A new year joke. Don’t all laugh at once

I found this in a magnificent book of old Punch Cartoons given to me by my ex-wife and friend Pam.


The book has convinced me that few things wear as badly as yesterday’s jokes. But it does contain an enormous amount of fascinating social history – and some subjects seem funny to all generations.

There’s a remarkable number of jokes about downtrodden husbands and other traditional subjects. This one from John Leech – which did make me smile slightly – dates back over 150 years. Since my son Nick has just got engaged to a beautiful girl from Dundee, and the new year is always associated with Scotland, it seems pretty timely, and has nothing to do with the fact that I have a Scots client who owes me a few thousand quid.

Having got that off my chest, a happy New Year to all of you.

About the Author

I've spent the last 15 years working with Drayton.

And, as well as writing copy for our clients, run the agency side of the business.

4 Comments

  1. I'm no Oriental porn spammer like the previous commenter, but I confess to having an occasional enjoyment of 19th century cartoons.

    As always, the moment one expresses such an idiosyncrasy, friends and family quickly inundate one with books of boundlessly-bad examples, especially during the festive season.

    So I have a library of such books to while away the dreaded hours of insomnia that beset me from time to time. I'm not sure that they're all that effective a cure, but they're better than the late night-early morning movies and infomercials that serve as an alternative.

  2. Gotta love the Chinese assumption that the power of lust will help you learn another language

  3. Peter

    Well this cartoon gave me a chuckle. But, yes, some do not travel through time very well. I remember one joke about a couple who used to make love to the sound of the church bells. They were found dead one day after a fire engine went passed. Meaningless unless you know it dates from a time when fire engines had a bell instead of the two tone horn. 🙂

Leave a Reply to Anonymous Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *