National Lampoon June 1972

National Lampoon, June 1972

June, 1972, and 'Candy Man', by Sammy Davis, Jr., is the number one song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. On TV, you could watch 'The Brady Bunch', 'The Partridge Family', and 'Love American Style'. A gallon of gas was 36 cents, and a gallon of milk, 89 cents. A new Ford Mustang retailed for $2,510. 

The latest issue of National Lampoon is on the newsstands. This is a 'science fiction' -themed issue. The cover art is done by Frank Frazetta himself, and sends a clear signal that the Lampoon was an established, and profitable, publishing venture. 

Although some of the ads are what would nowadays be called 'transgressive'...........

Hipsters were cheered by a new album from the group Hot Tuna, who were a sort of cousin to the Grateful Dead. The 'Burgers' album is available for listening on You Tube; the best-known track probably is 'Keep On Trucking'.

The marquee piece in the issue is a four-page color comic, titled 'The Last TV Show', by Doug Kenney and Bruce Jones.

Two fiction entries in this June issue are pretty good. 

Chris Miller's 'Pipe Dream' is about a New York City slacker who finds some truly amazing 'grass'. 'Pipe Dream' mixes stoner and sci-fi themes in a comic fashion. It's a great story that should be an entrant in any anthology covering sci-fi and drugs.

Theodore Sturgeon (aka Edward Hamilton Waldo) contributes 'Pruzy's Pot', one of those few stories that he wrote late in his authorial career. 'Pruzy's' is about a young couple who decide to move to a ramshackle house in the country and get back to nature. However, the landlord insists on installing a most unusual commode. This is a good story, with subtle, but effective, humor. 

Two 'Photo Funnies' pages deliver ........BOOBIES ! 

Modern-day audiences may laugh, but remember that in 1972, as a humor item, the Lampoon was positioned on the racks with other 'mainstream' magazines, while Playboy and Penthouse and other 'skin' periodicals were displayed either in polybags with brown paper covers, or sold from 'under the table'. 

If you were an adolescent male, you could get some nudie action from the June issue of Lampoon !

The last page featured another installment of Vaughan Bode's 'Cheech Wizard'. Printing the strip in color was still a bit in the future, but even in black and white, the message came across....

And that's how it was, in June of 1972.........