ABSTRACT
The above letter, written in early 1963, capped a fl urry of similar inquiries to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover that dated back to 1955. Whether written by twelve-year-olds, concerned mothers, youth-group leaders, or high school students, they all asked what they assumed was a simple question: Was MAD Magazine communistic? Was it dangerous, subversive propaganda, bent on undermining the American way of life, or just good fun?
