Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1895-01-26
BUSINESS OF JoKE-MAKlNG.
New York the Center of Flourishing In
dustry.

! New York the Center OF FIourishing In~
dustry.
The business of joke-making and
short-verse writing is trade in itself
and has its center in New York says
Printers Ink. In almost every city or
large town there are one or two bright
wits who have cracked some excep-
tional jokes which some comic papers
have printed and paid for In many
a place there is some local punster
whose efforts are the pride of his mar
row circle. But only in New York
does this work center itself. When /
speak OF Joke-writing as a business
with some | mean it literally. There
is coterie of about forty writer's, most
of whom live in New York, who do
nothing but write for the comic papers.
They do not wait for a happy inspira-
ton, but make the inspiration come to
them. They write jokes and verse for
their living, and with some of them it
is very good living indeed. These
are the men the comic papers depend
upon for most of their material, and at
least ten of them make from $40 to $50
dollars week "just joke writing"
Some of these are well-known to the
general public from their names over
verses or short sketches. But some of
them again, who write merely short
'squibs," are known only to the editor
1t is no uncommon thing for any one
of these men to turn out from fifty to
200 jokes brand new, warranted not to
fade) a week, and ten bits of verse.
The professional joke writer frequently
sits down without an idea in his head.
Some turn of speech comes to him-he
writes down his jokes on small rec
tangular slip of paper, just the size to
slip into an envelope conveniently.
That joke, or his train of thought, sug-
gests another, and on he goes until in
two hours he may have written twenty
five jokes.
Then the business part of it comes
in. By system of special boOkkeep-
ing, he enters the head of each joke in
book, and places opposite the title
the paper to which the joke is sent.
AS general thing, he will put the
twenty-five squibs which he has just
finished in an envelope with an 'ad-
dressed and directed envelope inside,
and start the package on its journey
around the world of hunger.
He sends it first to the paper which
pays the highest price, and then in
regular order from weekly to weekly.
until he has exhausted the list and got
ten down to where they pay as little as
Is cents per joke-a starvation price
for the professional humorist. Sup
pose the first paper to which he sent
the package took three jokes. When
the others came back he checks off the
three as ''taken" and "paid for" if the
paper in question pays on acceptance
and most of them do to the leading
writer. The rest he sends to the sec
ond paper, which may, perhaps, take
four. The remaining jokes are again
checked off, and the package started
again. There are as many as twenty
five papers and periodicals which pay
for original jokes, SO that the humorist
has an excellent chance of getting rid
of all the jokes of a series at some
price. OF course he is continually
sending out new patches to the first
paper on his list, and thence to the
others, so that his name and his humor
are constantly before the editors.