It has been a while, so I thought we might revisit the new arrivals to my inventory which I would characterize as Ass Joke Postcards. Now, I realize the world has turned around a little, and that innocent three-letter word has a popular new meaning as “Something Bad”. So, no: these are not postcards involving really bad jokes…at least, that’s too broad a definition Not ignoring the fact that in some of these the broad…look, you’ll figure it out as we move along.
A donkey is pretty much the linking theme in these postcards; Here, it seems that the ass in question is a mere bystander. Unless you want to argue that why the bysitter is crying is what happened to…but spanking jokes are now considered more questionable than ass jokes, so we should probably move along. (Anyway, this use of the word ‘spanking’ is now almost totally obsolete, though still in use in the phrase “Brand spanking new”.)
Here, we have a situation which usually resolves itself with an ass joke but has here substituted the speaker’s “dear fanny.” (By the way, what IS that bird on the right? I wanted so much to call it a boiled owl, but the more I looked, the less like an owl it seemed.)
This is a new version of a card we have discussed before, playing on the theme that saying one’s poor donkey is tired is above suspicion and perfectly proper. What makes this unusual is that it is one of a small number of cards repurposed by the Teich Company to include a note in the cartoon (and a longer one on the backside) about West Texas. Were the cards involved CHOSEN by someone in Texas, or was this handled at the company headquarters?
We have devoted a lot of blogspace on different postcards with this ass joke, but this version was a new one on me (so to speak.) Bob Petley has done without the funny little hat with its lonesome flower usually worn by the woman, AND her usual cry of “Tally Ho”, and has given her a far more opulent figure. Always interesting to see how different artists cover a classic theme.
This is another ass joke done by numerous different artists, involving many different states, and alternating between a woman and a cowboy. This is the only one I’ve seen so far where the artist has spent more time drawing the four-legged ass than what most artists would have felt sold the card.
Hal Empie gets at least three puns into this one. (Yes, still counting Butte.) No humans in sight to confuse the viewer about what is meant. Even the caption noting that we are resting our asses here OBVIOUSLY means the four-legged variety.
This takes the word in an entirely different direction. Unless Walt Munson has drawn the protagonist naked (except for shoes) to give our minds a boost toward the more common definition.
While this gag uses no wordplay at all. (There MAY be a hint that the locals are all jackasses, but this is not really confirmed by the caption.)
And we come to the end, with another appearance of a classic ass joke which does not include a donkey at all, at all, but plays along the same general notes as the old familiar song. (The Vicar of Bray?)
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