President Lincoln's sense of humor

[L Verge]

(01-09-2016 06:03 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(01-08-2016 05:47 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  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!

If true, it would appear that Mr. Seward never got older than ten or twelve years of age. Isn't that the time that boys have contests to see who can conjure up the loudest burps?

[Mylye2222]

(02-07-2013 08:42 AM)LincolnMan Wrote:  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.

One of my favorites! And Buchanan somewhat deserved it too!

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(01-09-2016 01:34 PM)L Verge Wrote:  

(01-09-2016 06:03 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(01-08-2016 05:47 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  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!

If true, it would appear that Mr. Seward never got older than ten or twelve years of age. Isn't that the time that boys have contests to see who can conjure up the loudest burps?

Yes it is this time of age. Earlier kids like to do fart or spitting contests.

Now imagine Honorable Mr Seward belching or using other body functions during Cabinet meetings....

[Eva Elisabeth]

Well, read a bit on Martin Luther (the original, not the King) and "body functions" and you'll see - different times, different habits...

[Susan Higginbotham]

(11-24-2019 06:49 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Well, read a bit on Martin Luther (the original, not the King) and "body functions" and you'll see - different times, different habits...

And there was this chap:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_the_Farter

[Mylye2222]

(11-24-2019 07:39 PM)Susan Higginbotham Wrote:  

(11-24-2019 06:49 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Well, read a bit on Martin Luther (the original, not the King) and "body functions" and you'll see - different times, different habits...

And there was this chap:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_the_Farter

Yeah, body functions jokes worked well in any eras. Different times, nothing really changes.

[Gene C]

A humorous incident related by Henry Seward titled "Astrologer" from Lincoln Talks.

https://archive.org/details/lincolntalks...2/mode/2up