The Alfred E. Neuman Voodoo Sign

Cafe Society
1

On the back of the September 1962 issue of Mad, and on the back cover of the paperback The Voodoo Mad, is The Alfred E. Neuman Voodoo Sign.
The accompanying text, on the back of the paperback, reads (centered, in a few different fonts):

WARNING!
If you do not plan to buy
THE VOODOO
MAD
Stop looking at this back cover
NOW!!
*Stop here! Read No Further! Halt!
Because this is…
THE ALFRED E. NEUMAN
VOODOO SIGN
[The sign appears here]
Once you look at it—if you do not buy it for your own—
YOU DIE!
(Well, we warned you not to look!)*The six-fingered hand points at this line from both ends.
The six-sided sign has an outer ring with 18 “bad luck” symbols (clockwise from top):

  1. A skull and crossbones.
  2. A black hand.
  3. C.O.D.
  4. A parking meter reading “VIOLATION.”
  5. The Ace of Spades.
  6. S.O.S.
  7. Spilled salt.
  8. Two theatrical tragedy masks.
  9. A horseshoe with the horns down (“allowing the luck to run out.”)
  10. Two broken eggs.
  11. An envelope edged in black.
  12. A hammer and sickle.
  13. A guillotine.
  14. A finger pulling skin down beneath an eyeball.
  15. An open umbrella (presumably in a house).
  16. A black widow spider.
  17. Snake eyes on dice.
  18. SS (Schutzstaffel, meaning “protective echelon,” an arm of the Gestapo).

The six inner symbols, clockwise from upper right, are:

  1. Voodoo doll with pins in it.
  2. The number 13.
  3. A broken mirror.
  4. A ladder (bad luck to walk under it).
  5. Lighting three cigarettes on one match.
  6. A black cat (crossing your path).
    In the center, of course, is the familiar face of Alfred E. Neuman, who never brought anybody any luck. :smiley:
    The ones I would like to know about specifically are the eggs and the eyeball…what do they have to do with bad luck? (Though that gesture can’t help your eye any…)
2

Wild guess: The Evil Eye and just plain broken eggs (which are never good things to have).

3

The eye is presumably the evil eye.

I don’t know about the eggs, but breaking eggs would seem to be pretty bad luck in and of itself.

4

not if you want to make an omelet.

5

… Which is more or less what Stalin said with reference to the engineered famine in the Ukraine.

Really,* really* bad luck! :frowning:

6

In my case, it would be bad luck–because I never learned how to make an omelet!

7

Ace of Spades? I thought it was the Queen of Spades that was bad luck: the Death card. Ace of Spaces is a card you want!

8

I thought you didn’t want to draw the Queen of Diamonds, boy. She’ll beat you if she’s able. You know the Queen of Hearts is always your best bet.

9

Go ask Alice…

10

You are cruel, because all I can think of now is:

Playing with the queen of hearts
Knowing it ain’t really smart
The joker ain’t the only fool
Who’ll do anything for you
Stupid, catchy-ass song.

11

For those who are sufficiently interested…

The two click rule, to protect you against an odious Death Threat!

12

Not if you’re VC! :eek:

13

You win some, lose some, it’s all the same to me.

14

Ace of Spaces? :smiley:

15

The ace of spades has always been the death card, especially when the book came out.

16

Other way around. The Gestapo was a branch of the SS (aka “Defense Squad”).

https://www2.bc.edu/~heineman/SSorg.jpg

17

[When it looks like you should quit
Find another way of looking at it
When life gives you eggs
Just a great big bowl of eggs
When life gives you eggs
You gotta make that omelette

Crack, splat, psss
Crack, splat, psss
Make an omelette
Crack, splat, psss
Make an omelette

Make an omelette
Make an omelette
Make an omelette now

How?
First melt a tablespoon of butter in a medium frying pan
Over medium heat
And sauté the onions and green pepper 'til they’re tender
Add the ham pieces

Make an omelette
Make an omelette
Make an omelette now

Turn off the heat
Let the omelette sit one minute in the skillet
So the inside cooks right through

Take that egg and beat it
Take that egg and beat it
You gotta heat it and beat it, before you eat it
So beat that egg
Beat that egg
Beat that egg

And that’s how you make an omelette
That’s how you make an omelette
That’s how you make an omelette
That’s how you make it!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ww_KVzwnXE&t=2m45s)

(from Something Rotten)

18

That’s clearly the Evil Eye.

The eggs are just broken, not in a bowl or pan, so they’ve been broken accidentally.

19

The eyeball thing is from an old joke in which the gesture is gorilla language for “fuck you”.

20

Yeah? And how many gorillas read *Mad? * :smiley: