Monday, July 30, 2012

"Meet Miss Potgold!" - Basil Wolverton - Mad Monday!

Basil Wolverton returns to the pages of "Mad" THE COMIC BOOK for a feature only he could draw.  Harvey Kurtzman really knew his arsenal and how to use it.

From the November 1954 issue, here's "Meet Miss Potgold!"







Talk to you soon.

5 comments:

Britt Reid said...

For those under 40 or so; "Meet Miss Potgold" is based on the "Meet Miss Rhinegold" beauty contest.

Rhinegold was a New York-based beer brewery who sponsored the NY Mets for decades, and were pioneers in using minority models in their ads and commercials.

From 1940-1965 they held an annual beauty pagent featuring local women.
The results were featured in their ad campaigns on buses and subways.

Since MAD's writers and artists were almost entirely from the Tri-state area (NY/NJ/Conn), they were quite familiar with the contest.

The brand name was purchased by another company, and while there is Rhinegold beer again available, it's not quite the same formulation.

If you Google "rhinegold beer", you'll see the logo, which "Potgold" matches exactly!

Unca Jeffy said...

Awesome input, Britt! Thanks for filling in what needed to be there in the first place...much appreciated.

rnigma said...

Will Eisner featured a "Miss Rhinemaiden" contest in one of his Spirit strips.

Jinx Falkenberg, a model who hosted a morning radio show with her husband Tex McCrary, was perhaps the best known Miss Rhinegold.

Unca Jeffy said...

I'm diggin' on the archaic beer vibe we got going in this comment section!

bgrauman said...

And the winner is............
PHILODENDRON POTGOLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

{who else?}

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