THOSE HILARIOUS VICTORIANS

What made the Victorians laugh? Lots of things, probably. After all, it's not as though Laurel and Hardy invented the banana peel, is it? On the other hand, humor, like just about everything else in western culture, has gone through a few changes since the days when corsets and waistcoats made the woman and her man. And because we are personally in the mood for a good laugh right now, we thought it might behoove us to examine some extant examples of the jokes, puns, and pithy anecdotes that evoked chuckles from audiences and readers in Victorian times. The following two examples come from Lee Jackson's collection, which can be found in its entirety on his "Dictionary of Victorian London" website. To wit:

Man: See here, wait, there's a button in my salad.

Waiter: That's all right, sir. It's part of the dressing.

Q: Who is the greatest chicken-killer in Shakespeare?

A: Macbeth, because he did murder most foul.

Not laughing yet? That's all right. We have more. A 19th century "joke book" once owned by Thomas Lawrence, who performed as a circus clown for Victorian audiences, was recently discovered and re-published by Ann Featherstone, a historian and expert on Victorian humor. According to Featherstone, in his role as a circus clown, Lawrence would have had to deliver his jokes at a rapid pace, either between acts or, sometimes, during them, in an effort to keep the audience's attention. And so what sort of jokes did a 19th century clown keep in his notebook? Well, the following for one.

Q: What's the difference between Joan of Arc and a canoe?

A: One is Maid of Orleans, and the other is made of wood.

It's worth a chuckle, at least, don't you think? Then again, these days, the average person (especially one attending a circus) might not actually know who Joan of Arc was, or, even if they did, might have no idea that she was also known as "the maid of Orleans." Fortunately for Thomas Lawrence and all the other 19th century clowns and comedians, Victorians were well versed in history. They apparently found much to laugh at in the institution of marriage as well, as evidenced by the following jokes from The Morticum Shop website.

A lady speaking to her maid: "Bridget, where did you get that dreadful eye?"

Bridget: "My brother gave it to me, mum, and what will the neighbors say? Me with an eye like that, and no husband."

And this...

A miserable man was left outside a shop on Oxford Street by his wife. He waited for an hour, and then approached a policeman. "For the lord's sake," he said, "order me to move on, loudly and sternly."

Yes...we know. Not exactly cutting-edge humor. But to the Victorians, who were used to a different, much slower cadence of speech and a more genteel manner of expression, jokes like those above might have been considered absolutely side-splitting. As hard as it is for some people to believe, there was actually a time when jokes didn't need to include profanity in order to be found funny. Not that the Victorians didn't have a more ribald side as well. There are a slew of websites on which you can sift through "smutty" Victorian songs and limericks which, while not considered appropriate for Victorian audiences of mixed gender, were probably big hits at the local pub or dance hall.

But we'll leave you to make such forays on your own. For now, our work is done. And while we are quite certain we have not elicited what one might call an actual "guffaw" from anyone reading this post, we, personally, feel somewhat uplifted. Thank you for the opportunity. And please take care not to slip on the banana peel on your way out.