ABSTRACT
Ballyhoo
’s quick rise to popularity also captured the attention of other publishers and worried an already nervous advertising industry. Stuffed with parodies of national advertisements and consumer magazines and sprinkled liberally with topical and risqué cartoons and gags, the
-page debut issue in August
sold
,
copies in three days. The
,
copies of the September issue disappeared in four days, and the
-page October issue of
,
copies also sold out. In February
Ballyhoo
printed
million copies; some were peddled in the streets as if they were newspaper “extras.” Anthony claimed that when
Ballyhoo
reached newsstands, he walked about New York City’s Times Square and observed that nearly every pedestrian was carrying a copy of the colorful magazine.
