Did you know the first issue of Nickelodeon magazine premiered at Pizza Hut restaurants and featured Chevy Chase on the cover? This stand-alone issue came out in 1990, and didn't appear again until its subscription form in 1993.
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If you were lucky enough to have a subscription, you know it was "packed with celebrity interviews, and comics and puzzles, and great stuff to collect!" You may also have that line drilled into your skull from the thousands of times they ran the Nickelodeon Magazine Please! commercial on air. Check it out below!
The real highlight of Nick magazine was that it was genuinely funny and creative. One of my favorite features were the prank labels. These cutouts were reminiscent of Topp's Wacky Packages, but you could tape them on everyday items around the house. Even my mom got in on it, helping us cut them out in hopes of pranking our dad or next door neighbors (too bad they weren't very believable).
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I particularly loved the holiday issues, which included even more activities, greeting cards and pullouts. The Valentine's Day cards were always too clever to give away, especially to kids I barely spoke to in elementary school. They were too precious to me and my family for that.
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Some regular features included:
Ask the Boss Lady/Hey Herb, Ooze News, Dear Alien-Readers, Say What?, Morph than Meets the Eye, Revolting but True Facts, and Annoying Songs.
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Along with these, they also included a monthly calendar which was full of "Super Facts", celebrity birthdays and unusual holidays. Nickelodeon did a fantastic job of making every day seem exciting.
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Although they weren't regulars, once in a while they would have a strange recipe or food related article. This slime cake recipe was eventually featured in, "The Best of Nickelodeon Magazine: Greatest Puzzles, Pranks and Comics Ever" edition. Also, check out this article from the summer of 1993, where they had a food critic try the, "grossest food combinations imaginable!"
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This post was inspired by a Twitter debate on which was the superior channel, Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network. Although I did occasionally watch Dextor's Lab or Space Ghost, Nickelodeon was a lifestyle for us. We had it on from the moment we got home until the time we went to bed. We couldn't wait for Snick on the weekends or the holiday themed episodes that ran October through December. My entire family loved the lineup, the actors, the merchandise and the overall sense of humor Nickelodeon seemed to "ooze" throughout. The magazine was no exception!
Collection of my favorite covers over the years.
(Photos courtesy of nickelodeon.fandom.com)