Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern

Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern

Type	College humor magazine
Format	Quarterly magazine
Owner	Dartmouth College
Founded	1908
Headquarters	Hanover, New Hampshire
Official website	dartmouth.edu/~jacko

The Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern (also known as the Jacko)^[1] is a college humor magazine, founded at Dartmouth College in 1908.

The Jacko publishes print issues approximately four times a year, as well as regularly updated online content and occasional video productions. The magazine devotes one publication cycle each year to a parody of the campus newspaper, The Dartmouth.^[1]

One of the magazine's oldest traditions is "Stockman's Dogs." In the October 1934 issue, F.C. Stockman (class of 1935) drew a single-panel cartoon of two dogs talking to each other. That same cartoon has appeared in virtually every issue published since then, always with a different caption.^[2]

The magazine is alluded to in the opening lines of F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story "The Lost Decade," which was first published in Esquire in 1939.^[3]

Jack-O-Lantern writers Nic Duquette '04 and Chris Plehal '04 invented the unofficial Dartmouth mascot Keggy the Keg in the fall of 2003.^[4] A 2006 video prank by the Jack-O-Lantern on a Dartmouth College tour group entitled "Drinkin' Time" was featured in an article by the Chronicle of Higher Education,^[5] posted by AOL on the Online Video Blog,^[6] and was mentioned by The Volokh Conspiracy.^[7] As of December 2009^[update], the video has garnered over 445,000 views on YouTube.^[8]

Notable alumni

Many celebrated writers, artists, comedians and politicians began their careers at the Jacko, including:^[9]

• Norman MacLean, whose novel A River Runs Through It, awarded a Pulitzer Prize, was made into the Robert Redford film of the same name.
• Theodor Seuss Geisel (also known as Dr. Seuss). Geisel began signing his work with his middle name so that he could continue to work on the Jack-O-Lantern after he was banned from participating in college activities for having violated Prohibition.^[10]
• Budd Schulberg, subsequently known for his 1941 novel, What Makes Sammy Run, his 1947 novel The Harder They Fall, his 1954 Academy-award-winning screenplay for On the Waterfront, and his 1957 screenplay A Face in the Crowd.
• A.J. Liebling, author of The Sweet Science, Between Meals, The Earl of Louisiana, and other classics of "New Yorker journalism."
• Bruce Ducker, author and poet, whose novels include Lead Us not into Penn Station, Mooney in Flight, and Home Pool.
• John S. Monagan, remembered, in addition to his service in the U.S. House of Representatives, for his biography of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.^[11]
• Buck Henry, founder and frequent host on NBC's Saturday Night Live.
• Chris Miller, who based his short stories in National Lampoon on his undergraduate experiences at Dartmouth, and subsequently turned them into the movie Animal House.
• Stephen Geller, awarded a Cannes Film Festive prize for his screenplay for the film adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's novel Slaughterhouse-Five.
• William C. Dowling, editor of Jack-O-Lantern during the period when its cartoon staff included Kirk Ditzler, James Fosso, and Robert Reich. Dowling subsequently wrote about his Jack-O-Lantern days in his memoir Confessions of a Spoilsport[1].
• Robert Reich, whose Locked in the Cabinet, a memoir of his time as Secretary of Labor in the Clinton Administration, has been described as a classic of political humor.
• William Hjortsberg, known as "Gatz", author of fiction and biography; part of the Livingston (Mont.) writing group.
• Mindy Kaling, writer and actress for The Office where she portrays the character Kelly Kapoor

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "About This Site". Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern. http://www.dartmouth.edu/~jacko/about_us/about_site.htm. Retrieved 2007-01-28. 
2. ^ "85th Anniversary Issue" (PDF). Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern. Fall 1995. http://media.dartmouth.edu/~jacko/in_print/1995F.pdf. Retrieved 2007-01-25. 
3. ^ Fitzgerald, F. Scott (December 1939). "The Lost Decade". Esquire. http://gutenberg.net.au/fsf/THE-LOST-DECADE.html. Retrieved 2009-04-11. 
4. ^ Orbuch, Steve (2003-11-04). "Jacko mascot 'Keggy' wins many Dartmouth fans". The Dartmouth. http://www.thedartmouth.com/article.php?aid=2003110401060. Retrieved 2007-01-25. 
5. ^ Bartlett, Thomas (2007-04-06). "Culture Watch: The College Prank as Viral Video". Archived from the original on 2007-04-06. http://web.archive.org/web/20070406030641/http://chronicle.com/temp/reprint.php?id=t52cg5dxff6nzqk6z21kt4dcmwp91n1v. Retrieved 2007-04-13. 
6. ^ Tonka D. (2007-02-22). "AOL Video Log". AOL. http://www.aolvideoblog.com/2007/02/22/its-drinkin-time/. Retrieved 2007-04-13. 
7. ^ Kerr, Orin (2007-02-03). "'It's Drinkin' Time!'". The Volokh Conspiracy. http://volokh.com/posts/1170536711.shtml. Retrieved 2007-04-13. 
8. ^ DartmouthJacko. "Drinkin' Time". YouTube. http://youtube.com/watch?v=avYUL1A-WUM. Retrieved 2007-10-30.  In 2005 the publication was deemed officially irrelevant and not funny.
9. ^ "About Us: History". Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern. Archived from the original on 2009-12-08. http://www.webcitation.org/5lsVohWzl. Retrieved 2009-12-08. 
10. ^ Geisel, Theodor Seuss (2005). "Dr. Seuss Biography". In Taylor, Constance. Theodor Seuss Geisel The Early Works of Dr. Seuss. 1. 228 Byers Road, Suite 201, Miamisburg, OH 45342: Checker Book Publishing Group. p. 6. ISBN 1933160012. 
11. ^ Estrada, Louie (2005-10-25). "Conn. Congressman John Monagan Dies". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2009-12-08. http://www.webcitation.org/5lsW1puxi. Retrieved 2009-12-08. 

External links

• The Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern