|
I recently came across this 1972 paperback book Mad About the Buoy. Obviously it caught my attention because of its nautical cover. It also brought back many memories of when I was kid who couldn’t wait for the next edition of Mad Magazine to come out.
I don’t remember when I first started getting an interest in Mad Magazine. The magazine was founded in 1952 when I was five years old, so I doubt that it was that early. But, by the time my high school days were over and past, I had lost interest in the magazine. In fact, until I saw this paperback, I never knew that they published books and I also had assumed that Mad Magazine was no longer around, having fallen by the wayside like so many other magazines. But a quick check on the Internet told that they are still going strong.
The image most closely associated with the magazine is that of Alfred E. Neuman, the boy with misaligned eyes, a gap-toothed smile, and the perennial motto “What, me worry?” Mad first used the boy’s face in November of 1954. His first iconic full-cover appearance, in which he was identified by name and sported his “What, me worry?” motto, was as a write-in candidate for President of the United States on issue Number 30, in December of 1956. Since then, his image, in one way or another has apparently graced the cover of every issue as well as in various pages inside the magazine.
This entire book, Mad About the Buoy was, for the most part, a slam against the so-called problems and complaints of the many self-absorbed people in America derived from the popular musical Fiddler on the Roof, which was described in the first page of the book where, in referring to the musical, it said, “is a very sentimental and touching story until we think about the descendants who fled Europe so many years ago, and how those descendants have almost destroyed a Dream. Which is why MAD now takes this famous musical about the problems of people who had nothing, and updates it with a version about the problems of people who have everything – mainly America’s Upper Middle Class. Here then is our rendition, retitled Antenna on the Roof.”
Since most homes no longer have antennas, perhaps if they were to redo this book today they might call it Cable in the Homes, or I-Pads on the Lap. For all I know they might have.
However, the back cover of the book sums it all up, which, after you read it, seems as true today as it was back in 1972 when the book was published.
Whatever the case, the cover of the book, if you can find one, is a nice addition to the collection of serious lighthouse collectors, Coast Guard aficionados, or others who collect anything nautical or maritime related.
This story appeared in the
Jan/Feb 2015 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
All contents copyright © 1995-2024 by Lighthouse Digest®, Inc. No story, photograph, or any other item on this website may be reprinted or reproduced without the express permission of Lighthouse Digest. For contact information, click here.
|
