Dorothy McKay in College Humor, September 1937

Much sophomoric humor—the sort that was published in, appropriately, College Humor—allows the reader to feel intellectually superior to the characters in the gags. Thus Dorothy McKay gives us two cartoons in the September 1937 number with characters who aren't exactly the brightest bulbs in the box. The first—and more disturbing—has fun at the expense of the country bumpkin who apparently knows how to swim but, when his wife is drowning, can't seem to move anything but his lips. And his son is no better.

"Reckon we shoulda learned maw t'swim last summer, Ed!"
Dorothy McKay, College Humor, Vol. 6, No. 1, September 1937, page 41

The second cartoon presents a scenario which might be more familiar to the college student of 1937. It depicts a young woman introducing her mother to the Princeton man voted most likely to succeed. Presumably she is the only one on the porch who doesn't quite grasp the full implication of that honor. Or does she...?

"Oh, mother! This is Mr. Merton of Princeton. He's the student most likely to succeed!"
Dorothy McKay, College Humor, Vol. 6, No. 1, September 1937, page 44

Note:  The May 1937 issue of College Humor is located in the Steven Boss humor magazine collection at Columbia University. It's in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library so don't bother with the stacks. My thanks to Karen Green, Curator for Comics and Cartoons—I love saying that—for her assistance.


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