The real history of Mad Magazine's Alfred E. Neuman: CBC Archives | CBC

In this clip from 1977, publisher Bill Gaines talks about the real history of Alfred E. Neuman - the fictitious mascot and cover boy of Mad Magazine. Mad is an American humor magazine founded by Gaines and editor Harvey Kurtzman in 1952. It had a readership of more than two million during its peak in the 1970s. For more classic clips, go to www.cbc.ca/arch...
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The real history of Mad Magazine's Alfred E. Neuman: CBC Archives | CBC
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[@MrAllan9]

I'm 69 and in my youth I never missed an issue of Mad magazine, hours of really good laughs. Thank you so much for memorise and putting a smile in my heart. ❤

[@Comm0ut]

MAD was a cosmopolitan ray of urban humor in an otherwise stifling era. Its impact on American culture was hilariously profound.

[@DaveMalby]

I learned how to read on MAD Magazines .. THANK YOU BILL!

[@stephenbirks6458]

Me too and enjoyed every learning minute ! - Used to read my Uncle Johns ! - Wish I had kept them !

[@Amy-m9s]

@@DaveMalby and sesame Street magazine

[@lechanneldemysterieuxmante1807]

Truly, this man brought so many laughs and enjoyment with MAD and all the EC comics, especially the horror and adventure ones.

[@TJWhite-pl6gt]

Awesome iconic individual. He'd be 95 if he were still alive. Gotta wonder if, had he would've beaten his health and weight problems, how many more years he'd still be large and in charge of MAD.

[@mercurialmagictrees]

T.J. White hmm good point I suppose

[@bayarea9two5]

I had a subscription back in the 90s for years, way before MADtv came out.. man those were the good old days ❤

[@MagmaDashE]

Bill Gaines used to make appearances in the Magazine itself, most notably in Dave Berg's "The Lighter Side Of" section!

[@derivesrurale]

the work ethics of this man is more relevant than ever. taking no money from sponsors so you can clown on everyone. more youtubers should look into this

[@CantTellYou]

I agree on the principle of it, but even if KZbinrs don’t have personal sponsors & turn off monetization from the Google Ads sponsors, KZbin will still run those ads & hold creators to the bigger companies’ standards... except the channel won’t get a cut. It’s not really a great platform to be a full-on rebel unless you don’t care about making money at all & don’t care about losing your channel - either for a week at a time or possibly even permanently. Didn’t used to be like this! But here we are.

[@johngarcia8827]

As soon as he died MAD started putting ads in the issues and using glossy ,color paper. It wasn't as funny anymore and didn't last much longer

[@ytubeanon]

Alfred E. Neuman was David Letterman's grandpappy, true story!

[@sha11235]

Interesting how disorganized Bill was with that letter, yet he was a person who could be very organized and orderly in other ways.

[@diamonddog257]

unbelievable ; the CBC is actually good for something....

[@gibstrat2671]

Back then!

[@goldguy4675]

@@gibstrat2671 I was gonna say....'was' good for something. It's now a biased political weapon.

[@transformlifemusic]

my dad apparently loved mad and had small statues of him, he died in 1997. dont know much about mad but im intrigued

[@mrmjb1960]

Bill as a child was Alfred E. Neumann.

[@mrmjb1960]

You can hear poor Gaines wheezing.

[@SophiaLenore]

That’s beautiful!

[@kromedome0101]

Long live Alfred & MAD!!

[@richardsanders3987]

I have a picture of Alfred E Newman from 1914

[@killerpokemon]

you should scan it, or get a picture of it, and post it online.

[@kevingage6676]

Where is the picture? Post it here by link.

[@jelly.212]

Post the link

[@joelatkinson4051]

Aww I miss Gaines! I wish I could have met him! WHY MUST THE GOOD DIE YOUNG!??!?!!?

[@sha11235]

+Joel Atkinson He was 70, which is pretty old.

[@mercurialmagictrees]

haha Mad comedy

[@hobbygamer6220]

sha11235 i disagree

[@glx4909]

asthma?

[@jameshendricks2197]

70 isn't really that old anymore...🤔

[@kronossonork6994]

First image was from 1894 of a play called The New Boy

[@buzzkill9991]

I think the mad guy is actually prince Charles

[@ptofview]

Looks like George W Bush.

[@apexone5502]

It's not. They got it from old images from the early 1900s.

[@HisAssholiness]

did you even bother watching the viddy ?

[@ARedMotorcycle]

Look at the two idiots above me that can't take an obvious joke.

[@CFITOMAHAWK2]

BILL GATES OF MAD MAGAZINE AND BILL GATES OF MICROSOFT, 2 AMERICAN GENIOUS...

[@dgontar]

I'm not sure the face of Alfred E Neuman was first used in that ad William Gaines refers to. I think it dates back farther than that.

[@paulbcote]

I saw it in that french cave with the prehistoric bison paintings.

[@richardsanders3987]

I have an Alfred E Newman picture from 1914 from stuff and Wilson

[@Malkmusianful]

Alfred E Neuman's face is the first face the first human ever noticed - the first creation of his primitive consciousness

[@dallasradionerd]

thankx

[@demetriusdillard2863]

Cool!

[@WARP228]

Can you put up the video of the telecast for December 28, 1967 at 3:00 P.M. on "Take 30" that featured a documentary on Mad Magazine.

[@Dane_Youssef]

I used to think he was the guy who created the magazine. Now I realize he represented the type that read MAD.

[@johngarcia8827]

He also said the seatbelt law was police state stuff. He was right

[@sha11235]

Nice coat Bill.

[@gohantanaka]

King Billy.

[@pennygretch]

I was a fan of MAD Comics in the 1950's......I wondered for many years as to the origin of Alfred E Newman......I came across some of the evidence presented here, which I DON'T dispute, but here's what I believe was the origin........There was a lot of Irish dislike and even hatred loose in the land in the late 1800's and probably into the early 1900's.....I believe that the face that became Alfred E. Newman was a slam on the red haired, freckle faced Irishman, considered lazy and ignorant by the WASPs.......These perceptions were unfair and untrue, and were proven so by the Irishmen over the following years.......My Irish came here in the 1700's and fought in the Revolutionary War, but I have read the stories of lawn signs, "Irish and dogs, keep off", and other belittlement the Irish suffered in the 1800's..............Hope this doesn't take the fun out of the humor of Mad and the "Alfred" character.........It didn't for me....I was an early and thorough fan of the original MAD COMIC in the 1950's.

[@ApartmentKing66]

I thought his name was spelled "Neuman."

[@jameshendricks2197]

@@ApartmentKing66 It was!

[@allexbratson]

who comes here for Pete Edge Edge?

[@janmathews3200]

Loved Peter Gzowski

[@theluckiesteh9058]

If he grows his hair out, he's gonna turn into Santa Claus!

[@mcgannahanskyjellyfetti6854]

The Jerry Garcia look...

[@JohnBaker-vm1wf]

The image goes much farther back than Prince Charles, although, yes, it's fitting.

[@Adrian_Stone]

Canadian audiences 1977 > Canadian audiences 2018

[@pennygretch]

....I remember when Alfred was Melvin Kosnowski.

[@burkeshaw]

Ah yes! Peter Gzowski! CBC mornings has not recovered from his passing. Jian Ghomeshi came close, but the CBC in a typical display of political correctness destroyed his career. Rest in peace CBC!!!!

[@mikewilliams258]

The gullibility of Americans is staggering.

[@mgraves9484]

That is so true! Some of them wanted Hillary Clinton to be President, if you can believe it!

[@markfryer9880]

Yeah and look at the Orange Joker they got instead.

[@jameshendricks2197]

@@mgraves9484 Anything would have been better than what we ended up with!

[@jameshendricks2197]

@@markfryer9880 The Orange Clown! 🍊

[@ApartmentKing66]

@@jameshendricks2197 Well, at least he can find his way out of a bathroom stall, unlike your idiot.

[@smashingthreeplates2171]

He looks like Karl Marx with glasses!

[@mcgannahanskyjellyfetti6854]

William Gaines and Jerry Garcia - separated at birth? 🤔

[@nach316]

Alfred E Neuman aka Pete Buttigieg 2020!!!

[@susanwoodell2174]

Butt-Plug?

[@susangrossman410]

Poor guy can barely breath to talk. Heavy smoker?

[@sha11235]

+Andrew Johnson Bill Gaines? At this time, he no longer smoked. It was his weight problem.

[@CloudSpirals]

Um the bible got it wrong. In the beginning God created Alfred and Eve, not Adam. 🥸🙏

[@j2times2006]

the driest interviewer ever