CNN has an article on Al Jaffee, long long time cartoonist and writer for Mad. He did the Fold-Ins, 'Snappy Answers To Stupid Questions', and inventions.
And then there are his sketches of "Mad inventions," including an airbag suit and an improved beverage can. Some of them, like a smokeless ashtray or a multiroll toilet paper dispenser, have come to pass -- much to Jaffee's amusement.My favorite Jaffee Mad Invention that came to pass was the toothpaste flip cap. I distinctly recall his cartoon of the groggy person brushing in the morning dropping the common screw cap, which fell behind the radiator, or some other hard to reach place. I am that morning klutz. When the flip cap toothpaste rolled out, I bought. And smiled.
At 91 years of age, Jaffee is still turning them out. He has a delightful current jab at Newt Gingrich. I especially like the poke at Gingrich's Freddie Mac hypocrisy.
3 comments:
If I might recommend a magazine with juvenile but very adult hunour, might I suggest the legend that is Viz Magazine?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viz_(comic)
Oh yeah, I found Viz many moons ago also. They seemed to have a scary hangup on hemorrhoids as a punchline unto itself.
Ooh, my experience with the flip cap was not good. At some point, tooth paste crust made it to where the flip cap wouldn't close all the way; then, as I left the tube laying on the counter, the paste would tend to get on the counter.
I loved Mad as well - my favorite "edgier" Mad knockoff was "Crazy."
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