At the end of every year, CRACKED places the "Statement of Publication and so forth" in the Lettuce page. And, every year, I casually mention it and move on. Well, I've just gone through a batch of them to check the circulation throughout the years I love. It's interesting. I list the year then the issue that this info came from. Usually, March came out in December.
1972 (May 1973): 325,762
1973 (May 1974): 550,052
1974 (March 1975): 880,000
1975 (March 1976): 1,015,210
1976 (March 1977): 806,922
1977 (March 1978): 904,916
1978 (March 1979): 884,392
1979 (March 1980): 866,017
1980 (March 1981): 855,918
1981 (March 1982): 728,501
1982 (March 1983): 653,721
1983 (March 1984): 579,728
1984 (March 1985): 533,320
They shot way up and them dropped down...1985 is when Bob Sproul left. Probably a wise choice. (That's when I leave too.)
1976 was The Year of The Fonz. Strange that the circulation dropped. 1977 was the Year of Star Wars. It goes back up.
I'd love to know why they passed a million in 1975. Anyone? What was happening to MAD that year?
4 comments:
Pierre! You're too French!
1975 was the year that R.J. Uwing and all of HOUSTON! dominated the American airwaves (see: issue #186). Naturally, CRACKED capitalized on the "Who punched R.J.?" phenomenon...and everyone was happy.
Except The Bonz.
What most folks don't know is that I'm French-Canadian born and raised in Detroit.
Your facts are correct but I can't help thinking that it was The Inedible Bulk Television Photoplay that sent the CRACKED figures into the Stratosphère.
Joseph, when were you born? If it was around that same time...I might be your father. Talk to your mother. Ask her is she remembers "Husky Pierre".
And, keep reading the blog! Coming soon: More A-Team and even some Fonz(e).
The reason Cracked's circulation peaked when it did is because much of the entire magazine industry was doing the same. Not just MAD's and National Lampoon's sales figures, but titles such as Playboy and TV Guide. A rising tide lifts all boats.
Are those definitely the paid circulation figures? Magazines also report the number of copies published, but of course many of these are never sold. The numbers seem unusually stable from 1974-1980.
I'll have to check to see if I still have the issues with the Circulation Info in them. Sometimes, when I'm through reviewing, I will eat the issue to absorb all the humour within.
Let me check the stacks in my Garage.
-PL
Post a Comment