The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1907-09-20
THE MIDDLE-AGED MAN.
Recalling an Old Joke, He is Remind
ed of His Own Increasing
Years.


'No little thing that has happened
to me rccently,' said the midde-agcd
man to New York Sun reporter,
'has brought to my mind so striking
~ as this light incident did the DIFF
ference between the old times and the
new, nor has any little thing so vivid
~ reminded me Of my increasing
years.
"One of the standard jokes that
had point i'll the times when was a
boy and that Went the rounds in print
then, besides being often brought in
to play in jocular conversation, relat-
ed to ones having left his pocketbook
at home on the piano. Here, say, is a
man buying Somcthin" in store and
when he comes to pay for it he reach
eS III his pocket in which he always
carries his purse. And ii isn't there
"And then. surprised at moi finding
it there. he pats all his other packets
IN succession, and then reaches in
each and every one of them in search
Of il, to discover he hasn't cot it
about him anywhere And then he
looksup and says:
"WeIl, by gracious! | haven't got
any money. | must have left my
pocketbook on the piano!'
"This joke in its day was consider
ed 4 good one, easy and plain and yet
not without some sublcty, a joke APP
pealin% to many, because riginally it
was put out not as joke at all, but
as a bluff, as something that was ser
iously propounded and perhaps ser
iously accepted.
"Its original uttcrcr. is supposed
to have been a man who had put up a
fair 'front.' but who when The pinch
came proved to have no money and
who then accounted for lis absence in
way to imply that while he had no
money with him he was, nevertheless,
a man Of resources. as this incidental
remark, casually made. was intended
to show. And, perhaps, ii went. He
had left his money on the piano. If
he had piano it was reasonable i'll
ference that he was man Of at least
some means, for in those day pianos
were, comparatively speaking, rare,
and SO this man who had left his
pocketbook home on the piano mi ght
be man who could be trusted.
g So as to its origin and perhaps as
to its occasional early use; but later
it was regarded as joke only, IN
which manner Of acceptance it obtain
ed its widest currency, with its hu,
morous subtlety of meaning. In this
latter use the man to whom .it was ur
to pay something and who found, as
perhaps he knew and as others had
shrewdly guessed, that he he'd nc
money said jokingly:
Well, guess | must have left my
money home on The piano.
But times have changed. and The
old joke. with whatever significance
no longer goes.
Recently when | went TO pay fol
something in Il store where | trade
found that | had actually left my
pocketbook at home, and the old joke
coming back to me, said to the young
men who kept the store, smilingly:
"I guess / must have left my
pocketbook on the piano.
"But the old joke awakened in then
no response whatever. And why
should itq They have a piano, I have
Il piano, everybody in these days ha:
a piano, and so my remark as a joke
had no special significance for them
1t was simply a statement by me tha
[ had left my money on the piano.
$50 | was brought to realize that
except for those old enough 10 rccal
it, this once honorable and general,
enjoyed joke had now lost its hu
mor.'