Humor

The public was captivated. Sales of the New York Sun skyrocketed as people clamored to learn more about this fascinating discovery. Other papers across the United States began reporting on what was printed in the Sun, and the story of life on the moon took the country by storm.

Following the sixth and final article, the New York Sun declared the story was a hoax. It was printed as a form of entertainment and to help with paper sales, which the story certainly did do, as the Sun had become the best selling paper in the country. Rather than feel they had been duped, the public reacted with laughter at the joke. The moon hoax was talked about by everyone throughout the country, and became such a popular news story in itself that the Sun, still riding high on their newfound attention, printed several lithographs, such as the ones below, for people to purchase as a souvenir of the hoax.

Aside from being considered one of the greatest hoaxes in America history, the Great Moon Hoax of 1835 is considered to be the first science fiction story ever published.

More 19th century jokes.

Woman 1: “I was reading this morning of a man who cooked his own breakfast for 15 years.”
Woman 2: “He must have been very hungry when he finally got it done.”

“Could I get a night’s lodging here, ma’am?” asked the tramp.
“I don’t like to turn anybody away but you are a complete stranger.”
“Not a complete one, ma’am. I’ve lost two fingers and three toes.”

Judge: “How did you come to pick this woman’s pocket?”
Thief: “I did it on the advice of my physician.”
Judge: “What do you mean?”
Thief: “He said if I wanted to live I must have change.”

She: “If you had never met me, would you have loved me just the same?”
He (convincingly): “More.”

She: “You say you are an artist, a musician, and a poet?”
He (modestly): “All three.”
She: “Oh, how awfully poor you must be.”

Patient: “As we have known each other for so long, doctor, I do not intend to insult you by paying your bill. But I have left you a handsome legacy in my will.”
Physician: “Very kind of you, I am sure. Allow me to look at that prescription again. I wish to make a slight alteration in it.”

“Oh, oh!” exclaimed Mrs. Jones, crazed with toothache, “why can’t people be born without teeth?”
“If you will recollect a moment, my dear”, replied her husband, “you will be convinced that such is the fact.”

Ella: “He swore that he would do anything he could to promote my happiness.”
Edith: “And you believed him?”
Ella: “Certainly, and I was not mistaken. He married another girl.”

Jim: “I heard that you made an hour’s speech at the debating club. Was it well received?”
Henry: “They cheered me when I sat down.”

Ethel: “What do you make of Mr. Ellison’s engagement to Ms. Sears?”
Maggie: “He might do worse.”
Ethel: “He is; he is going to marry her.”

Mrs. Jones: “Don’t trouble to see me to the door, Mrs. Smith.”
Mrs. Smith: “No trouble; quite a pleasure, I assure you.”

Servant, delivering message: “Mr. Brown sent his complements to Mr. Stanton, with the request that he will shoot his dog, which is a nuisance in the neighborhood.”
Mr. Stanton: “Give my compliments to Mr. Brown, and ask him to kindly poison his daughter or burn her piano.”

Jack: “I hear that your house burned down last night. Was anything saved?”
Norman: “Yes. The mortgage.”

Dot, aged six (on the conclusion of song by celebrated tenor): “Papa, did that man make all that noise on purpose?”

Brown: “I should like to feel when I die I leave the world a better place than I found it.”
Jackson: “My dear fellow, I am quite sure the world will be better when you are gone.”

“What do you intend to do with your boy, Tom?”
“I’m going to make him editor of the daily newspaper.”
“Good! Has he shown any literary tastes?”
“No, but I have never known him to be satisfied with anything in his life.”

Hobbs: “Did you ever make a speech?”
Gilbert: “Yes.”
Hobbs: “Was it well received?”
Gilbert: “No.”
Hobbs: “What did you say?”
Gilbert: “Not guilty.”

Mrs. Walters: “Who is your favorite writer, Mrs. Ogden?”
Mrs. Ogden: “My husband.”
Mrs. Waters: “Your husband? Why, what did he ever write?”
Mrs. Ogden: “Checks.”

Little four-year-old Harry had been whipped by his father for telling a lie, and he ran to his mother for consolation.
“When I was your age I never told a lie”, said his mother.
“When did you begin, Mamma?”, asked Harry.

Customer: “What have you got?”
Waiter: “I’ve got liver, calf’s brains, pig’s feet–“
Customer: “I don’t want a description of your peculiarities. What have you got to eat is what I want to know.”

“Angelina”, said the youth, hotly, as he entered the parlor, “it remains for you to say whether our mutual friendship shall continue or be ended here at once.”
“What is the matter?”, asked the beautiful girl, opening her lovely eyes to the widest extent.
“Your father has just called me a stupid young idiot.”
“And you want me to apologize for him?”
“I do.”
“Then I cheerfully do it. Father is altogether too frank, and I have often told him that even the truth shouldn’t always be spoken.”

Judge: “What is your age?”
(Female witness hesitates)
Judge: “Don’t hesitate in answering the question. The longer you hesitate the older you’ll be.”

“May I trouble you to pass the mustard”, said a customer at a restaurant to his neighbor.
“Sir, do you mistake me for the waiter?” was the uncivil reply.
“No, sir; I mistook you for a gentleman.”

On May 5, 1895, the very first comic strip was introduced in Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World, and shortly after in William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal, titled “The Yellow Kid”. The cartoon’s creator, Richard Felton Outcault, based his character, Mickey Dugan, off of an immigrant Chinese boy he would often see while on newspaper assignments in the slums of New York.
In a 1902 interview, Outcault stated, “When I used to go about the slums on newspaper assignments, I would encounter him often, wandering out of doorways or sitting down on dirty doorsteps. I always loved the kid. He had a sweet character and a sunny disposition and was generous to a fault. Malice, envy or selfishness were not traits of his and he never lost his temper.”