Dick DeBartolo has been writing for MAD Magazine since Roosevelt was president…the first Roosevelt. Here, he takes us on a tour of the offices of that esteemed publication in New York…
Okay, that was Part One. Here's Part Two. Warning: It isn't any more exciting than Part One.
The first time I visited the Mad offices was when they were at 485 Madison Avenue. (They're now on Broadway, in the building across the street from where Mr. Letterman does his show.) The first offices I saw were crummier and more cluttered, and therefore more interesting. They also had Bill Gaines in them, which made them even more interesting. That day in 1970, I met him, Al Feldstein, John Putnam, Nick Meglin, Leonard Brenner, Jerry DeFuccio and one freelance artist — Angelo Torres.
That office was decorated much like the current one — with cover paintings on the walls and MAD merchandise around and such — but there were also jokes…like a pair of fake feet hanging out of a ceiling air vent. Bill's office had the famous life-size head of King Kong (sculpted by Sergio Aragonés) peeking in the window. Someone explained to me that for a long time, the MAD offices looked like ordinary offices with nothing silly or colorful around. As the magazine got more popular in the sixties, fans were trekking up there and asking for tours and such. Gaines saw the disappointment in their faces that the MAD office wasn't a wacky place so he adjusted the decor a bit. But just a bit.