The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-06-19
PROFESSIONAL JoHE MIXING
The Dusincrs or Tvrn'nE Gu Comic Aouts
tor ruhiIc.tIou avid SAT-,

|
| tor ruhiicntIou and Sa'r.
Jokes have become a stauda d commoitr
manufactured in regular quantities and rus
| on the market as any othcr niuclc vi ,,.r.
chanlisc The professional joke mnnutn,.
turcrs havo their johbing and trtah nt.srs
| with which they deal aud they cag"ry .oo
track Of the net prices for Jokes and the OPP or.
| tunity to extend their market, Ike Other
| business men,
| II Is not so long ago that Jokes were sron.
| famous buildings OF the inner consciu usrc.,
| OF fun aud humor M man would thtuS 4
| sitting down IN the morning after hrca&'a,t
| md set Ing 10 work at hnmucrlnE jokes ou, Z
his brnn as no would cut stone out OF quarry.
| When no thought OF something funny he
| would laugh about IL to himse { iirs, mud ,hr,
| he would tell 1t over 10 his friends until su'us
| one suggested To- Kim that il was go vi cnuugh
| to Irint. After this COMMUNICATION the Iu,a
| might he written out Hnd sent 10 soma news.
paper or magazine. where in tho course "
| time it might arnoar IN print. The reward ot
| tho author of tho Joke would lie that he had
| increased tho surn OF human enjoyment
| That was well enough nj the star. tut tho
| renders Of The ral crs and magazines wanted
more Jokes. and the demand for regular sup
| ply OF jokes made steady market. This
| papers and magazines began to ray for Jokes
Just as they W, uid Tor novels war stories or
| articles on Azte, civilization. md they sent
| word to tho men who were ia the habit "
| thinking funny things and sending them to
| the PAPERS and magazines 10 hc published,
| asking whether they could not think If more
| jokes. and Offering 10 rny Tor tho Jokes as q
stimu!ant to joke production. This demand
| brought out tho professional jok.rs. and the
| man who found that lie could think of n good
| JOKE once or twice Il week an, ed himself to
| II and produced moro Jokes which he sold for
80 cents or 81 apiece.
From this beginning the joke business grow
until there are now mon who run regular
Joke factories. They not only thnk up Jokes
themselves. but they got othcr 10 pie to think
up jokes for them. and they will take crude
material for jokos und polish it up IN the ac.
celtcd forms which go host on the Joke mar.
ket. They have perfected tho framework and
moulds for the joke business SO TINT all they
need Is an occasional new idea to keep On
| turning out jokes indefinitely. The Joke habit
is like tho pun habit: tho quantity is pretty
suro to increase. even It the Same amount Of
hilmor and fun may como before the public
diluted and strung Quito n series Of jokes
instead OF being cOnccntrat Il in fcw.
1t Is the business of the professional Joker
to dress his Jokes UP in sucn IL manner us 10
DO acceptable to the public. A Joke is not SO
| much u new thing ns a new way OF putting
something that in a non-humorons way has
occurred to almost every one. joke should
not have more than ono point 1t is a waste
Of material to put two y ints in Il joke when
ono is enough. and more than one i,ont in a
Joke coniuseS the reading puzzle. who want
jokes to divert tn IN instead of exciting Them
to intellectual effort
With the development of tho comic paper
and suc! pu locations as Pack. in iyr. and Lvs
the Joke ma ket Dec tme n steady thin. and
quotations on jokes are made AS on .elt. An
NO. Joke now brings in he mar at IL high
as 500 to 81. "A Joke which goo wei! with an
illus ration commanding the higher price An
illustrate d Joke. OF course. rates higher than
Joke that has no picture with it A IKE With
out picture must re excellent to D. worth
more than $500 These are the tvp-notch
quotations at present but til. demand for very
funny Jokes exceeds the supply and it is l!Holy
that the rate for good Jokes will go w at the
expense Of tho rate for secOn 4 and third rate
Jokes. as the puUllc is becoming more tastidi-
GUS In the Joke line.
Ii Icke ia II long Joke running over a quar-
ter of u column 1t cpm nanis the usual or a
little better than the usual. space rate, but
when Joke becomes long II ceases to be d
Joke and develops into tho funny story which
was known to editors before the Joke factories
cnmo into existence The modern Joke of COM
msrcc is short ana not worth more than twenty
to iIty cents ut the ordinary space ratps paid
by newspaper. 1t consists usually Of two to
four very short paragraphs from one line to
three lines long. The shortest Joke IL two
lines each in a .erat7lt+ paragraph. A says or
does something which incties Il to say or do
someth'p ne. and tho Joke is ready for puniica-
tien and the laugh or of the public. From that
next in size is tho three paragraph Joke. A
euvs something. Is says or does something.
and replies. The usual maximum is four
paragraph Joke introducin. three poople,