The Birth Of MAD Magazine’s Alfred E. Neuman
ALFRED E. Neuman was a creation of MAD magazine. Right?
In “Campaigning for President: Memorabilia from the Nation’s Finest Private Collection,” by Jordan M. Wright. the author notes:
The image of Alfred E. Neuman was created more than thirty years before MAD magazine adopted him as a mascot and gave him his name. Originally, anti-Roosevelt ads used him to demonstrate the obliviousness of Roosevelt’s supporters.
(Wikipedia has a lot to say about Neuman’s slow drift through the culture.)