Mad Magazine Recurring Features

DESCRIPTION or SAMPLE AD TEXT ARTIST ISSUE / DATE ALSO IN "If you haven't been able to find Mad on your local newsstand..." Jack Davis 6 - Aug 1953 "Melvin can't find Mad" (shark fin in a river of tears) Will Elder 7 - Oct 1953 29 "Beware of Imitations" (comparison to Life / better for smoking) Jack Davis 11 - May 1954 "Beware of Imitations" (29 newsstand imitations / taste test) Jack Davis 11 - May 1954 "Do People Laugh at You for Reading Comic Books?" Jack Davis 12 - Jun 1954 "Vital Items You Can Buy for a Quarter!" Jack Davis 30 - Dec 1956 The Mad Window Test Jack Davis 31 - Feb 1957 "Mad Contains Concentrated Humor - An Effective Stomach Acid Neutralizer!" Wally Wood 33 - Jun 1957 "We're Looking For People With Ability To Draw ($2 out of that bank!)" Wally Wood 34 - Aug 1957 "Spot the Clod Who Doesn't Subscribe to Mad!" George Woodbridge 35 - Oct 1957 "Snap Crackle Pop" (photo of Mad, the breakfast magazine) Larry Maleman 36 - Dec 1957 "If you insist upon being sick to your stomach, get your money's worth!" Al Feldstein 37 - Jan 1958 "Why go hunting for every issue of Mad?" Jack Davis 42 - Nov 1958 "Why bum around the country looking for Mad?" (photo of 3 hobos on a train: Feldstein, DeFuccio, Putnam) Larry Maleman 45 - Mar 1959 "Don't look like an April Fool" George Woodbridge 46 - Apr 1959 "Why fight over the only copy of Mad on the newsstand?" (Frankenstein scene photo: Feldstein, DeFuccio, Meglin) Larry Maleman 50 - Oct 1959

Lester Krauss shot this run of subscription ads featuring various staff in costumes. DESCRIPTION or SAMPLE AD TEXT ISSUE / DATE "Caramba! I'm no Herk!" (Nick Meglin in sombrero) 61 - Mar 1961 "What this country needs is a good 25¢ humor magazine!" (Al Feldstein as a ward heeler) 62 - Apr 1961 "I just told a passenger where to get off!" (John Putnam as train conductor) 63 - Jun 1961 "Reach for 2 bucks..." (Nick Meglin as cowboy gun to nose stick-up) 64 - Jul 1961 "I'd be sunk..." (Al Feldstein as boat captain) 65 - Sep 1961 "Blimey! I must be crazy with the heat!" (Jerry DeFuccio as British explorer) 66 - Oct 1961 "MAD sends me! Be way out!" (hip Lenny Brenner with clarinet) 67 - Dec 1961 "Tapping your brain for Christmas cheer?" (faucet stuck to Nick Meglin's head) 68 - Jan 1962 "Remember The Mainly" (John Putnam in Spanish-American War garb) 69 - Mar 1962 "Ven dey asked me to subscribe to Mad I screamed 'Nein!'" (Al Feldstein as WWII German soldier) 70 - Apr 1962 "It was a case of mind over reading-matter!" (Jerry DeFuccio listening to patient Nick Meglin's brain with stethoscope) 71 - Jun 1962 "On guard!" (Al Feldstein poked in fencer's mask) 72 - Jul 1962 "Wanted! Mickey Bitsko" (Al Feldstein as lowly fencer) 73 - Sep 1962 "Nine bombs are on their way!" (Jerry DeFuccio as wartime bomb spotter) 74 - Oct 1962 "I 'Kidd' you not! No more digging up buried treasure for me!" (Nick Meglin as pirate) 75 - Dec 1962 "Looking for a Christmas 'Tip'?" (Jerry DeFuccio with hand out to Al Feldstein) 76 - Jan 1963 "You'll never be starved for laughs" (photo of skull wearing straw hat) 77 - Mar 1963

Giuseppe Baggi's first assortment of sculptures DESCRIPTION or SAMPLE AD TEXT ISSUE / DATE "You don't have to go begging" 78 - Apr 1963 "Looking for a bargain?" 79 - Jun 1963 "How does this strike you?" (bowler) 80 - Jul 1963 "Teed off" (golfer) 81 - Sep 1963 "Here we go with the same old jazz" (musicians) 82 - Oct 1963 "Why fiddle around?" 83 - Dec 1963

"Send Christmas Greeting All Year 'round!" --- 84 - Mar 1964
(different photo from Larry Maleman's #37 back cover session)

Paul Coker's first run of "Why Kill Yourself?" ads. DESCRIPTION ISSUE / DATE ALSO IN barrel-jump neck-chopper 85 - Mar 1964 239 toilet-flush drowning 86 - Apr 1964 241 stick trap with spikes 87 - Jun 1964 242 head in cannon, fuse lit by discarded cigarette 88 - Jul 1964 spike to chest under a carnival high-striker 89 - Sep 1964 245 soda fountain stool rigged to set off mouthful of dynamite 90 - Oct 1964 taking the place of the clapper in a church bell 91 - Dec 1964

Another bunch of Giuseppe Baggi sculptures ask: "Are you bugged by the little monsters..." SAMPLE AD TEXT ISSUE / DATE "...who have every copy sewed up at the newsstands?" 93 - Mar 1965 "...who clean every copy off the newsstands?" 94 - Apr 1965 "...who make you miss that last newsstand copy by a hair?" 95 - Jun 1965 "...who weed out every last copy from your newsstand?" 96 - Jul 1965 "...who short out the supply of Mad at the newsstands?" 97 - Sep 1965 "...who bolt down to the newsstands and wrench every last copy of Mad off the shelves?" 98 - Oct 1965 "...who clip every copy from the newsstands?" 99 - Dec 1965 "...who pluck every copy off the newsstands?" 101 - Mar 1966

Early Irving Schild ads - (some assistance by Leonard Schechter) DESCRIPTION or SAMPLE AD TEXT ISSUE / DATE "Us Mad Subscribers Would Rather Fight Than Switch" (same photo session as back cover #98 starring Sergio Aragones and Al Feldstein) 102 - Apr 1966 "Show me just one way to get my get my copy before it gets filtered out at the newsstand and I'll eat it!" (Schild takes a bite out of Mad) 103 - Jun 1966 "I could swear I just saw a 'Mad' fly into Mrs. Murphy's kitchen!" (John Putnam as postman) 104 - Jul 1966 "Put a newsdealer in your mailbox!" (mailbox hand hands Nick Meglin a Mad) 105 - Sep 1966 "Why lean on a man like Klopman, or any other newsdealer, for that matter?" (Schild leans on John Putnam) 106 - Sep 1966 "Does she or doesn't she subscribe to Mad?" (lady lovingly holding Mad) 107 - Dec 1966 "Aren't you glad you subscribe to Mad? Don't we wish everybody did!" (lady with shampoo-soaked hair) 109 - Mar 1967

Sergio Aragones filled a page with The Twelve Days of Christmas gift subscription ad from 108 - Jan 1967 (one and only appearance!)

"Folding Money" origami by Giuseppe Baggi -- (photographed by Irving Schild) SAMPLE AD TEXT ISSUE / DATE "Some folding money will guarantee you a whale of a good time!" 110 - Apr 1967 "Pull some folding money out of your kitty and avoid a cat-tastrophe at your newsstand!" 111 - Jun 1967 "For just a little folding doe you don't have to go out in the rein, deer!" 112 - Jul 1967 "For just a little folding money you don't have to monkey around at the newsstands!" 113 - Sep 1967 "For just a little folding money, you don't have to hound the newsstands!" 114 - Oct 1967 "For just a little folding money you don't have to be frozen out at the newsstand!" 115 - Dec 1967 "Tired of dragging your tail down to the corner newsstand?" 117 - Mar 1968 "For just a little folding money you don't have to fish around at the newsstands!" 118 - Apr 1968 "For just a little folding money you don't have to slop around with those hogs at the newsstands!" 119 - Jun 1968 "Just shell out a little folding money, and you won't have to stick your neck out at the newsstand again!" 120 - Jul 1968 "Looking for the latest Mad? Silly goose! For just a little folding money you don't have to gander at the newsstands!" 121 - Sep 1968

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George Woodbridge's ad for gift subscriptions - "Haunted by the Ghost of Christmas Presents?" -- ghostly Alfred in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol

first seen in 116 - Jan 1968, appeared another 22 times in 124, 132, 140, 148, 156, 164, 172, 180, 204, 212, 220, 228, 236, 244, 308, 316, 324, 340, 341, 342, 506, 507

"Why not have the next issue sent directly to your home?" --- Paul Coker showed it was not always easy for the MAD mail to get through... DESCRIPTION ISSUE / DATE Mad in convict's cake 122 - Oct 1968 delivery to castaway 123 - Dec 1968 to a vampire in coffin 125 - Mar 1969 walrus mailman to Eskimo 126 - Apr 1969 mermaid to a lost at sea rafter 127 - Jun 1969 alien delivers Mad to astronaut 128 - Jul 1969 pelican to lighthouse keeper 129 - Sep 1969 monkey delivers to Tarzan 130 - Oct 1969 Arabian princess in a castle 131 - Dec 1969 catapult over castle wall 133 - Mar 1970 kangaroo to outback bushman 134 - Apr 1970 man in birdhouse 135 - Jun 1970 mailman in motorcycle sidecar to old lady in moving trailer 136 - Jul 1970 delivery to an outhouse user 137 - Sep 1970 man in clam 138 - Oct 1970 wartime battlefield foxhole 139 - Dec 1970 DESCRIPTION ISSUE / DATE drill sargent calls out Mad mail 141 - Mar 1971 heaven sent (seen again in 328 as a "Why Kill Yourself?" ad) 142 - Apr 1971 to explorer in submersible 143 - Jun 1971 to Rapunzel 144 - Jul 1971 museum mummy's tomb 145 - Sep 1971 beanstalk giant on cloud 146 - Oct 1971 man in large pumpkin 147 - Dec 1971 man in whale 149 - Mar 1972 elephant rider 150 - Apr 1972 man in kangaroo's pouch 151 - Jun 1972 scary graveyard tomb 152 - Jul 1972 balloonist 153 - Sep 1972 galley slave in ship rowing crew 154 - Oct 1972 theatre princess 155 - Dec 1972 fireman on firepole 157 - Mar 1973 funhouse resident 158 - Apr 1973

"Why kill yourself?" --- MAD's longest-running subscription ad campaign returns with Paul Coker illustrating most of the gags and Don (Duck) Edwing* getting writing credit for the majority. Notable are the appearances of other artists, in some cases reworking black and white originals into color ads. DESCRIPTION * ISSUE / DATE ALSO IN railroad crossing gate guillotine * 159 - Jun 1973 lying below honeymoon bed spikes * 160 - Jul 1973 321, 325, 326 dressed as deer during hunting season * 161 - Sep 1973 Klansman reveals himself to be black * 162 - Oct 1973 timing the cymbals for a head smash 163 - Dec 1973 210, 247 teaching an old lady to drive in busy traffic 165 - Mar 1974 taking place of puck in carnival high-striker 166 - Apr 1974 211 hanging by kite string 167 - Jun 1974 213 death by lawnmower 168 - Jul 1974 smokestack 169 - Sep 1974 214 balloon in a shooting gallery 170 - Oct 1974 light switch electrocution 171 - Dec 1974 215 archery target * 173 - Mar 1975 in with the bowling pins * 174 - Apr 1975 216 tamer's head in lion's mouth - add pepper * 175 - Jun 1975 217 armored car hold-up with toy gun * 176 - Jul 1975 moneybags walks through Central Park * 177 - Sep 1975 218 teeter totter rigged to blow * 178 - Oct 1975 trash picker poker * 179 - Dec 1975 219 crushed under circus elephant stand * 181 - Mar 1976 221 DESCRIPTION * ISSUE / DATE ALSO IN outhouse diver 182 - Apr 1976 223 industrial sewage drinker 183 - Jun 1976 225 matador headbutts bull 184 - Jul 1976 235 posing as a sheep in slaughterhouse 185 - Sep 1976 kicking high-rise worker's lunch off steel beam * 186 - Oct 1976 226 dressed as a tree, waiting for logger * 189 - Mar 1977 227 big duck in a shooting gallery (in color) * 190 - Apr 1977 198, 206, 243 hiding in a garbage can on trash collection day (Jack Davis art in color) 191 - Jun 1977 199, 207, 232, 320 going to the dogs dressed as a cat * 192 - Jul 1977 last day of school step trampling (Angelo Torres art in color) 193 - Sep 1977 201, 209, 240, 345, 348 magnifying glass to light bomb fuse with sunrise * 194 - Oct 1977 229 dressed as a banana in an ape cage * 197 - Mar 1978 231 church bell rope noose * 200 - Jul 1978 237 horseshoe thrown at stake glued to head * 205 - Mar 1979 238 doorknob string pulls grenade pin in mouth * 208 - Jul 1979 233 railroad crossing gate guillotine - from 159 (redrawn in color by Jack Davis)   (compare!) * 222 - Apr 1981 246, 336, 337, 344 going to the dogs dressed as a cat - from 192 (redrawn in color by Bob Jones)   (compare!) * 224 - Jul 1981 248, 347 archery target - from 173 (redrawn in color by Paul Coker)   (compare!) * 230 - Apr 1982 327, 346, 349

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"Help End Civilization As We Know It!" - Almost didn't include this uncredited time graph, first seen in 355 - Mar 1997, but thought it was arty enough to fit the topic. Also appeared in 356, 366, 369 and 398.

A costumed MAD Senior Editor, Joe Raiola, became Dan Brown and later, Jeffrey Lozenge, Director of Business & Development -- (photographed by Irving Schild) JOE DRESSED UP AS ISSUE / DATE ALSO IN The Riddler 371 - Jul 1998 476, 490, 499 A Viking 378 - Feb 1999 475, 494, 500, 504 A Bride 379 - Mar 1999 474, 491 A Nun 380 - Apr 1999 A Lobster 381 - May 1999 477, 492, 501 A Bee 382 - Jun 1999 479, 489 A Hazmat Worker 480 - Aug 2007 An Astronaut 493 - Sep 2008 A Revolutionary War Soldier 495 - Nov 2008 498, 503

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