fe it ▁money ." ▁( The ▁phrase ▁origin ated ▁in ▁Marg ery ▁All ingham ' s ▁mid - th irt ies ▁detect ive ▁novel , ▁The ▁F ashion ▁in ▁S hr oud s ). ▁ ▁Some ▁of ▁the ▁magazine ' s ▁visual ▁elements ▁are ▁wh ims ical , ▁frequently ▁appearing ▁in ▁the ▁art work ▁without ▁context ▁or ▁explanation . ▁Among ▁these ▁are ▁a ▁p otted ▁av oc ado ▁plant ▁named ▁Arthur ▁( report edly ▁based ▁on ▁art ▁director ▁John ▁Put nam ' s ▁personal ▁mar iju ana ▁plant ); ▁a ▁dom ed ▁tr ash can ▁we aring ▁an ▁over co at ; ▁a ▁pointing ▁six - f inger ed ▁hand ; ▁the ▁Mad ▁Ze ppel in ▁( which ▁more ▁closely ▁res emb les ▁an ▁early ▁experimental ▁non - rig id ▁air ship ); ▁and ▁an ▁e ma ci ated ▁long - be aked ▁creature ▁who ▁went ▁un ident ified ▁for ▁dec ades ▁before ▁being ▁dub bed ▁" F lip ▁the ▁Bird ". ▁ ▁In ▁late ▁ 1 9 6 4 , ▁Mad ▁was ▁trick ed ▁into ▁purch asing ▁the ▁" right s " ▁to ▁an ▁optical ▁ill usion ▁already ▁in ▁the ▁public ▁domain , ▁featuring ▁a ▁sort ▁of ▁three - pr ong ed ▁tun ing ▁fork ▁whose ▁appearance ▁def ies ▁physical ▁possibility . ▁The ▁magazine ▁dub bed ▁it ▁the ▁" Mad ▁po iu yt " ▁after ▁the ▁six ▁right most ▁letter ▁keys ▁on ▁a ▁Q W ER TY ▁keyboard ▁in ▁reverse ▁order , ▁not ▁real izing ▁that ▁the ▁existing ▁image ▁was ▁already ▁known