Jonathan's Jokes: American humour in the late-Victorian press

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (journal)peer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

During the final quarter of the nineteenth century, columns of American jokes became a regular feature of numerous British newspapers. The Newcastle Weekly Currant, for example, had a weekly column of ‘Yankee Snacks’; The North Wales Chronicle had ‘American Humour’; the Hampshire Telegraph its ‘Jonathan's Jokes’; and the Northern Weekly Gazette sported a ‘Stars and Stripes’ column. Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper introduced a regular column of ‘American Jokes’ in 1896, the same year it achieved an unprecedented circulation of one million readers. Almost half a century before Hollywood, here was a distinctively American form of popular culture which took Britain by storm. It has, however, received little academic attention. This article explores the development of the American humour column, considers the way in which it was consumed by British readers, and argues that these seemingly ephemeral jokes played a key role in shaping Victorian encounters with America.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)33-49
JournalMedia History
Volume18
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2012

Keywords

  • America
  • Britain
  • Victorian
  • Press
  • Humour
  • Jokes
  • Transatlantic
  • Digital Humanities
  • Newspapers
  • Anglo-American
  • Slang
  • Modernity
  • Ephemera
  • Media History

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Jonathan's Jokes: American humour in the late-Victorian press'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this