California Pelican (magazine)

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The California Pelican was a college humor magazine founded in 1903 by Earle C. Anthony at the University of California, Berkeley. Lasting eighty-years, it was the first successful student humor magazine in UC Berkeley, though it was preceded by Smiles in 1891 and Josh in 1895.[1]

Often referred to simply as the Pelican, the magazine featured cartoons, poetry, original humor articles, and short jokes reprinted from other college humor magazines such as the Pennsylvania Punchbowl and Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern. Aside from its wealthy founder, the magazine's most well known contributor was Rube Goldberg, who drew cartoons for the magazine as a student.[2] Additionally, science fiction author Ron Goulart wrote for the magazine and later republished one of his Pelican articles professionally.

According to Verne Stadtman's Centennial Record (as cited by the UC History Digital Archives), the magazine was founded on April 16, 1903 by Anthony and an original staff of ten. It eventually became sponsored by the Associated Students and by the 1960s was issued once a month during each school year. The Centennial Record lists its circulation as 7,000 copies per issue in 1965, making it the second largest publication on the campus at that time.

The magazine was given the rare privilege of its own building on the UC Berkeley campus in 1957 after Earle C. Anthony donated money to the university to provide a home for the publication he had created.[3]

The Pelican lasted until the 1980s when it apparently "sputtered and died."[4] With its demise the only copies of the Pelican readily accessible can be found in Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley and the Southern Regional Library Facility at UCLA. An art book entitled Sweetness and Light has also been published, containing the best art featured in the Pelican from its founding until 1943, as well as photographs of the University of California from 1868 to 1943.

[edit] References

• Sweetness and Light. Berkeley: Associated Students of the University of California, 1943.
• Cerny, Susan. "Pelican is a hidden UC campus treasure." Berkeley Daily Planet. December 1, 2001.
• Deenihan, Kevin. "Don't Forget, Again." Daily Californian. April 17, 2003.
• Stadtman, Verne. Centennial Record. Berkeley: University of California Print. Dept., 1967. Available Online
• Wieder, Robert S. We gave the world the bird in the California Monthly. Berkeley: California Alumni Association, 2003. Available Online Reminiscences by former Pelican editor.