This post was written by Rachel A. McCaskill (née Smith). Rachel was a Diversity Resident Librarian at Penn State, 2013-2015. While at Penn State, Rachel worked with the Special Collections Library and with Digitization and Preservation at the University Libraries on digitizing Penn State Froth magazine issues and getting the collection online. She is now Learning Technologies Librarian at Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries in Richmond, VA.
The Penn State Froth, the nation’s second oldest college humor magazine, was founded in 1909 and published from 1910 to 1985. It replaced Penn State’s first humor magazine, the Lemon, which published its final issue on June 10, 1908. The Lemon left a major void, as it seems to have been an influential part of student life on campus in the old days. For example, the Lemon covered the birth of Penn State’s Nittany Lion mascot in its publication. A. W. Fisher, editor of the State Collegian, which was a predecessor to The Daily Collegian, served as editor of the first issue of Froth.
