The Art of College Humor:
Highlights from the Dobbertin Collection of Campus Humor Magazines
September 22 - December 26, 2008
This exhibit recognizes the generosity of John and Barbara Dobbertin, who have assembled and donated to Special Collections an extensive and lively collection of campus humor magazines. The magazines on display, from the Harvard Lampoon to the UW’s own Octopus, are part of what may be the largest collection of college humor magazines in the United States. The collection ranges from the late 19th century to the 21st, and addresses topics both light-hearted and controversial. Some of the humor stands well the test of time, while other jokes and cartoons make today’s readers cringe.
John Dobbertin, an alumnus of the University of Michigan, served as editor of the Michigan Gargoyle — hence his deep appreciation for campus humor magazines and their history.
Some issues of the UW–Madison Octopus and Sphinx in the exhibit, along with printed ephemera about the Octopus, come from the holdings of the University Archives.
We are eager to broaden the coverage of the campus humor magazine collection, and invite additions to the collection from your own piles of college memorabilia, whatever your alma mater.
A complementary exhibit at Kohler Art Library, “College Humor to Italian Tesserae: Celebrating the Centennial of James S. Watrous,” ran through September 30. “Jimmy” Watrous produced cover art for the Octopus in his student days; he later held the title Oskar Hagen Professor of Art History at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. A preview exhibit of cover art from campus humor magazines closed September 16, 2008, in Memorial Union. The Union's Web site includes an audio podcast for the Memorial Union exhibit.
For more about “The Art of College Humor” and the Dobbertin Collection, see such stories as
- Jenny Price, “New exhibits show art of college humor, James Watrous,” University of Wisconsin-Madison News
- Jay Rath, “Funny business: Exhibitions celebrate the glory years of humor magazines on college campuses,” in the Wisconsin State Journal
- Doug Moe, “UW-Madison home to famous college pranks,” also in the Wisconsin State Journal
- Scott Bauer, “History of college humor magazines on display,” for the Associated Press
- “The wit and wisdom of campus humor,” in the Friends of the Library Magazine
Appearing Elsewhere
Images from rare books in Special Collections appear in such new publications as
- Matthew H. Edney, “Mapping parts of the world,” in Maps: Finding our place in the world, ed. James R. Akerman and Robert W. Karrow (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007) — featuring the title page of Aaron Rathborne, The surveyor (1616) from the Thordarson Collection.
- Tara E. Nummedal, Alchemy and authority in the Holy Roman Empire (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007) — with an illustration from Stephan Michelspacher, Cabala, Spiegel der Kunst und Natur, in Alchymia (1615) on the dustjacket. Special Collections holds three editions of Michelspacher's work, two in the Duveen Alchemy and Chemistry Collection.