a Don Martin comic where a man is walking down the street frowning with a dark scribble over his head. He sees a tie salesman on the corner and buys a tie and now has a small smile. Next he’s running down the street holding the tie with a larger smile. The final panel has him in his dingy apartment hanging from the ceiling with the tie and a huge smile. The salesman’s sign read, “Brighten up your day! Buy a tie!” > [@terentii](#): > > Unfortunately, it was one of the few TV satires not drawn by Mort Drucker. ☹ No one was ever as good as Mort at this! > > In addition to the **secret B-29 factory** , though, I do remember **Schultz doing his “shtupidity” routine** : \* “Awwwww, what a lovable Kraut! You just **gotta** love him!”\* In addition to the B-29 factory, they were concerned that Col Hokum “(didn’t) even tan himself under (their) secret sun anymore!” “Two und two iss eight! Zere are twelve days in a month! Columbus discovered bread!” Sort of related: I always found it fascinating that, as far as I can remember, just about every sentence of dialogue in the magazine’s history ended with an exclamation point. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2016, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mad-magazine-change-our-world/751631/42 "2016-04-10T17:56:48Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Apropos of nothing, I just got the [The Completely MAD Don Martin](http://www.amazon.com/MADs-Greatest-Artists-Completely-Martin/dp/0762430508) box set for my bookshelf. Hallelujah! I hope you didn’t pay list. Mine was about $20. 😃 I bought the first issue of the National Lampoon and subscribed until C. Dennis Plunkett was editor. It was extremely influential, too (SNL was built upon the Lampoon – both writers and actors), but I think most NatLamp writers were influenced by Mad. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2016, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mad-magazine-change-our-world/751631/43 "2016-04-10T18:12:12Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I think most NatLamp writers were influenced by Mad. Not that they would have admitted it for a second. Quite early on in the Lampoon’s run they published a desperately vicious parody of Mad, which they attacked with the kind of vitriol they usually reserved for the likes of Nixon and Agnew. It reeked of trying too hard and protesting too much. Afterwards I would smirk whenever I caught the Lampoon “borrowing” from Mad. There were at least a couple of instances where they published panel cartoons from freelancers that were identical to gags that had appeared in Mad years earlier. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2016, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mad-magazine-change-our-world/751631/44 "2016-04-10T18:26:14Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Not that they would have admitted it for a second. Quite early on in the Lampoon’s run they published a desperately vicious parody of Mad, which they attacked with the kind of vitriol they usually reserved for the likes of Nixon and Agnew. It reeked of trying too hard and protesting too much. Afterwards I would smirk whenever I caught the Lampoon “borrowing” from Mad. There were at least a couple of instances where they published panel cartoons from freelancers that were identical to gags that had appeared in Mad years earlier. I’m sure O’Donoghue hated Mad. But it’s like hating your parents for coming before you. You can see the faults in Mad when you’re grown up. Lampoon was the new face of comedy, but Mad was a big influence on the culture overall. Mad was made by Jews basically, where Lampoon was made by gentiles for the most part. The midcentury jewish humor was huge across the culture. And Mad was the gateway for every kid to find out about the world. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2016, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mad-magazine-change-our-world/751631/45 "2016-04-10T19:20:40Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > IIRC, Mort typically did the movie satires, while Angelo Torres did many of the TV satires, at least during the era I’m familiar with. Torres came in around 1969; the first satire I remember him doing was _ **The FIB** _. Up to then, it had almost always been Mort (the earliest one I remember him doing was _ **Perry Masonmint** _, though there were probably ones that predated that). The only two exceptions I can think of in the rest of the '60s were _ **Hokum’s Heroes** _ (Jack Davis) and _ **Genteel Ben** _ (Don Martin, if you can picture that). Mort must have been on vacation or something. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2016, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mad-magazine-change-our-world/751631/46 "2016-04-10T19:26:47Z")
> [@Lorne\_Armstrong](#): > > I recall in the late 1970s, Mad still used language that wouldn’t fly today. I clearly remember seeing the word “faggot” in one issue. (“If I see Rudolf, Frosty, or that faggot drummer boy one more time, I’ll barf.”) I also recall an issue that referred to a Chinese man as a “chink” and even a Chinese Elvis who sang “prease wray off of my brue sway shoo.” I’m sure these all had satirical intent and were not meant to be taken seriously. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2016, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mad-magazine-change-our-world/751631/47 "2016-04-10T19:35:41Z")
> [@Tibby or Not Tibby](#): > > I remember the first issue of _National Lampoon_ that I bought. February 1974, the one with the [groom and sheep](http://lampoon.rwinters.com/Lampoon1974.htm) atop a wedding cake. My favorites were the ones that had the cheerleader with no panties (I think that was the High School Yearbook edition) and the dog with a gun to his head: **“Buy this magazine, or we’ll shoot this puppy!”** :eek: (Was this the one with _ **Heil Love** _? :dubious: ) ---
**Author:** ![Cumberdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Cumberdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumberdale)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2016, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mad-magazine-change-our-world/751631/48 "2016-04-10T21:57:07Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > They also had a progressive side: > > In one of those ‘Primer’ books ostensibly aimed at kids, they showed a dour-looking censor at work: > > "This is a censor’s stamp. It is used to blot out dirty, offensive words. > > "Words like **CENSORED**. Also **CENSORED** and **CENSORED**. And especially, **CENSORED**. > > "But some dirty, offensive words are not blotted out by the censor’s stamp. > > "Words like k_ke and w_p and p_lack and n_gger. > > “Could it be that all censors are full of **CENSORED**?” > > (\*They spelled the words out). That just reminded me about their parody of Raging Bull. At the beginning was an announcement that they were now allowed to use the “bad” word friggin’ and I recall it being practically every other word. It wasn’t until years later I was able to see the movie and understood the point of it. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2016, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mad-magazine-change-our-world/751631/49 "2016-04-10T22:43:10Z")
> [@Lorne\_Armstrong](#): > > I also recall an issue that referred to a Chinese man as a “chink” and even a Chinese Elvis who sang “prease wray off of my brue sway shoo.” That latter bit was from an article in which John Travolta ostensibly interviews someone who in years later would be called a “necro agent”, i.e. someone who manages the uses of likenesses of dead celebrities. Regarding his group of Elvis impersonators, one of whom was clearly Asian: “So I’ll send him to the Orient! What do the gooks know?” To the honest best of my recollection, that is exactly what the character said. Anyway, regarding the OP’s question, I suggest the answer is a clear and unambiguous Yes. Frankly, I’d recommend any parent get their children subscriptions to _Mad_ as soon as they turn 10. Exposure to subversion at a young age is critical. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2016, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mad-magazine-change-our-world/751631/50 "2016-04-10T22:47:06Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Torres came in around 1969; the first satire I remember him doing was _ **The FIB** _. Up to then, it had almost always been Mort (the earliest one I remember him doing was _ **Perry Masonmint** _, though there were probably ones that predated that). > > The only two exceptions I can think of in the rest of the '60s were _ **Hokum’s Heroes** _ (Jack Davis) and _ **Genteel Ben** _ (Don Martin, if you can picture that). Mort must have been on vacation or something. Don Martin also drew the satires _Conehead the Barbituate_ and _Ecchalibur_. I haven’t read a new _Mad_ in years, but I see Al Yankovic guest-edited issue 533 so I might have to pick that one up. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mad-magazine-change-our-world/751631/51 "2016-04-11T02:14:56Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Don Martin also drew the satires _Conehead the Barbituate_ and _Ecchalibur_. Missed those, I think. They would have been sometime in the mid '80s. Other Torres TV satires that I remember from around the time I was in high school (early '70s) were _ **Ironride** _; _ **How Are Ya, Five-0** _; _ **Manic** _; and _ **Clodumbo** _. I think he also did _ **Star Roars** _ back in '77 or '78. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mad-magazine-change-our-world/751631/52 "2016-04-11T02:32:34Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > I’m sure O’Donoghue hated Mad. But it’s like hating your parents for coming before you. You can see the faults in Mad when you’re grown up. > > Lampoon was the new face of comedy, but Mad was a big influence on the culture overall. Mad was made by Jews basically, where Lampoon was made by gentiles for the most part. The midcentury jewish humor was huge across the culture. And Mad was the gateway for every kid to find out about the world. About that, I just remembered the funny \*What If Superman Had Been Raised by Jewish-Parents? A mother’s diary. \* > **[MAD Magazine | Welcome to MAD](https://www.dc.com/mad)** > > Welcome to MAD Magazine! > [@](#): > > March 6, 1938 > The circumcision. > Oy, what a mess! The poor rabbi… ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mad-magazine-change-our-world/751631/53 "2016-04-11T09:44:01Z")
As a kid, I tried, but could not get into the **Mad** magazine knock-off, \*\*Cracked \*\*(launched 1958). It offended my young self that they copied my hero, **Mad** , too closely. \*\*Cracked \*\*was, at best, an anemic, somewhat dim-witted clone of the original. \*Sylvester P. Smythe, I served with Alfred E. Newman. I knew Alfred E. Neuman. Alfred E. Neuman was a friend of mine. Mascot, you are no Alfred E. Neuman. \* However, I give them props for this spot-on self-deprecating remark someone apparently quipped on their website: \*Our magazine was created as a knock-off of \*\*Mad \*\*magazine just over 50 years ago, and it spent nearly half a century with a fan base primarily comprised of people who got to the store after \*\*Mad \*_sold out._ \*\*Mad \*\*stands head and shoulders above a plethora of imitators. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mad-magazine-change-our-world/751631/54 "2016-04-11T15:22:35Z")
> [@Tibby or Not Tibby](#): > > \*\*Mad \*\*stands head and shoulders above a plethora of imitators. Speaking of Mad imitators, I’ve been trying to track down a specific issue of one for decades. The time frame would have been sometime between 1966 and 1969. It was definitely **not** Cracked. It could possibly have been Sick or Wild, but the issues I’ve found of those to date have held no clues. Here’s what I remember most clearly: the last article in the magazine was several pages of a racy comic strip about a Mickey Spillane-type hard-boiled detective, with a little lady standing outside the panels with a whitewash brush, censoring the strip. A whole article of visual puns based on southern foods (spoonbread: a loaf with spoons sticking out; hush puppies: dogs with their mouths tied shut; hominy grits: a guy pointing to his plate apparently counting “how many,” black-eyed peas: anthropomorphized beans with boxing gloves). An apparently real letters column referring to past articles (so this wasn’t a debut issue or a one-off) including a complaint that they had misspelled “cemetery”; the reply was “Observation corract, we’ll be more carefool.” What I remember less clearly: a full page (possibly front or back cover) saying something like “This magazine is for Conservatives and Radicals” with a cartoon of two essentially identical figures, one carrying a copy of “Das Kapital,” and the other with, I dunno, something to mark him as a right-winger. A story about the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. Real ads for books called “How to Be a Polack,” “How to Be Italian,” “How to Be Jewish.” Does any of this ring a bell with anybody? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mad-magazine-change-our-world/751631/55 "2016-04-11T16:05:12Z")
> [@Tibby or Not Tibby](#): > > \*\*Mad \*\*stands head and shoulders above a plethora of imitators. John Benson put together a book called [The Sincerest Form of Parody](http://www.amazon.com/The-Sincerest-Form-Parody-Satirical/dp/1606995111) that collects stories and features from a dozen different MAD plagiarizers that appeared in 1953 and 1954. They are crude and too heavily influenced by EC’s horror comics, but I’ve never seen them anywhere else so having a collection is great. Cracked started in 1958, along with Nuts, Think, Panic, Loco, Zany, and Shook Up. Sick started in 1960. More followed all the time. Tibby, I don’t have a good listing for the 60s but I know Yell and POW! put out issues in 1966. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mad-magazine-change-our-world/751631/56 "2016-04-11T16:29:31Z")
Mad undoubtedly influenced plenty of people, precisely _because_ it was around – IS around – for a long time, and was immensely popular. You may prefer the humor of _Panic_ and _Trump_ and _Humbug_ and those other obscure humor magazines (and the later imitators, like _Cracked_ and _Sick_ and the abysmal _Crazy_, but Mad definitely had a bigger impact. It did that partly by being around and available, but it stayed around and available because it was good in the first place. Mad was clearly an influence on Weird Al Yankovic (He admitted it, and even guest-edited recently) the Wikipedia article on Mad gives several quotes from people who say it influenced them. I know it influenced Me – My “Dr. Seuss’ Beowulf” is the result of years of reading things like “Mad’s Poetry Round Robin”, where they rewrote poems in the style of other authors ("'Twas the night of the battle and all through the slaughter Not a Creature was stirring – we all needed water." – from Clement Clark Moore’s “Gunga Din” “I think that I shall never hear A Raven who is more sincere Than the one who’s rapping at my door Who’s ever saying “Nevermore!” A Raven that, I must confess, Would leave my house a filthy mess. Let other poets praise a tree A Raven’s good enough for me.” – Joyce Kilmer’s _The Raven_ I just quoted those from memory) It’s telling that all those other humor magazines are gone – heck, even the redoubtable British magazine _Punch_ is gone – but Mad soldiers on. Even though it now takes advertising, it still has Al Jaffee, Mort Drucker, Paul Coker, Frank Jacobs, Duck Edwing, and others. Anmd it has added new features that are worthwhile (I look forward to the Twenty Dumbest Things of the Year. And Planet Tad, written by Daily Show and Last Week Tonight writer Tim Carvell. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mad-magazine-change-our-world/751631/57 "2016-04-11T17:14:35Z")
It definitely changed me and my world view. A writer quoted by \*\*Tibby or Not Tibby \*\*matches my feelings about Mad pretty well. [QUOTE=Brian Siano] Mad was a revelation: it was the first to tell us that the toys we were being sold were garbage, our teachers were phonies, our leaders were fools, our religious counselors were hypocrites, and even our parents were lying to us about damn near everything. [/QUOTE] My wife will ask me once in a while why I seem to question everything, looking for sources and motives and lies behind things she takes at face value. Now I realize that part of the answer is “Because I subscribed to Mad magazine from 1962 until 1970.” ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mad-magazine-change-our-world/751631/58 "2016-04-11T17:19:13Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Yes, no question. > > To me: > > MAD –\> National Lampoon –\> SNL –\> Mainstream takeover. > > NOTE: Monty Python integrates in from its own path, but was more influenced by Beyond the Fringe vs. MAD, to my knowledge - although given the quote from Terry Gilliam above, it is great to think of MAD’s influence coming from the American member of the Pythons. It all comes together. This is very close to a topic that I’ve long pondered (I’d write a thesis on it, if I was going for a degree): the family tree of late 20th century American humor. For me, the parents are Harvard Lampoon and Second City (Chicago). Harvard Lampoon spawned National Lampoon. Alumni of National Lampoon (Michael O’Donoghue, for one) worked for Saturday Night Live. Alumni of Second City (Belushi, for one) worked for National Lampoon (the Radio Dinner album) and SNL…and the rest is history. Need to work in the SCTV branch (those guys from Toronto). Oddly… MAD, while hugely influential, did not have a lot of offspring. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mad-magazine-change-our-world/751631/59 "2016-04-11T17:56:35Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > I mean, look at the “damage” 🙂 classic onomatopoeia like “SPWATH” (scrambled eggs to eyes) “DOONT” (bottle to head) **“POIT”** \* (Female breast popping out a tight corset) that was caused to all those creators mentioned in the OP!!! Now we know what Pinky was always thinking about! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mad-magazine-change-our-world/751631/60 "2016-04-11T17:59:10Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > This is very close to a topic that I’ve long pondered (I’d write a thesis on it, if I was going for a degree): the family tree of late 20th century American humor. > > For me, the parents are Harvard Lampoon and Second City (Chicago). Harvard Lampoon spawned National Lampoon. Alumni of National Lampoon (Michael O’Donoghue, for one) worked for Saturday Night Live. Alumni of Second City (Belushi, for one) worked for National Lampoon (the Radio Dinner album) and SNL…and the rest is history. > > Need to work in the SCTV branch (those guys from Toronto). > > Oddly… MAD, while hugely influential, did not have a lot of offspring. SCTV came from the Toronto branch of Second City. Oddly, while there are several histories of Second City, there has never been a history of either the Harvard Lampoon or of college humor magazines in general. A few anthologies of their humor exist, but generally it’s the largest hole in the history of humor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mad-magazine-change-our-world/751631.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-mad-magazine-change-our-world/751631.md?page=4)