''The Brown Jug'' (also known as ''The Jug'') is a
college humor magazine founded in 1920 at
Brown University in
Providence,
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...
.
Founding
![The Brown Jug, March 1922 Issue](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/The_Brown_Jug%2C_March_1922_Issue.jpg)
Following the death of the ''Brunonian'' in February 1919, ''The Brown Jug'' was founded in February 1920, making it
Brown
Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model us ...
's oldest humor publication and second-oldest publication overall (
Brown
Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model us ...
's student newspaper, ''
The Brown Daily Herald
''The Brown Daily Herald'' is the student newspaper of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
Established in 1866 and published daily since 1891, The ''Herald'' is the second-oldest student newspaper among America's college dailies. I ...
'', founded in 1891, is the only publication that pre-dates the ''Jug''). The ''Jug''s original statement of purpose read:
''"The Brown Jug, a magazine of wit, administered in monthly installments, is published by the Board of Jugglers ... The Brown Jug is on sale on news stands, hotel stands and railroad stations in Providence, New York and Boston."''
The cover of the ''Jug''s first issue showed a girl in party dress and hat emerging from a bandbox holding a small bear; it proclaimed this the “Coming Out Number,” and the masthead identified it as “Vintage of 1920 ... Jugful Number 1.”
History
Since its founding, the ''Brown Jug'' has been dissolved and resurrected a number of times by various
Brown
Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model us ...
students and organizations.
Humorist
S. J. Perelman
Sidney Joseph Perelman (February 1, 1904 – October 17, 1979) was an American humorist and screenwriter. He is best known for his humorous short pieces written over many years for ''The New Yorker''. He also wrote for several other magazines ...
was editor and cartoonist for the Jug in 1924
and 1925.
It first ceased publication in 1933, as current dean Samuel T. Arnold announced that “The demand for publications of this type appears to have waned considerably." In the early 1960s, it was revived for a brief period of time, only to disband again the following year.
As noted by the ''Encyclopedia Brunoniana'', "It was not the same."
In 1986 it was renamed ''Exit 20'' and ran under that moniker until it was rechristened as ''The Brown Jug'' in May 1999.
This incarnation of the ''Jug'', the second in its history, came to an end in spring 2008.
In Fall 2009, the ''Jug'' was adopted by members of Brown's satirical newspaper, ''
The Brown Noser.'' The so-called ''New Brown Jug'' scrapped the ''
Mad Magazine
Mad, mad, or MAD may refer to:
Geography
* Mad (village), a village in the Dunajská Streda District of Slovakia
* Mád, a village in Hungary
* Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport, by IATA airport code
* Mad River (disambiguation), several ...
'' style of the 1967-2008 period, instead opting for a clean black-and-white design with content more akin to the long-form satire found in
McSweeney's
McSweeney's Publishing is an American non-profit publishing house founded by Dave Eggers in 1998 and headquartered in San Francisco.
Initially publishing the literary journal'' Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern'', the company has moved to ...
.
[ It was published in this form until 2015, as part of a collective of Brown comedy groups, along with Improvidence, Starla and Sons, and '' The Brown Noser'', known as the "Brown Barrel." In 2019, the ''Jug'' returned as an independent magazine, styled after the short-form structure of the 1920s and 30s. It continues to be published in print once per semester, and is continuously updated year-round online.
]
Content, Format, and Tradition
Inspired by ''The Yale Record
''The Yale Record'' is the campus humor magazine of Yale University. Founded in 1872, it became the oldest humor magazine in the world when ''Punch'' folded in 2002."History", The Yale Record, March 10, 2010. http://www.yalerecord.com/about/histo ...
'' (1872), the '' Princeton Tiger Magazine'' (1878), the ''Stanford Chaparral
The ''Stanford Chaparral'' (also known as the ''Chappie'') is a humor magazine published by students of Stanford University since 1899.
History
The ''Stanford Chaparral'' was established in 1899 by Bristow Adams. Published for more than 112 ye ...
'' (1899), and the ''Harvard Lampoon
''The Harvard Lampoon'' is an undergraduate humor publication founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Overview
The ''Harvard Lampoon'' publication was founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates ...
'' (1876), among many college humor magazines, ''The Jug'' features humorous content which mocks popular culture, fashion trends, politics, humorous illustrations, and events around the Brown University's campus.
Twice a semester, the ''Jug'' releases about five hundred copies of a new issue. Each issue has a theme to which most of the material relates, such as “religion,” “the future,” “evil” and “inventions.” ''The Jug'' is about twenty-two pages in length and features mainly satirical articles in the style of McSweeney's
McSweeney's Publishing is an American non-profit publishing house founded by Dave Eggers in 1998 and headquartered in San Francisco.
Initially publishing the literary journal'' Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern'', the company has moved to ...
, ''The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' and '' Harper's Magazine'', though it also regularly includes lists, cartoons, monologues, dialogues, poetry, journal entries, letters, timelines, and other sorts of written comedy.[
There is a literal brown jug that has been passed down from editor to editor for an indeterminate number of years.][ ''The Jug'' has clashed with administration with its sharp satiric writing, as ]S. J. Perelman
Sidney Joseph Perelman (February 1, 1904 – October 17, 1979) was an American humorist and screenwriter. He is best known for his humorous short pieces written over many years for ''The New Yorker''. He also wrote for several other magazines ...
was called before Brown's dean for writing:
"Ah, the college boys, the college boys! I daresay that if all the sub-freshman who are intending to come to Brown could see it for what it is, a fraternity-ridden and lethargic academy of middle-class “boosters,” they would change their minds about starting for Providence next fall. From the dot of 9 o’clock when we rush in to fear God for fifteen minutes every morning till Cap Cameron 'the campus policeman` puts the last blowzy drunk to bed, the spectacle is the same ..."
Notable alumni
* William Chesley Worthington '23, editor of ''The Providence Journal
''The Providence Journal'', colloquially known as the ''ProJo'', is a daily newspaper serving the metropolitan area of Providence, Rhode Island, and is the largest newspaper in Rhode Island. The newspaper was first published in 1829. The newspape ...
''
*Nathanael West
Nathanael West (born Nathan Weinstein; October 17, 1903 – December 22, 1940) was an American writer and screenwriter. He is remembered for two darkly satirical novels: ''Miss Lonelyhearts'' (1933) and ''The Day of the Locust'' (1939), set r ...
'24, humorist known for ''Miss Lonelyhearts
''Miss Lonelyhearts'' is a novella by Nathanael West. He began writing it early in 1930 and completed the manuscript in November 1932. Published in 1933, it is an Expressionist black comedy set in New York City during the Great Depression. It is ...
'' (1933), '' A Cool Million'' (1934) and '' The Day of the Locust'' (1939)
* William A. Dyer '24, president of ''The Indianapolis Star
''The Indianapolis Star'' (also known as ''IndyStar'') is a morning daily newspaper that began publishing on June 6, 1903, in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It has been the only major daily paper in the city since 1999, when the '' Indiana ...
'' and ''The Indianapolis News
The ''Indianapolis News'' was an evening newspaper published for 130 years, beginning December 7, 1869, and ending on October 1, 1999. The "Great Hoosier Daily," as it was known, at one time held the largest circulation in the state of Indiana. ...
''
*S. J. Perelman
Sidney Joseph Perelman (February 1, 1904 – October 17, 1979) was an American humorist and screenwriter. He is best known for his humorous short pieces written over many years for ''The New Yorker''. He also wrote for several other magazines ...
'25, humorist known for his work with ''The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' and the Marx Brothers
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...
[
* Duncan Norton-Taylor '26, journalist, managing editor of '' Fortune Magazine''
* I. J. Kapstein '26, novelist, professor of English, and Hebrew scholar]
*Jordan Carlos
Jordan Carlos (born February 2, 1978) is an American stand-up comedian who played a recurring character on ''The Colbert Report'' and is a co-host on the Nickelodeon kids' show '' Me TV''. He also appeared as a panelist and reporter on '' The Nigh ...
, '01, stand-up comedian, character on ''Colbert Report
''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show foc ...
''
* Frank Lesser '02, humorist, writer for the ''Colbert Report
''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show foc ...
''
* Max Silvestri '05, stand-up comedian
* Ian Spector '09, humorist known for creating internet phenomenon
An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...
Chuck Norris Facts
Chuck Norris facts are satirical factoids about American martial artist and actor Chuck Norris that have become an Internet phenomenon widespread in popular culture. These 'facts' are absurd hyperbolic claims about Norris's toughness, attitude, ...
See also
*'' The Brown Noser''
*''The Brown Daily Herald
''The Brown Daily Herald'' is the student newspaper of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
Established in 1866 and published daily since 1891, The ''Herald'' is the second-oldest student newspaper among America's college dailies. I ...
''
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown Jug, The
Brown University organizations
Magazines established in 1920
1920 establishments in Rhode Island