Down there, way, way, way down there at the bottom of the page, the entire contents of the very first post, is the original logo.
Here are some lies and a little bit of truth about it. It’s a pun. One of the very few puns published in the Harpoon which the co-founders understood. The only reason they understood it is because they originated it. “Hey,” one of them said. “We need a snappy visual element for the masthead, right? How about a baboon playing a harp!”
Monkeys are funny, right? Harps are unusual, and so distinctive. That’s good for a logo. And, best of all, it’s a harp-boon!
Get it?
It was widely alleged to have been drawn, black on white, in the blue style of a certain anatomical caracture of a widely-beloved cartoon race of little, blue, woodland creatures. This is a style popularized by, and mainly popular with, a down-the-way neighbor of one of the co-founders. With cross eyes. The baboon had cross eyes, not the blue creatures, and not the neighbor. Not the neighbor most of the time, anyway.
The art director inverted the colors and replaced the cross-eyes with sunglasses. This led to a knock-down roll-about on the publisher’s living room floor between the art director who liked the sunglasses and the editor who did not. The sunglasses were replaced with the more-or-less well-focused eyes we all came to love. More or less.
The baboon’s name is thought to be Ed. This may or may not be strictly accurate. The baboon has never talked about that. Indeed, it is unknown if, in fact, and despite the obscene allegations of what the blue caricture style intended to imply about harp playing, the baboon is, as depcted, actually male.
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