''National Lampoon 1964 High School Yearbook Parody'' is an American humor book that was first published in 1973. It was a spin-off from '' National Lampoon'' magazine. The book was a parody of a high school yearbook from the early 1960s. It was edited by

P. J. O'Rourke Patrick Jake O'Rourke (November 14, 1947 – February 15, 2022) was an American libertarian political satirist and journalist. O'Rourke was the H. L. Mencken Research Fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute and a regular correspondent for ''Th ...

and

Doug Kenney Douglas Clark Francis Kenney (December 10, 1946 – August 27, 1980) was an American comedy writer of magazine, novels, radio, TV and film who co-founded the magazine ''National Lampoon'' in 1970. Kenney edited the magazine and wrote much of its ...

and art-directed by David Kaestle. Much of the writing was by

and

. The "literary magazine" was written by Sean Kelly; the sports page was by Christopher Cerf; and the Principal's Letter and the "In Memorium" piece were both written by Ed Subitzky. The book, as it was originally published, appeared to be a genuine 1964 yearbook from " C. Estes Kefauver High School": the ''Kefauver Kaleidoscope''. Senator Kefauver himself had only died the year before, in 1963. The school is located in "Dacron, Ohio" (a reference to the city

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County, Ohio, Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 C ...

, and to inexpensive synthetic fabric

Dacron Polyethylene terephthalate (or poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET, PETE, or the obsolete PETP or PET-P), is the most common thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family and is used in fibres for clothing, containers for liquids and foods ...

.) The parody is closely based on the Toledo, Ohio's DeVilbiss High School yearbook, called the ''Pot O' Gold''. O'Rourke attended DHS for a couple of years and graduated from there in 1965. According to P. J. "We chose 1964 (Doug's graduation class) partly because we published the Parody in 1974 but mostly because that was the last year before the culture and the country came to pieces with sex, drugs, rock and roll, the Vietnam War, the assassination of MLK, etc., etc.… Doug and I… used DeVilbiss because Ohio and Toledo and DHS just seemed so perfectly 1964 American prelapsarian ''typical''… Also, since Doug had gone to an all-boys Catholic prep school (and a pretty fancy one too), his yearbook was no good as a model.” As portrayed in the Lampoon yearbook, the fictional Kefauver H. S. shares scores of characteristics with DeVilbiss, including the street address and the school colors. Those colors, the rainbow, influenced the names of both the real DeVilbiss yearbook and the fictional Kefauver one. The name of the Kefauver school newspaper, ''the Prism'' and its motto are the same as those of DeVilbiss. The swim team photo caption contains the names of a number of O'Rourke's friends from DeVilbiss. There are also numerous references in the Lampoon to west Toledo landmarks and locations.Volume 33, 1964-1965 DeVilbiss Pot 'O Gold Yearbook Like many great parodies, the Lampoon yearbook very closely mimics the style and content of actual yearbooks, only deviating in subtle ways. The publication also included a copy of the school newspaper, a

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

program, a report card, a

diploma A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offici ...

, detention slips and a fake ID. According to apparent inscriptions, the book belonged to "Larry Kroger", class of '64. The character Larry Kroger went on to become the college freshman

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

(played by Tom Hulce) of the comedy movie '' National Lampoon's Animal House'', released in 1978. The character "Mandy Pepperidge" also makes her first appearance in the Yearbook and reappears in the film (played by

Mary Louise Weller Mary Louise Weller (born September 1, 1946) is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Mandy Pepperidge in the popular 1978 film ''Animal House''. She has also guest-starred in such television series as ''Starsky & Hutch' ...

). Five years after the Yearbook parody, in 1978, the National Lampoon published the ''

National Lampoon Sunday Newspaper Parody ''National Lampoon Sunday Newspaper Parody'' is an American humor "book", a parody that was first published in 1978 by ''National Lampoon'' magazine. In the first printing, this publication had exactly the same form and apparent content as that ...

'', a fake Sunday newspaper which also claimed to originate in "Dacron, Ohio" but was contemporary, being dated Sunday, February 12, 1978. The cover photo was taken by Vincent Aiosa.

Note on cover

The credits list the cheerleaders on the cover as models Roberta Caplan, Celia Bau, and Laura Singer. The cover is a one-off gag, unrelated to any of the stories inside.

References

Info at "Mark's Very Large National Lampoon Site"

Interview with editor P.J. O'Rourke
{{P.J. O'Rourke 1964 High School Yearbook Parody 1973 books Parody books Yearbooks Books about Ohio