The Yale Record is the campus humor magazine of Yale University. Founded in 1872, it is the oldest college humor magazine in America.[1][2]
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The Record began as a weekly newspaper, with its first issue appearing on September 11, 1872. Almost immediately, it became a home to funny writing (often in verse form), and later, when printing technology made it practical, humorous illustrations. The Record thrived immediately, and by the turn of the century had a wide circulation outside of New Haven — at prep schools, other college towns, and even New York City. As Yale became one of the bellwethers of collegiate taste and fashion (especially for the younger universities looking East), so too The Record became a model — even being mentioned in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novels as one of the harbingers of the new, looser morality of collegians of that time.[3]
Along with the Princeton Tiger Magazine, the Stanford Chaparral, and the Harvard Lampoon, among many college humor magazines, The Record created a wide-ranging, absurdist style of comedy which mixed high-culture references with material dealing with the eternal topics of schoolwork, alcohol, sex (or lack thereof). This college humor style influenced — or in some cases led directly to — The New Yorker, Mad magazine, underground comics, The Second City, and Saturday Night Live.[4]
From the 1920s to the 1960s, The Record placed special emphasis on cartooning, which led many of its alumni to work at Esquire magazine and especially The New Yorker. By the late 1940s, the magazine's ties to The New Yorker were so strong that designers from that magazine consulted on The Record's layout and design. By the 1950s, the Record had established the "Cartoonist of the Year" award, which brought people like Walt Kelly, the creator of Pogo, to New Haven to dine and swap stories with the staff. The Record also played an integral role in then-editor in chief Garry Trudeau's creation of his epochal strip Doonesbury.[5]
Although the exceedingly poor economic conditions of New Haven in the 1970s and 1980s made things difficult for The Record, the rise of desktop publishing gave the magazine new life. This process was repeated on many campuses in the late 1980s, as a generation of people who grew up reading Mad magazine, National Lampoon and Spy magazine used computers to revive sputtering college humor magazines.
With its 140th birthday looming, The Record is one of the preeminent college humor magazines being published today.
The Record is currently published eight times during the academic year and is distributed in Yale residential college dining halls and around the nation through subscriptions. Content from the magazine is made available online and entire issues can be downloaded in .pdf form. [6] Each issue of the current magazine features a particular theme. Aspects of the magazine include:
Throughout the year, the Record invites notable figures from the world of comedy to Master's Teas, informal interviews hosted by the Record in conjunction with residential colleges. Recent guests have included SNL's Fred Armisen, John Mulaney, Marika Sawyer, and Simon Rich; comedy writer Mike Sacks, and comic artist Kazu Kibuishi. While residential colleges frequently organize Master's Teas, The Yale Record is known for its humorous ones.[7].
For over a century, the mascot of the Record has been the "Old Owl," a congenial, possibly sozzled bird who tries to steer the staff towards a light-hearted appreciation of life and the finer things in it. Staff members are referred to as "owls" and "owlets", while former chair, editors in chief, and publishers are referred to as "old owls".
Notable Yale Record alumni include:
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