Fact: Great jokes are as old as recorded history. (Indeed, Reuters recently traced the first known instance of comedy back to a Sumerian proverb from 1,900 B.C.E.) And one thing is certain: the elements of an amazing joke have never changed. Comedians have always walked a fine line between misery and the absurd, and, if they're truly good, they find a way to bring the two together in profoundly funny, unforgettable ways.
With that in mind, we've gathered our favorite jokes reaching back as far as 1900, including Prohibition-era one-liners about the perils of life without alcohol to Robin Williams exploring the explosive relationships that exist between men and women. So read on, and prepare yourself to burst with laughter! And for more guffaws courtesy of your favorite comedians, don't miss these 50 Amazing Jokes From Comedy Legends.
1 | The 1900s
[Speaking of the Women's Suffrage Movement.] "A man opposed to their enfranchisement once said to me, 'Women have never produced anything of any value to the world.' I told him the chief product of the women had been the men and left it to him to decide whether the product was of any value."
—Anna Howard Shaw, Women's Rights Advocate
Image via Wikimedia Commons
2 | The 1910s
Grandmother: "How useless girls are today. I don't believe you know what needles are for."
Girl: "How absurd you are, grandma. Of course I know what needles are for. They're to make the graphophone play."
—The Onlooker, Foley, Alabama, 1915
3 | The 1920s
Public Domain"Once, during Prohibition, I was forced to live for days on nothing but food and water."
—W.C. Fields, American comedian
And for more quippy one-liners, check out these 25 Monty Python One-Liners That Are Relevant Today.
Image via Wikimedia Commons
4 | The 1930s
"We're the first nation in the history of the world to go to the poorhouse in an automobile."
—Will Rogers, Great Depression-era humorist
Image via Wikimedia Commons
5 | The 1940s
A man walks into the records office and asks to change his name.
The clerk is not keen on helping but asks the man's name and the man replies, "My name is Adolf Stinkfoot."
The clerk is sympathetic and decides to allow the man to change his unfortunate name. "What do you want to change it to?" asks the clerk, the man replies "Maurice Stinkfoot."
6 | The 1950s
"Senator McCarthy is going to disclose the names of 2 million Communists. He just got his hands on a Moscow telephone book."
—Bob Hope
7 | The 1960s
"I still can't understand why it should cost a quarter of a billion dollars to send a camera to Mars. What's it going by—cab?"
—Robert Orben, Comedian
8 | The 1970s
Shutterstock[Speaking about Richard Nixon.] "You tourists should be careful when you visit the White House. So much is swept under the rug that you might hit your head on the ceiling."
—Mark Russell, political satirist for The New York Times
9 | The 1980s
Shutterstock"I've laid down the law, though, to everyone from now on about anything that happens: no matter what time it is, wake me, even if it's in the middle of a Cabinet meeting."
—Ronald Reagan
10 | The 1990s
Shutterstock"What's the deal with airplane peanuts?"
—Jerry Seinfeld, Seinfeld
11 | The 2000s
Saturday Night Live"I can see Russia from my house!"
—Tina Fey as Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live
12 | The 2010s
"A child born today may never know about cash or credit cards. I mean, what are they gonna steal from their mom's purse?"
—Ellen DeGeneres
And for more comedy gold, check out these 30 Hilarious Jokes No One is Too Old to Laugh At.
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