{"id":23773,"date":"2017-07-13T11:11:00","date_gmt":"2017-07-13T15:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=23773"},"modified":"2017-07-19T11:44:27","modified_gmt":"2017-07-19T15:44:27","slug":"our-ancestors-riddles-and-jokes-of-the-1830s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/our-ancestors-riddles-and-jokes-of-the-1830s.html","title":{"rendered":"Our Ancestors\u2019 Riddles and Jokes of the 1830s"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, Mary Harrell-Sesniak searches old newspapers to find jokes, riddles and \u201cconundrums\u201d our ancestors enjoyed in the 1830s. Mary is a genealogist, author and editor with a strong technology background.<\/em><\/p>\n

Just for fun, I went looking in GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a> for old jokes our ancestors told in the 1830s. I found lots of humor in the old papers, such as this conundrum from 1837.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 10 November 1837, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Turns out our forebears had a great sense of humor!<\/p>\n

During the 1800s, and even into the 1900s, conundrums and puzzles became all the rage. Quips were interspersed among news stories in the papers, and occasionally our ancestors would see ads enticing them to learn how to write humorous items.<\/p>\n

There are so many good jokes and riddles that I decided to take a look at them decade by decade. I also made a quiz to see how many of these conundrums and puzzles our readers can figure out. Some you may recognize as common today, but most you\u2019ll have to ponder. Today we\u2019ll see humor from the 1830s \u2013 more decades to follow.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

The same jokes were often printed in newspapers around the country. If you go look for them at GenealogyBank, you\u2019ll be sure to find them. If you enjoy these jokes, take them to your next reunion to share with the group.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll find an answer key to the above quiz at the end of this article.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Jerseyman (Morristown, New Jersey), 19 September 1838, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Riddles,<\/a>
Portland Advertiser (Portland, Maine), 22 April 1833, page 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a>
Albany Argus (Albany, New York), 21 December 1838, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The answer key:<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

Hope you enjoyed these challenging conundrums from the past!<\/p>\n

Related Articles:<\/strong><\/p>\n