F you grew up in the United States in the three decades after World War II, chances are Mad magazine was at some point (most likely your second year in high school) your main source for anti-establishment laughs. From "Spy vs. Spy" to those back-page "fold-ins" to Don Martin's flap-footed caricatures, Mad has been poking American culture in its eye for half a century.

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Mad no longer holds the sway it once did; its circulation now hovers around 300,000, down from a 1973 peak of 2.8 million. In today's irony-drenched age, Mad's broad, if pioneering, brand of subversive humor seems weirdly out of touch. Nonetheless, Mad soldiers on, determined to prove that subtlety is the enemy of parody and that the funniest joke is one told on oneself — especially if it includes the word "moron."

William M. Gaines, Mad's publisher, and Al Feldstein, its editor, once wrote, "We reject the insinuation that anything we print is moral, theological, nutritious or good for you in any way, shape or form." The readers of Mad are happy to echo that sentiment, insulting themselves and their favorite magazine with equal relish.

With the 50th anniversary issue now on newsstands, here are some past love letters to Mad. The last writer's suspicions notwithstanding, the editors swear they are real.

From the start, some readers seemed to think Mad might be truly dangerous:

Educational, entertaining, humorous? No. your "brain-child" is none of these. In fact, it is plain rot.

— Mrs. C. Peterson, Oakland, Calif.
(Issue #4, 1953)

Mad is neither funny nor witty. It doesn't make sense. It is not educational, inspirational. It's as poor and cheap an effort to lure nickels as I've ever seen. May it have no success.

— Paul M. Dubbs, Bellefonte, Pa. (#6, 1953)

I have always credited myself with being a fair and pretty broad-minded mother in having to raise a son in today's world . . . , but if I thought all he had offered to him was the likes of what you people had to offer in reading matter, I'd gladly do away with him and myself.

— Mrs. Harriette K. Vandenbaum,
New Haven (#14, 1954)
 
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But soon enough, Mad found a loyal audience that set out to top the magazine's own standard jokes, one of which is that Mad is a loser:

I would like to say that you have one faithful reader who never misses an issue. I'm not him, but I'm sure you have one somewhere!

— Clay Bryant Jr., Kennesaw, Ga.
(#68, 1962)

I read every issue of your magazine cover to cover. Nothing in between. Just the covers!

— Harry Plewa, Jamaica, N.Y. (#121, 1968)

I recently purchased your June issue of Mad, along with two pieces of gum. I truly enjoyed the gum!

— Dave Mosher, Phoenix, N.Y. (#153, 1972)

Another is that its readers are losers:

What you publish is cheap, miserable trash! Fortunately, I also am cheap, miserable trash!

— Anonymous (#18, 1954)

I read Mad's "Updated Children's Books" in issue #276, and it really makes me feel good that I'm illiterate!

— Dana Rodman, Boston (#278, 1988)

Your page 48 memo "from the desk of William M. Gaines" in issue #312 says the Mad staff should never use the words idiots, morons, imbeciles, dolts and clods because they describe Mad readers and might alienate them. Well, we're Mad readers and we're none of those. We're boneheads!

— Nick Bevis, Chris Egoff, America, U.S.A.
(#314, 1992)

A variant: Mad turns its readers into losers:

I was once a miserable but fairly intelligent human being. But since reading your magazine, I have changed into a happy little moronic beast. While I am on the subject, I would also like to mention the transformation in my physical anatomy. I now have three eyes.

— Shirly D. Blieden, no address (#11, 1954)
Hey! I was bored out of my skull at work, so I picked up issue #319. Now I'm no longer bored; I'm suicidal. Thanks!

— Scott Maiko, Los Angeles (#321, 1993)

My next door neighbor recently had brain surgery. His doctor suggested plenty of stimulating literature, so naturally I gave him my Mad collection. Enclosed is the last picture we ever took of him.

— Shane McMullen, Loveland, Ohio
(#294, 1990)

Another variant: The Magazine is a synonym for stupid.

The other day a friend of mine said to me, he said, "That Mad isn't fit for idiots." I stuck up for your magazine. I said that it was.

— Connor Markey, Rye, N.Y. (#28, 1956)

I know this is the stupidest magazine published, but you don't have to keep on proving it all the time.

— Tommy Le Clair, Ludlow, Vt. (#48, 1959)

I can't stand your nauseating art work, your idiotic ideas, your infantile humor or your disgusting magazine. But since you got no letters last month, I thought I'd write to cheer you up.

— Patti Johnson, Palm Springs, Fla.
(#92, 1965)

Today I read Mad #138. It topped off an already dull, boring, uninspired day!

— Alan Greenspun, Oakhurst, N.J.
(#140, 1971)

In fact, Mad's readers can be sticklers for detail.

I found one mistake in "The Mad Students Hate Book." The line about hating to be the smartest kid in the class is something most Mad readers wouldn't know a thing about.

— Jeff Hartan, Kinosha, Wis. (#234, 1982)

For your information, the common house fly does not belong to the genus Diptera. The house fly is a member of the phylum Arthropeda, the Class Hexopoda, the order Diptera, the family Muscidae, the genus Musca, the species Domestica. I realize this might sound trivial to you, but I assure you the fly feels quite strongly about it. How would you like to be called something you are not? Like "journalist," maybe?

— Richard W. Nagle, Washington, D.C.
(#54, 1960)

One question seems constantly on readers' minds: Is Mad worth the newsstand price?

I have been reading Mad for several years now. Mainly, the first issue I ever bought. I just couldn't see wasting a quarter on another.

— Ben Quinlan, Liberty, N.Y. (#78, 1963)

I see Mad is now 35. I realize that the New York City sanitation men recently received a wage increase, but I never expected this piece of garbage to go up accordingly.

— Laurence Halpern, Flushing, N.Y.
(#121, 1968)

Mad magazine is much cheaper than sex but not as funny.

— Brian Baer, Monroe, Calif. (#251, 1984)

Some readers have chided the editors for missing opportunities to insult themselves:

"Misery is a Cold Hot Dog" was wonderful and nostalgic, but you left out one important "Misery," mainly: "Misery is a Gift Subscription to Mad."

— Tom Rasley, Spokane, Wash. (#82, 1963)

I think your "Mad One-Time-Use Products" article should also be put on the list of "One-Time-Use Products."

— Gwen Urdang, Providence, R.I.

(#200, 1978)

"A Downer Is . . ." talking your mother into allowing you to buy "Playboy," but when you get to the newsstand, all that's left is Mad.

— David Davis, Asheboro, N.C. (#174, 1975)

Finally, if any proof is needed that the letter writers share Mad's idea of a joke, some have gotten their letters published by making the letters column itself a part of their insult:

Every time I write you a letter, you never print it. So this time, I just won't write you a letter.

— Steve Holmes, Washington, D.C.
(#36, 1957)

Why don't you make your whole magazine into one huge "Letters Department"? Your readers' remarks are much funnier than the tripe you write yourself!

— Larry Kayser, Forest Hills, N.Y.
(#75, 1962)

Why don't you guys admit that you make up all your "Reader's Letters"? In fact, you even made up this one, too!

— Julia Leino, Finland (#230, 1982)