Ten Years of National Lampoon: The Complete First Decade Is Now at The Foundry in Pontiac, Michigan

Pontiac, Michigan  ·  Vintage & Collectibles

The National Lampoon ran from 1970 to 1998. The early years — 1970 through 1975 — are considered the golden era. The writers who defined American comedy for a generation came through those pages. The Foundry now has one of the most focused collections of original issues in Michigan.

Ten years of the complete first decade. Bagged and boarded. Condition-graded. The real thing.

Why National Lampoon Matters

National Lampoon launched in April 1970 as a Harvard Lampoon spinoff and immediately became something no one had seen before — a magazine that was genuinely dangerous, genuinely funny, and genuinely willing to offend everyone equally. Doug Kenney, Henry Beard, Michael O’Donoghue, P.J. O’Rourke, Tony Hendra, John Hughes. The writers who came through those pages went on to define American comedy for the next thirty years.

The first issue — April 1970, the “Sexy Cover Issue” — is the one collectors want. It established the tone, the aesthetic, and the willingness to go further than anyone else. Every issue after it was building on that foundation.

The Foundry has assembled the complete first decade — every issue from 1970 through 1979, bagged and boarded, with honest condition grading. This is not a curated highlights reel. This is the full run.

What’s in the Collection

Beyond the original issues, The Foundry carries framed editorial illustrations from the magazine’s golden era — the artwork that made National Lampoon as visually distinctive as it was editorially dangerous. These are original prints pulled from the decade they were published in, framed and ready to hang.

We also have the sealed board game — the National Lampoon Game of Sell Out!, still in its original packaging. These don’t come up often.

Chris Hubel is the founder of History Loves Company and The Foundry in downtown Pontiac, Michigan.