New England Joke Lore: The Tonic of Yankee Humor

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.
Showing Some General Characteristics.
PAGE
Overlooked by Tourists—“Year Before Last Winter’s Snow”—The School Master and His Snow Grave—Drifted Roads and the Right of Way—The Post Holes in the Ice—The Man Who Took Comfort at Funerals—The Story of the Field of Oats—The Kitchen Dance “Up The Branch”—The New Maple Sugar Tub—A Yankee Philanthropist—The Butcher Who Was Too Generous 13-34
CHAPTER II.
Relating to Certain Conjugal Infelicities.
Why Dave Left Home—The Discouraging Matrimonial Experiences of Bill Jordan—Another Tale of a Confiding Husband—“Putty Bur-r-ds”—“Seven Wives and Seven Prisons”—The French-Canadian Who Wanted a “War for the Womens” 35-53
CHAPTER III.
Legends of the Eccentric.
“You Don’t Have to Yell at Me”—The Story of the Stolen Bundle of Hay—The Raid on Jim Green’s Pork Barrel—How Lote Platt Beat the Thunder Shower—The Tale of the Old-Fashioned “Settle”—The Lost Harrow Teeth—The Story of the Salt Shake—“Better Give Them to Some Poor Boy” 54-71
CHAPTER IV.
Family Characteristics and Small Town Life.
The Young Man Who Had “Speerit”—The Lady Who Secured a Wardrobe—The Story of “Lafe” and the Livery Stable Man—The Man Who Wanted to Fight a Year Afterward—A Rural “Trademark”—An Early Example of Camouflage—“Noah Built the Ark” 72-90
CHAPTER V.
The Yankee Trading Instinct and Some Amusing Examples.
The Story of the Eccentric Cow—The Remarkable Incident of the Cart Wheels—The Thrilling Experiences of a Mountain “Doctress”—The Expedient of the Cow Buyer—The History of a Milk Sled 91-107
CHAPTER VI.
Domestic Animals and Their Part in Legendary Humor.
The Story of a Wandering Sheep—The Young and “Self-Centered” Ram—The Sudden Enlightenment of the Young Pup— Clyx.com