If you were a kid in the ’60’s and ’70’s (maybe late, I dunno), you recognize the kid above as Alfred E . Neuman, the cover boy for MAD Magazine. I’m so out of it these days, I’m not sure they even print MAD anymore, or if it’s strictly an online magazine, or if it’s gone to that Big Magazine Rack in the Sky.
I don’t know why I didn’t just subscribe to the magazine. It would have been cheaper than buying at the newsstand, but teenage logic (which you immediately recognize is an oxymoron).
For years, they advertised the picture above, which they would send you, “suitable for framing or wrapping fish,” for the cost of the stamp (and the envelope, I guess). I never did, even though I saw the ad every month. Oh, well…
I noticed I seem to have used “me” once in this post, and it was in the title and my five minutes are up. So sue me.
Linda runs Stream of Consciousness Saturday every week. Now this word from Grain Belt Beer. It’s-a justice of the pizza!
When I was young, we had a Parish Picnic every year, and the festivities started when they drove in the Grain Belt beer truck. It had spigots on the outside so the guys could collect your ticket and get you a beer right there. No bottles or cans to worry about. Paper cups, yes. I never had it, but I’ve heard it was no worse than any other retail beer, like Hamm’s or Meister Bräu. It’s probably gone the way of Hamm’s, Meister Bräu, and all the others…
The Sound of One Hand Typing 
I found MAD magazines in my clearing-out stuff stash. My husband kept them. LOL! I think you’re right about it being gone as well as the Grain Belt beer. Washing down a slice or two of pizza with a beer is still a common thing, except the beers are more likely to be specialty beer or low-cal to make it ‘okay’ to eat the pizza ;-). I hope you have a great week, John!
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MAD Magazine is still around, but not with any new issues. Only anthologies and reprints are being released by DC comics.
https://www.polygon.com/entertainment/2019/7/5/20683063/mad-magazine-shutting-down
I see them on occasion in grocery stores, and Barnes and Noble. I picked one up last summer in a Harris Teeter, as it was a Sci-Fi special issue that caught my attention. My brother and I used to enjoy MAD Magazine when we were younger. I loved the Spy vs Spy comics.
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Harris Teeter is based in Charlotte and is generally in the South; is that where you are?
They used to come out with books on occasion (mass-market paperbacks) on some of their more popular artists and features (Dave Berg, Al Jaffee, Don Martin, Spy vs. Spy etc.). You can find them in used bookstores; I don’t know if they’ve kept printing them. One year my brother got me a couple of the really old anthologies, from way back in the Bill Elder days. That was some very funny stuff….
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Yeah, I’m in Virginia.
I found a small paperback years ago of a collection of Spy vs Spy, at a yard sale, I think. I don’t remember if I still have it or not.
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The television and movie parodies were my favorite part.
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Do you remember the “All In The Family” spoof, where they had one of those floppy records that had a performance of the spoof?
I liked the “white papers,” where the paper ended up not white because something had happened, like the “green paper” that got left under the bag of lawn clippings. For a dumb comic book for teenagers, the humor was quite sophisticated. Wish they’d come out with a book (either a hardback or a trade paper) that had some of the best things from over the years. Maybe they have and I just haven’t seen it…
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I do remember the white papers! Kind of weird, since that was about half a century ago, and I can’t remember stuff that happened last week. (Half the time I can’t remember my own social security number.)
I wish I still had all those old copies of the magazine from the sixties…
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I wish I had kept them, too. It was inspired humor. And I know how it is: I can remember things from 50 years ago better than I cn remember thiungs from 50 minutes ago…
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Now in my dotage – I rather wish I’d got into comic magazines … I didn’t realise the value of them – through the learning … I couldn’t draw for toffee … another reason for perhaps not being interested … interesting post – thanks – Hilary
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Thanks!
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I too have not seen the magazine for ages. We used to read them at my uncle’s house long back.
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I didn’t realize it was available in India. I guess humor is the other universal language.
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I loved everything about it, and my older sister used to get it and share it with me
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We’d trade off occasionally, but I was usually the one who read and re-read it.
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My brothers shared a subscription and I’d occasionally read the magazines when they were done. Fun memory waiting for my turn.
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Some of the humor in them was timeless. The cartoons of Don Martin and “Spy vs. Spy” were a couple of favorites.
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I loved that magazine, John. They stopped printing it a few years ago, but they did have a special holiday edition, in 2019-2020, I think. It’s one magazine I preferred buying at the newsstand. I used to do that with Discover as well. I never subscribed, but I would always buy it at the airport before flying. Talk about over-spending.
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I was a fan of the Dell puzzle magazines for the airplane. One of those could last me an entire trip.
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Hi John – nope … won’t sue you … but MAD was always popular though I certainly had zero interest in it – different wave lengths … cheers Hilary
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It wasn’t for everyone, that’s true. I learned a lot about current events from it.
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