Libraries and archives collect materials from different cultures and time periods to preserve and make available the historical record. As a result, materials such as those presented here may reflect sexist, misogynistic, abusive, racist, or discriminatory attitudes or actions that some may find disturbing, harmful, or difficult to view.
Both a humor and literary magazine, The Pine Needle was a University of Maine student periodical that began publication in the fall of 1946, the first post-World War II semester that saw GIs returning to campus.
Unlike past UMaine student publications, The Needle celebrated the sexualization of co-eds and the use of drugs, tobacco, and alcohol by students. Outrage expressed by older alumni resulted stricter oversight of the magazine beginning in 1947. By 1949, the first wave of World War II GI\u27s were graduating and the restless, rebellious tone of The Needle began to shift as the threat of the Korean War loomed.
The The Pine Needle for spring 1951 is a parody issue titled Scare. Mrs. Fleur Cowles, editor of the short-lived but celebrated magazine Flair, is acknowledged as an inspiration. The cover illustration is a pen-and-ink drawing of a magnifying glass, the center of which is a die-cut hole. A glimpse of the page-two illustration appears to be the shapely outline of a nude woman\u27s torso. Opening the magazine reveals the distorted drawing of a basset hound by Len Keenan
