{"id":18851,"date":"2017-01-12T10:57:57","date_gmt":"2017-01-12T15:57:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=18851"},"modified":"2017-01-12T10:57:57","modified_gmt":"2017-01-12T15:57:57","slug":"our-ancestors-sense-of-humor-newspaper-jokes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/our-ancestors-sense-of-humor-newspaper-jokes.html","title":{"rendered":"Our Ancestors\u2019 Sense of Humor: Newspaper Jokes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, Mary Harrell-Sesniak searches old newspapers to find jokes about newspapers, editors and printers \u2013 giving us a glimpse into our ancestors\u2019 sense of humor. Mary is a genealogist, author and editor with a strong technology background.<\/em><\/p>\n

I reckon some of our readers give presentations about their family history research using articles they found in GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a> \u2013 and I also surmise that a few of these genealogists spice up their presentations with old-time newspaper jokes they found while doing that research.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a><\/p>\n

Jokes printed in newspapers, as a rule, can be tricky to find. They are often interspersed among other articles or listed under headings we don\u2019t usually think of, such as \u201cconundrums.\u201d That is why, when I stumble upon jokes when doing my research in newspapers, I clip them for later use.<\/p>\n

Here are a few of the newspaper jokes I have found, which you are welcome to use in your own genealogy presentations \u2013 or simply enjoy for yourself.<\/p>\n

Editorial Humor<\/strong><\/p>\n

Judging from all the jokes about newspaper editors, they loved poking fun at themselves. This one notes that an editor is like a barber:<\/p>\n

Because he is a clipper.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"A<\/a>
Juneau County Argus (New Lisbon, Wisconsin), 24 April 1884, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another joke about newspaper editors, which was repeated in numerous papers, asked:<\/p>\n

Why is an editor like the book of Revelation?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"A<\/a>
Waltham Sentinel (Waltham, Massachusetts), 12 March 1858, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And then there is this joke, equating an editor to a hog:<\/p>\n

Because he is confined to his pen.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"A<\/a>
Dedham Patriot (Dedham, Massachusetts), 2 August 1837, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Printing Jokes<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is no surprise that newspaper printers were much admired \u2013 and at the same time made fun of.<\/p>\n

There are three jokes in this newspaper article about printers, with a fourth joke about newspapers:<\/p>\n

Why is a newspaper like a tooth brush? Because every body should have one of his own and not borrow his neighbor\u2019s!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"A<\/a>
Cabinet (Schenectady, New York), 4 May 1847, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Newspaper Joke Contests<\/strong><\/p>\n

Newspapers frequently ran contests about newspaper jokes and published the entries.<\/p>\n

This entry wasn\u2019t the grand prize $5 winner, but it did merit mention in this newspaper article:<\/p>\n

Why is a newspaper like molten lava?
\n\u2019Cause it is read all over.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"A<\/a>
Daily Critic (Washington, D.C.), 18 March 1889, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A newspaper offered its readers a prize for providing the best answer to this question:<\/p>\n

Why is a newspaper like a woman?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mrs. Mary Roberts of Springfield, Missouri, provided the winning answer:<\/p>\n

Every man should have one of his own and not be rushing after his neighbor\u2019s.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"A<\/a>
Gulfport Daily Herald (Gulfport, Mississippi), 9 December 1911, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Challenge for Our Blog Readers & Genealogy Presenters<\/strong><\/p>\n

Readers:<\/em><\/strong> Help us find the funniest joke or cartoon about newspapers in GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a> (no off-color ones please.) Let us know what you found in the comments section below.<\/p>\n

Presenters<\/em><\/strong>: If the only joke you can think of about census records is that old one about \u201ccoming to your senses,\u201d then see how many different newspaper and genealogy jokes you can find in GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a>. Such jokes can help enliven your next genealogy presentation.<\/p>\n

And don\u2019t forget other topics! You\u2019ll find a unique selection of jokes on political events, migration, and many other historical topics.<\/p>\n

One Last Joke<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll leave you with this final joke:<\/p>\n

Why is a newspaper route like a lawn mower?
\nAw, \u2019gwan, that\u2019s easy. You\u2019ve got to keep pushing if you want to get results.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"A<\/a>
Morning Star (Rockford, Illinois), 27 March 1921, page 22<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this article, Mary Harrell-Sesniak searches old newspapers to find jokes about newspapers \u2013 giving us a glimpse into our ancestors\u2019 sense of humor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":18875,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12641],"tags":[5322,11595,2020],"class_list":["post-18851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-humor-sayings","tag-humor","tag-jokes","tag-newspaper-archives"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/photo-0518-2016-newspapers-1.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18851\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}