What was the name of the Dartmouth College humor magazine that Dr. Seuss wrote for?

The story behind the answer

The Dartmouth College humor magazine that Dr. Seuss wrote for was the Jack-O-Lantern.

Founded in 1908, the Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern—often called the “Jacko”—was a campus humor magazine known for cartoons, satire, parody and irreverent commentary. Theodor Seuss Geisel joined its staff while studying at Dartmouth in the 1920s and contributed writing and cartoons.

A prohibition-era prank created an unusual complication. After Geisel and several friends were caught drinking gin in his dorm room, the college barred him from participating in extracurricular activities. To keep publishing in the Jack-O-Lantern, he began signing his work “Seuss,” using his middle name. That pseudonym later became inseparable from his children’s books.

The answer is sometimes confused with The Harvard Lampoon, another famous college humor magazine, or simply “The Dartmouth,” the college newspaper. The full name is Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern, but “Jack-O-Lantern” is the standard quiz answer.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

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