uncleblogsy

Assisting With Inquiries

For this episode in ancient joke identification, we move to the world of law and crime. For the purposes of keeping this on a calm and genteel level, we will NOT be going into hot button issues like, say, stealing jokes. J1.”Psst! Bud! Wanna buy a hot?” “A hot what?” “( Continue reading “Assisting With Inquiries”

Hollow Ween

In gladder, pre-pandemic times, I would be writing now about Halloween-type books. This was not as easy as it might sound, because Halloween, unlike Christmas, does not have a lot of traditional stories: the headless horseman being about the only literary character tro be found only at Halloween. Our propensity for scary movies year-round,Continue reading “Hollow Ween”

Still On the Line

Before we abandon the subject of clotheslines and their place in the lives of ages gone by, there is one more theme in postcards to be considered. It is a mysterious concept, and an elusive commodity nowadays, but SOME of our ancestors prized it highly. They called it “Privacy”. It is one ofContinue reading “Still On the Line”

Representative Humor

Once upon a time, of course, religion and politics were two things you didn’t discuss unless you were among friends, and sure of your audience. This was before the invention of social media Nowadays, unless you’re screaming your convictions each day, you are an unaware, unpatriotic, and probably unworthy of your account. ThisContinue reading “Representative Humor”

Online

Just in the interest of full disclosure, our ancestors did not consider sex and romance to be the only concepts associated with clotheslines. There were practical considerations as well. Our ancestors were a little more accustomed to the great outdoors than we are, and their towns and cities contained a good many moreContinue reading “Online”

Love Line

So after two weeks of discussing potties, indoor and outdoor, on the modern postcard (or at least those I have on hand), what can we discuss? Well, looking over the array, I noticed a strange preponderance of postcards dealing with something else most humans used to do outdoors and now primarily do inside theContinue reading “Love Line”

Stand Up, Stand Up

For centuries, our ancestors loved to tell jokes about doctors, lawyers, and priests, authority figures who spoke Latin. I hope somebody will eventually take my suggestion and do a dissertation on the subject, but for now, they tell you you should never venture on a joke about religion unless you are really sure ofContinue reading “Stand Up, Stand Up”

Going to Town

It is only fair, I think, having given three columns over to the postcards which celebrated the nostalgic days of the outhouse, to point out that modern indoor facilities gave postcard cartoonists a chance to express their world views. You have enough faith in humanity, I hope, to believe that potty humor does notContinue reading “Going to Town”

Goimg, Goimg….

There are those who have exclaimed at the array of outhouse postcards seen so far, and wonder why our ancestors (to say nothing of some bloggers) insisted on dwelling on such a subject. The fact of the matter is that human beings refuse to take our bodies for granted. Every normal function has becomeContinue reading “Goimg, Goimg….”

So Young, So Old

In the original manuscript of my book of old joke quizzes, the chapter of jokes about kids followed the chapters on love and marriage, and cited the remark that “There will never be a victor in the battle of the sexes because there’s too much fraternizing with the enemy.” For newcomers to thisContinue reading “So Young, So Old”