It was founded in 1927 and the name originated from the scrambled acronym of "Auckland University College Men's Common Room Committee".
[4] Craccum is also a popular proving ground for New Zealand mainstream media, with many of its alumni moving on to publications such as The Listener, The New Zealand Herald, The National Business Review and Metro magazine.
In 1989 the publication was re-branded "Torso" (a reference to it being the magazine of the student body) for the final issues of that year, an event noted in the mainstream media.
In 2005, the rights to the front cover of the sellout-themed issue of Craccum were auctioned on TradeMe.
Salient, the student magazine for Victoria University of Wellington, won the auction.