President Lincoln's sense of humor

[Mark MacKenzie]

When Robert was born, didn't Lincoln ask the Doctor if the baby had one long leg and one short one?

Bill, I love that Stephens anecdote. I just learned, wikipedia, that Stephens' nickname was "The Little Pale Star from Georgia."

[LincolnMan]

"Pale Star"-his nickname because he appeared sickly?

[LincolnMan]

There is the story of Lincoln feeding his cat "Tabby" with a gold fork at the dinner table in the White House. Apparently, this did not set well with Mrs. Lincoln. Lincoln is said to have remarked something to the effect that if the gold fork was good enough for former President Buchanan it was good enough for Tabby.

[LincolnMan]

When Lincoln wrote this account concerning himself, was he employing humor?-

"In his tenth year he was kicked by a horse, and apparently killed for a time."

A most unusual way to describe his condition, don't you think?

[David Lockmiller]

Good morning, Bill. Your quote made me think of a brief story which is probably apocryphal:

"One day Abraham Lincoln was riding horseback through the woods he met a woman who was also on horseback. As he stopped to let her pass, the woman also stopped and starred at him intently. She said, "I do believe you are the ugliest man I ever saw." Lincoln replied, "Madam, you are probably right but I can't help it." The woman answered back, "No, you can't help it, but you might stay at home."

Roger,

I think this quote would have been funnier if the woman had ended her comment with these words: "No, you can't help it, but you might stay at home more often."

[RJNorton]

Good morning, David. You are making me laugh!

Actually there is a Lincoln quote I really like regarding folks' looks that is probably not apocryphal.

"Common looking people are the best in the world: that is the reason the Lord makes so many of them."

------Lincoln and the Civil War In the Diaries and Letters of John Hay selected by Tyler Dennett (New York, Da Capo Press, 1988), p. 143.

[maharba]

One striking aspect of the Lincoln rehabilitation project is the near absence of any of the real 'dirty jokes' which Abraham Lincoln was very fond of telling. Instead, if you look to find any of his jokes, very quickly folks said to the effect "oh he told them, but we just forgot exactly what they were". And you will find numerous listings of supposed Lincoln jokes which sound like they were churned out of the same bin that the reconstituted Mark Twain jokes came from. But the real Lincoln was very earthy in his humor, and to many they came off as a very vulgar, barnyard flavor to them. Is there a site which lists Lincoln's actual 'vulgar humor', and not the soft -soap, replacement jokes?

[Eva Elisabeth]

You will find here (also the Ethan Allen one...), IMO the best (reliable) compilation (with o-sources):
http://www.amazon.com/Abe-Lincoln-Laughi...0870498894

[Hess1865]

Good morning Herb! Oh yeah we do! As far as humor, I enjoyed the old comedies. I'm a great fan of Chaplin-and, yes, the Three Stooges.

Me too-and I'd add WC Fields and Groucho Marx along with the Stooges to that list!!

[HerbS]

How about-Red Skelton,Jackie Gleason,Uncle Miltie,Sid Ceaser-etc,just to name a few!?

[Hess1865]

How about-Red Skelton,Jackie Gleason,Uncle Miltie,Sid Ceaser-etc,just to name a few!?

Yup, all of them, especially Gleason!

[RJNorton]

But the real Lincoln was very earthy in his humor, and to many they came off as a very vulgar, barnyard flavor to them.

William Herndon wrote in Herndon's Life of Lincoln:

"In fact, Mr. Lincoln's fame as a storyteller spread far and wide. Men quoted his sayings, repeated his jokes, and in remote places he was known as a story-teller before he was heard of either as lawyer or politician.

It has been denied as often as charged that Lincoln narrated vulgar stories; but the truth is he loved a story however extravagant or vulgar, if it had a good point. If it was merely a ribald recital and had no sting in the end, that is, if it exposed no weakness or pointed no moral, he had no use for it either in conversation or public speech; but if it had the necessary ingredients of mirth and moral no one could use it with more telling effect. As a mimic he was unequalled, and with his characteristic gestures, he built up a reputation for story-telling—although fully as many of his narratives were borrowed as original—which followed him through life. One who listened to his early stories in New Salem says: "His laugh was striking. Such awkward gestures belonged to no other man. They attracted universal attention, from the old sedate down to the schoolboy. Then in a few moments he was as calm and thoughtful as a judge on the bench, and as ready to give advice on the most important matters; fun and gravity grew on him alike."

[L Verge]

And what exactly was termed as "vulgar" and "barnyard humor" in the early-1800s and area that Lincoln lived in? I'm willing to bet my second-born grandchild that many of our 20th- and 21st-century Presidents could beat him in that type of joke telling...

I find it interesting also that Herndon makes a point of mentioning the moral of his jokes - not just smut for smut's sake.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Didn't Seward like this kind of jokes, too? Just saying, in German we call these "Herrenwitze" - "gentlemen jokes".

[RJNorton]

Didn't Seward like this kind of jokes, too? Just saying, in German we call these "Herrenwitze" - "gentlemen jokes".

In Abraham Lincoln for Kids: His Life and Times with 21 Activities author Janis Herbert wrote that Seward told jokes and also liked to belch loudly. Never heard of that before!