Mangesh Hattikudur
A Coloring Book That Means Business!
by Mangesh Hattikudur - October 9, 2006 - 10:49 AM

I just saw some stills from the Executive Coloring Book, a confusingly out-of-print title from 1961, and figured I simply had to share. If you like the gems below, make sure to view the book in its total hilariousness here. Link thanks to the ever-fantastic Presurfer.

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Comments (40)

  1. lmao. Thats the funniest thing i’ve seen. That just made my day. The funniest line is.. “THIS IS MY ELEVATOR.It takes me way up. People who are not executives stand right next to me in the elevator. They are all right but I would not want my daughter to marry one of them.”

    posted by The Zimzi on 10-9-2006 at 11:59 am

  2. What a riot! I didn’t think we were quite that stiff in 1961 even if we weren’t with the protesters. We were in art school and weren’t aware of much then. We surely had fun though. I hope that I can find one of these color books to send to my friend.

    posted by Karen Rae Mord on 10-9-2006 at 1:02 pm

  3. “Hilarity” is the noun form of “hilarious”. There is no need for “hilariousness” and it is bulky to use that version.

    Yes, those cartoons are funny.

    posted by Jean Florian on 10-11-2006 at 6:01 am

  4. This would be a great Christmas present if they were still being published!

    posted by Danielle on 10-11-2006 at 9:19 am

  5. oh jean… I know hilarity’s a word (I come from a long line of scrabble players afterall!)… I just thought hilariousness sounded funnier. I also enjoy using the phrase rocket scientry. Like, “it’s not rocket scientry, mom.” Which generally leaves her even more irritated.

    posted by Mangesh on 10-11-2006 at 2:19 pm

  6. Hilariosity! :P. Reminds me of American Psycho. The film, not the book. Phunnny!!!

    posted by Joe Velikovsky on 10-11-2006 at 8:41 pm

  7. There’s NO possible way this was published in 1961. Hilariositude wasn’t of this level until the 1980′s. Seriously — joking about drug use wasn’t trendy until the late ’70′s. My guess is that this was done within the last decade.

    posted by Fitz on 10-12-2006 at 2:15 pm

  8. This is my comment. It will not be funny or clever, because then you will think i am trying to take your job and not print it.

    posted by Melodie on 10-14-2006 at 4:02 am

  9. The style of this brings to mind classic “National Lampoon” issues.

    posted by Nat on 10-17-2006 at 4:42 pm

  10. Reminds me of the movie “Reefer Madness” and how silly and stupid people were back then.

    posted by Terry on 8-28-2007 at 3:19 pm

  11. Don’t miss the hilarious Sales Comic Book (there is nothing like it on this planet – possibly any planet)!

    at salescomics dot com

    posted by Dan Seidman on 8-28-2007 at 4:11 pm

  12. The audacitiousness of the grammar police is pure hilariousness to me. Hey, get your own fabulous _weblog!

    posted by Hilariousness on 8-29-2007 at 2:02 pm

  13. WOOP(exclamation mark) WOOP(exclamation mark) It’s the sound of the grammar police!

    posted by Tehe on 10-29-2007 at 7:31 pm

  14. I need this colouring book. I do.

    posted by Renee on 10-29-2007 at 10:16 pm

  15. This was so funny! I went to check out the entire book at the link on top, but it was gone; 404 the website said. What does that mean?

    posted by Michele on 11-1-2007 at 12:25 pm

  16. Joe – OMG…I totally agree with you. I was thinking that this reminded me of American Psycho also!!!

    posted by Michele on 11-1-2007 at 12:28 pm

  17. I found a website that had the book in its entirety: adtothebone

    posted by Michele on 11-1-2007 at 12:38 pm

  18. OMG! my favorite page ever.
    This is my round pink pill. it helps me to not care.
    watch me take my round pink pill…
    …and not care.

    posted by tazzetty on 11-1-2007 at 4:37 pm

  19. The link was 404′d, but if you visit commercial-archive.com/node/133071 or click on my name, you can see the entire book. It’s worth the two minutes.

    posted by sfs on 11-2-2007 at 11:44 am

  20. “Color my underwear important.”

    I colored them hot pink.

    posted by Brynia on 11-10-2007 at 12:03 am

  21. I actually HAVE this coloring book – I got it as a joke when I was in law school. The underwear page is my favorite – thanks for making me laugh (again!)

    posted by Christine on 11-15-2007 at 8:08 pm

  22. Belive it or not I HAVE THIS….could never ever throw it away

    posted by ron on 11-20-2007 at 11:33 am

  23. Where can I get one, PLEASE?!?

    My favorite is “This is my attache case. It helps people know I am an executive. It makes me look efficient. Organized. Competent. I wonder if it opens.”

    That and the pink pill are pure genius.

    posted by GTT on 11-21-2007 at 11:06 am

  24. That was truly fantastic. You had me going there for a bit, until I clicked through … I think this is the coloring book I’m going to give my niece, if I can find one ..

    posted by Kevin on 12-5-2007 at 6:51 am

  25. The link you have is a 404 try:

    commercial-archive.com/node/133071

    or

    commercial-archive.com/theexecutivecoloringbook.html

    cheers

    posted by Dabitch on 12-16-2007 at 4:08 pm

  26. I read about a Wonder Woman colouring book where the reviewer said the artist had ‘indulged all his bondage fantasies’

    I’m still looking for it.

    posted by Terry Smith on 12-17-2007 at 4:20 am

  27. This might just be the most amazing book…ever. Wow.

    posted by Shreya on 1-2-2008 at 5:23 pm

  28. If anyone is interested there is a copy currently up for bid on e-bay. This is one of the more funny things I’ve seen in a while.

    posted by Fyrekith on 2-22-2008 at 1:38 am

  29. This is my pill it is pink… it makes me not care.. HAHAHAHA!!!

    posted by Isaac on 2-22-2008 at 9:19 pm

  30. To Jean Florian, if the stick ever falls out of you ass and you pick it up to play fetch with your dog, that to me, would be great hilarity!!

    posted by ohkimber on 5-1-2008 at 12:58 am

  31. I wish I were mahogany.

    posted by muffy on 5-5-2008 at 10:25 am

  32. every executive should have this book. They could color instead of come up with some new or different waste of my time.

    posted by jimmie on 7-29-2008 at 4:02 pm

  33. I may not find the book real funny (even if I don’t know why) but some of these comments ARE funny!

    posted by Sara on 9-11-2008 at 1:42 pm

  34. Hey, leave Jean alone. I think it’s important to correct people on grammar. Good grammar is the foundation of strong . . . no, I’m just kidding.
    Jean, you are a ninny.

    Recaptcha: Rastus game

    posted by Brian on 10-14-2008 at 8:29 am

  35. I’ve got some mahogany working right now.

    posted by ivan on 10-30-2008 at 10:45 pm

  36. For those of you video game geeks out there, imagine the page footers from these pages being read in the voice of the G-men from “Psychonauts.” That TRIPLES the hilarity, I tell you.

    posted by Freezair on 11-1-2008 at 11:09 pm

  37. The line “I wish I were mahogany” is an oddly funny one but when you think further about it unfortunately in the 60′s if he were even close to mahogany he most likely wouldn’t be an executive back then.

    posted by NotSoTweetOne on 11-10-2008 at 11:42 am

  38. This is wonderful, but not as great as “The Latest Greatest Coloring Book About Lice”, published by the National Pediculosis Association. I ordered it one year for my friends for Christmas. Its tagline: “Keep you wits and not your nits”.

    posted by tristan on 11-13-2008 at 4:00 pm

  39. My parents were given this coloring book in the sixties. I associate the memory of it with that comedy record by Vaughn Meader spoofing the Kennedy white house, ie. they both came out around the same time. I remember it well. The joke of it then was well understood, by myself as a preadolescent once explained to me by adults. My Dad was an executive of the grey suited corps. (Forgive any grammar problems please.)

    posted by Catinka Knoth on 11-16-2008 at 2:43 pm

  40. Satire has been around for a l-o-n-g time, even in the “uptight” early 60′s.

    posted by Don on 11-30-2008 at 6:49 pm

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