Reviewes Finds Current Lampoon Has Dropped Traditional Brooks Brothers Garb--C. H. Platt Applauds the Change

The following review of the current issue of the Lampoon was written for the Crimson by C. H. Platt, ocC.

With the Old Timer's Number the Lampoon has definitely made its break with the traditional Brooks Brothers garb and has stepped out in the smart raiment of the New Yorker. When one sees the cover of this latest number, one wonders only: Why hasn't it happened before? No, one doesn't either! Realizing that the R on the rampant bicyclist's sweater is merely atmosphere, one still wonders if in the good old days those he-hellions did wear Radcliffe sweaters!

But the change for the better is evident not only on the cover of the Lampoon; parts of its interior have been renovated, and to its improvement Modern Tintypes has a chance at some fine nonsense, but falls a little flat as compared with the representation of Utopia, which whimsicality is perfect. This reader will not forget the delightful idea of the Strata eating an English Muffin. The drawing of the subway rush demonstrates the usefulness of lithographers' crayon which Lampy should not overlook in the future.

But Lampoon prose is uneven. It is probably an inevitable failure, but nevertheless a fact. Just-So Stories for Little Sots makes no pretense of doing more than riding the pun pretty hard, and comes off a winner. Little Peggy and the Old Album mounts a spirited hoss, which does well enough for the first lap, but he hasn't much wind.

The Robert E. Lee joke is in bad taste. The Old Grad has always been, and is, too much for this reviewer to wade through, and the Conversations Overheard at a Department Store Art Exhibit can hardly be appreciated unless one has been to the Jordan Marsh jamboree. Oh, by the way! Most of the critical dicta in these conversations might well be applied to the Lampoon itself, depending on one's prejudices.

All in all, however, the Lampoon has made a definite change in material and presentation in this number, and the reviewer wishes that the change may continue until the magazine is all of one sophisticated flavor apparent in its cover.