We set the dial on the Way Back Machine way, way back! This bit is from my college humor magazine, The Plague, circ. 1979. I don't know if college magazines generally did Christmas themed issues, but we did and I jumped all over it. If the graphics look very much like a regular newspaper ad from the day, there's a reason for that. I worked my way through college at K-Mart (R.I.P.) and I was friendly with the woman who laid out the ads did for the local paper. She let me go through her discarded company "clip art" and I was able to grab a bunch of it (enough for 2 future bits in The Plague). Oh, the frustrations I worked out in this 2-pager, mocking the store and it's cheapest, both in prices and employee benefits, with a mix of store graphics and typewriter inserts (since we didn't have the budget for graphic lettering; and that would have been a pain to do that lettering one letter at a time!). And, as I mention elsewhere on the blog, I was able to pitch this bit to Cracked magazine in 2000. Comedy life lesson: Never throw anything away!
If you liked this bit, you'll love my book, Lost Claus, the story of a tough PI and an elf who have to save Christmas. It's over at Amazon. Buy a copy today! I'll be glad you did.
