Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-10-04
How Newspaper Humor Has
Grown and Changed.
The Short Joke is a Product Of
Recent Years.
Many Good Samples of Wit and Humor
in Past and Present.

paDer dating back TO lI.3, writes w.
n Nesbit, Josh Wink" in the hide
nendent. Here the person who feels an
interest in the study of the growth and
development of newspaper humor in
America may spend some musty, dusty,
hut doubtless enIightening, hours. Con-
sidered in the light of present day wit,
there was no newspaper humor CEN
,nry ago. II we will but remember the
mental attitude of the strictly moraled
neople of those days, We shall recall
the fact that at that time any mani
teetation Of humor was regarded as in
tensely unregeneratc, if not wholly
wicked. We see. in the historical
novel Of today, much of the "sprightly
Wit and brilliant conversation" of the
old colonial regime, but it was not re-
aacted in the papers of that time. To
get any newspaper humor to speak of
we NUT CO on down to about 90
Years ago. hen it began to be realized
that dign was rather wasted in the
eoncoctioA f matter intended to coax
smile.
Until some 80 years ago. however,
euch a thing as staff humorist was
almost unkilOWll III d lie" Spdpti oAiSS'
Prior TO that time it was not the news
paper that had the man, but the man
that had the newspaper. The Burling-
ton Hawkeye Peck's Sun, Texas Sift-
ings and Danbury News are fair evil
dences of the truth of this statement.
In each of these publications was Ger
tain. peculiar. individual style of humor
that has been initiated a thousand
times since. But the limitations have
never been 50 good as the original. The
"Danbury News Man" took the old
stoyepipe joke and won enduring fame
bv IT.. He was the prose lyricist OF
home affairs. and nothing was impossl-
bile to him, from setting a hen to driv-
ing a nail, when he wished to produce
his weekly quota of fun. Peck's sun
rose and set with The Bad Boy" The
burlington HaWkoyc brought Bob"
Burdettc bofor' the public. Texas
Siftings las gone Tho way of all flesh,
hut the memory of Alex. Sweet is yet
green. We must not forget the mis-
spelled efforts Of d. Il. Locke, "Petro-
leum V. Nashby," whose Srotesque
humor was once the best known this
side Of the Atlantic, and today would
rot attract any attention. He was re-
spunsible for the host of misguided
writer's who seem to think that poor
spelling is the hall mark of real humor.
of all the specialists Of the early days
but one endures at this time. Charles
Il Lewis. M. Quad" who gave the
Detroit Free Press fame on two hemi-
spheres, still continues to write of the
trials and tribulations of Mr.. Bowser.
and Of the editor of the Arizona
Kicker, and his work finds ready sale.
Chicago is the center of newspaper
hnmor now. The work of Eugene Field
in that city seems to have planted the
seed of ambition in the breasts of its
newspaper men. for he has several very
capabIe succe ssorS. Some few of them
have the courage to follow the lines Of
their own originality. and are doing
much to elevate the profession of light
and airy writing: yet others Of them
are held down by their desire tn follow
the admirable style of Field. Includ-
ing the Chicago newspapers there are
scaut dozen in the United States
which maintain staff humorists whose
work is regularly quoted. There are
others who write column after column
of uuips, and whose work Is printed on
the ground that anything foolish is
funny. but they do not win that great
endorsement of merit-the distinction
of being copied and initiated. No New
York daily newspaper makes a regular
feature OF original humor.
The short joke, as it is known today,
&c, - i- M
proving In quality right along, and may
yet take high place from a literary
standpoint. when the difficulties at
tendant upon composing really original
aud amusing paragraphs are more
generally recognized. Today there are
not so many people who regard joke
writer as A pe'er-do-well who pens
jokes because he can do nothing else
or viii do nothing else, which comes tc
the same thing. 1t is not denied that
there are many. very many weak jokes
written every day. But, on the othel
hand. there is host of good ones
b. turned out. 1t is no longer the custom
TO expect the man who writes the
funny column to do police reporting
exchange clipping, and possibly little
janitor work. because the task of pre-
pairing the jokes is such an easy one
1t may be added, in passing. that on,
reason for this wholesale realization o.
the efforts required to produce humol
Is that such department is an aetua
financial benefit to the newspaper con
tanning it. When newspaper is quot
ed constantly in the press of the coun
Try. the effect on the general adj
vertiser who sees that newspaper
name every day in almost every papel
he picks up is prodigious. Hence
puickening Of the pulse of the paper
which is the busisess department
Again. the readers take personal in
terest in the funny column" am
think as much of 1T as they do of an.
other feature. which is attested by tn
mail that comes to the desk of tn
funny man.
The transition from the early form o
newspaper humor has been slow bu
sure. Even today the stepladder. moth
er-in-law. biliygoat, man-who-has
been-to-the-lodge or at-up-with- sick
friend style of joke crops out quit
often. But in the main the subject
utilized and the ideas brought fort
are amusing. Nowadays the hes