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A rare MAD cover by Bob Jones, from MAD #184.

Not a hoax! Not an imaginary story! Not a hack by Anonymous! What? You thought yesterday’s “31 Days of Arbor Day” was a ruse? A leg stretcher? Stars and Stripes? Have we become so jaded by Pokemon on the highway, spaghetti harvests in Switzerland, and the annual parade down Fifth Avenue that we become sceptical of anything read on the Internet?

What a sad state of affairs.

Fortunately, MAD Magazine has been satirizing society for over sixty years, and was a trailblazer in ecology, recycling and re-purposing ideas for money decades before DC and Marvel made it cool. They even encouraged impressionable youngsters to grow their own avocado tree, to replicate the potted plant depicted in the magazine!

MAD even used the holiday to satirize slasher pics, fifteen years before “Scream”!

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“Arbor Day”
Art by Jack Davis
Text by Lou Silverstone

MAD ESP?  Or plagiarism flattery?  You decide!

While you debate the merits and worthlessness of MAD’s contribution to American culture (which is as cultured and tasteful as American cheese), we leave you with this Neuman-esque quote:

“People want to go back to nature, but not by foot.”

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