Logsquire (United States Naval Academy) - April 1, 1949 (48 pages)

To the credit of editor John Leyerle, this parody of Esquire magazine looks like the original.  The cover drawing by Whoob Whitley is very good, showing Esky in a nautical uniform viewing female stockings hanging outside of the porthole.  The magazine has a good look but the humor is non-existent and one of the stories ("Raymond the Dependable" by Bill Taylor) is quite offensive. 

Raymond is described as a "carefully briefed darkie" who refers to himself and his kind as "cullud folks", and is quoted as saying: "I'se a good li'l boy, an' ah doan fight nobody."  The story explains how incompetent Raymond was regarding simple servile assignments.  The attitude of writer Taylor toward African-Americans is one that many of us have worked 60 years to correct.  When such representations appear in an official U.S. Naval Academy publication, it is no wonder that race relations have been tense in this country for so many years.

There are 15 Esquire-style "hilarious cartoons" (Logsquire editor's opinion) in the issue.  The artwork is good but the humor is weak.  Perhaps in 1949, it was really funny to think that barefoot-hillbillies would use DDT on themselves instead of changing clothes.  Har-de-har-har. 

There was also a reference to marijuana in the section on intoxicating beverages.

Other than the front cover, the most interesting part of the magazine is the back-cover photograph of Joan Crawford smoking a Chesterfield.  Joan says: "I like Chesterfield's milder, better taste."  There is also a quote from tobacco farmer L.E. Thomason ("I've tried other brands but always come back to Chesterfield.") "from a series of statements by prominent tobacco farmers."  It must be true if a tobacco farmer said it. [JAM 8/11/2009]