New-York tribune., 1908-11-08
BARTON S. MOLYNEUx.

tunity for sending cards. But II the
takes the same walk many times he soon exhausts
the views of the places, and for card for the
grandmother, cousins and best beloved friends it
is better fun send something apropos that will
cause laugh
Perhaps for this reason there is hardly a better
way to find out what German thinks is funny
than to look bunch of the postals which the
card boy often sets before You when you stroll
into cafe for your afternoon coffee your late
evening beer. Or have you dropped into a city
Cafe-say, the Victoria IN the Linden, or Zum
HedeIberser the Kaiser Keller in Friedrich
strasse, all in Berlin. smoky Alt Gass-
meyer. in Dresden? You will see unmistakable
Germans around you in parties writing cards to
relatives and friends with loud laughs over the
messages thsy are sending. And the funny cards
predominate.
What is funny in Germany? Almost anything
The comic element usually lies In the drawing
than in the sentiment which it illustrates. Be
sides the many subjects disapproved Of by the
morality conference there is large selection The
Jokes at the expense of the military legion, as
are those centred around the beer keg and the
sausage string, the caricatures of we'll paint
ings and the many phases of the national dog Poor
dachshund! But it IS impossible to take him ser-
ously especially If he gallops.
Then. too, there always the thirteen original
jokes the ones about the mother-in-law. hubby's
late home-comngs. the strong minded wife and the
hen-picked spouse-the same dear old ones dressed
in German clothes and reeling off in German the
-beexpected with (as usuaD enthusiasm SUI
fcient for the latest novelty.
Notably absent from postcard joking ere re-
marks about the Emperor and his royal relatives
their mustacheS, their manners and customs These
things. which could never hope TO escape the car.
toonlsts pen In America, safe in Germany. 1t
comes sufficiently nea. to leZe-majesty when one
sketches sarcasm about the high military
or course. this restraint true only of postcards
and not of the Munich periodicals such as sim
pcissimus." wherein what other men dare not they
delight III.
All these different varieties OF cards are at thu
choice OF the person who is looking for something
appropriate to call up a reminiscent smile or an
appreciative chuckle from OF whom he is
thinking and whom he wants to make think of him
And why could Americans not save the postcard
from decline and fall in our own land by acquiring
this habit OF sending II from the festive gathering
to the friend whose presence is missed there? II is
an idea that has many pleasant turns. and is only
another OF the little diverting customs of which
the European has 50 many He does it as one of
the means Of including others in his daily life I'm
the same genial spirit in which he salutes a adv
by kissing her hand, greets another man by raising
his hat. and acknowledges with bow the boy who
opens the door for him. He considers that such
small things this. together with his leisurelv
luncheon and his afternoon coffee. take the mind
channels and keep IT from its continuous serious
steaming through tho heavy waters VI cares and
Representatives, :