Exhibit examines the history of college humor magazines
History of college humor magazines on display

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By The Associated Press

Published: August 29, 2008

MADISON, Wis. — The college graduate, wearing the traditional cap and gown, sits on top of the world.

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A closer look shows the world is actually a bomb and a lit fuse is coming out of one side.

The date on the cover is May 1939, more than two years before the United States entered World War II, but the University of Michigan Gargoyle humor magazine was clearly on to something.

Published near the end of what is considered the heyday of college humor magazines, that issue of Gargoyle is one of more than 1,000 recently donated to the University of Wisconsin-Madison from what may be the largest collection of its kind.

The magazines tell the story of a humor movement that served as a training ground not only for some of the nation's most well-known comedians, but also its most respected writers.

Late-night talk show host Conan O'Brien famously served as editor of the Harvard Lampoon for two years, James Thurber worked at the Ohio State University Sundial and playwright Arthur Miller had his first writings published in Gargoyle.

Defining the times

The magazines help to define the times in which they were produced, said Don Nilsen, secretary for the International Society for Humor Studies and English professor at Arizona State University.

A selection of more than 200 beautiful digital reproductions of the best covers in the collection — from the late 1800s to the present — are on display at UW-Madison, with a more scholarly exhibit planned to open in September.

The magazines are significant on a number of levels, including history, art and humor studies, said UW-Madison special collections curator Robin Rider.

The first college humor magazines can be traced to 1834 to Princeton University. The Harvard Lampoon, the most well-known, started in 1876.

The display of cover art runs through Sept. 15 at the UW-Madison student union.