--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Hinckley, Bryant S. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 33 number: 1 published: 1929-11 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: "Bryant S. Hinckley, “Some Uses of Humor,” *Improvement Era* 33, no. 1 (November 1929): 14–16." source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera3301unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera3301unse start_page: 14 end_page: 16 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1929-11) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera3301unse publication_year: 1929 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1929, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Some Uses of Humor Some Uses of Humor By BRYANT S. HINCKLEY President of the Liberty Stake of Zion THIS delightful quality of the imagination has many uses and is given to few abuses. Without attempting sharp distinc- tions it is less poignant and less brilliant than wit; but more agree- able. Wit directed against folly may offend by its severity — on the other hand humor makes one ashamed of his folly without excit- ing his resentment. Psychologists tell us that humor is an emotion such as fear, anger, grief. Its phys- ical expression is laughter. Laugh- ter has a highly therapeutic value. "Galen is said to have prescribed comic songs for his patients in- stead of drugs." B RANDWHITLOCK relates some typical examples of the power of well-directed humor which is often used to advantage in politics. We submit two of his stories : 2 Governor Oglesby, of Illinois, in opening a campaign began his speech by saying, "Fellow-citizens, the issue in this campaign is very simple. We have got the state house — the Democrats want to turn us out and run the govern- ment. They think they can run this government, when it is all we can do." In one of his campaigns Gov- H UMOR is built largely upon incongruities contrasts. An investi- gation of a large number of funny stories and their families shows thaf they are based upon comparatively few sub- jects, such as mothers- in-law, hen-pecked hus- bands, fatness, thinness. baldness, stuttering, sea sickness, foreigners, pro- hibition and politics.1 The sense of humor varies with the individ- ual; for illustration — you try the same story on three or four friends. They may laugh hearti- ly over the first, slightly over the second and none at all over the third. It is a most powerful weapon when used with discretion. Its skillful use easily outweighs logic or lengthy dis- course. There is no ar- gument so hard to com- bat as a laugh. 'The thief, the grafter, the gun man, fear laughs more than they fear the shackles or the jail." very and 2Taken from article "What a Man in Politics is up Against," by Brand Whit- lock, American Magazine, Nov., 1927. 1"The Nature of Humor," by John C. Almack, Century Magazine, Sept., 1928. ernor Hogg of Texas was opposed by a very able lawyer who rashly challenged the Governor to a joint debate. The Governor had the opening speech and at the conclu- sion of his argument, as his oppo- nent rose to reply, got up and said, "Just a word please." The Gov- ernor was a man of imposing ap- pearance, while his opponent was a stumpy man with a small head, short legs and a round body bulg- ing at the middle. Standing beside the handsome Governor he pre- sented a droll and absurd appear- ance. Hogg raised his hand and with an imperative gesture, as though the crowd belonged to him, said in a most patronizing way, "Now, my friends, I want you to pay the same kind and patient attention to my jug- shaped friend here that you have shown to me." The crowd looked at the short, solemn candi- date with his protuber- ant waist, burst into a roar of laughter and the debate ended. I that .T is reported Clarence Darrow won a public debate from Ex-congressman Upshaw of Georgia by a single remark. By agree- ment there were no judges and no official decision. Upshaw told the audience how he had worked his way through school and studied hard on the farm. "I was so determined as a boy," he said, "to be a public speaker that I used to practice oratory on the poor mules while I was plowing." Then he spent the best part of an hour in an attempt to prove his case. When Darrow's turn came he rose and, fixing his glare upon the perspiring and panting Upshaw, paid The Improvement Era For November, 1929 15 firmly, "If you expect us to believe all that you have said, sir, you must think you are still talking to a lot of mules." He won the pop- ular verdict. 1 URNING now to other sources of humor: Most Latter- day Saint bishops are obliged to make a living in addition to carry- ing the responsibilities of their ec- clesiastical office, and one smiles and forgives the bishop who, announcing the hymn in a religious gathering, said, "We will now sing from page three dollars and fifty cents." Bishops in the course of their calling hear many cases and are asked to advise on many different subjects. A man is reported to have appealed for advice on the following problem: "Bishop, my wife is getting very extravagant and I am greatly worried. Last week she asked me for $15.00 and then she wanted $10.00 and now she wants $5.00 — what shall I do?" The Bishop said, "What does she do with all her money?" The man, with some hesitation replied, "Well, I don't know, I haven't given her any yet. Abraham Lin- coln, one of the greatest leaders of men that ever lived and a con- summate politician, was also a technician in the fine art of story- telling. Before the war actually began he was greatly annoyed by the repeated visits and appeals of three of his Southern friends. Standing at a window in the White House he saw these same three men coming again. He re- marked to a friend, as he viewed the approaching visitors, "I feel very much like a big fellow in a reading class in a back-woods school in Illinois. It was the prac- tice to have the class stand in line and take turns in reading a verse. They were reading from the Bible the story of the three Hebrew chil- dren. The first time this fellow tried to pronounce Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego he strug- gled, stuttered and floundered through. As his turn approached the second time, he discovered to his great dismay that these three names were in his verse and said in a loud whimper, "Those same three d fellers are comin' np again." B, IRYANT S. HINCKLEY, pres- ident of Liberty stake and executive head of the Deseret Gymnasium, is one of the outstanding story- tellers of the Church. His know- ledge of the use of humor has con- tributed to his great popularity as a public speaker. After graduating from the B. Y. U '., he taught school in Frisco and later in the B. Y. U. in Provo and the L. D. S. College in Salt Lake City. He has done special work at the universities of California and Chicago and the Eastman National Business College in New York. 1 HE sense of humor is a most valuable asset to a teacher, indispensable to the most success- ful work, and the school room is an easy place to cultivate it. The school is in fact the center from which much of the choicest humor comes. The following composi- tion on geese was written by a school boy: "Geese is a heavy-set bird with a head on one side and a tail on the other. His feet is set so far back on his running gear that they near- ly miss his body. Some geese is ganders and has a curl in his tail. Ganders don't lay or set, they just eat and go swimming. If I had to be a geese I would rather be a gander. Geese does not give milk, but give eggs, but for me give me liberty or give me death." Ac lGRAMMAR school boy handed in the following com- position on cats: "Cats that's mean for little boys to maul and tease is called Maultesc cats. Some cats is reckernized by how quiet their purrs is and these is named Purrsian cats. The cats what has very bad tempers is called Angorie cats, and cats with deep feelin's is called Feline cats — but I prefer dogs." A girl in the Primary wrote the following composition on mon- keys: "A monkey is an animal that wears a red cap and has a long tail. Monkeys have four feet; cows also have four feet, one on each corner. The other day me and my sister were going through a pasture and one of the cows ran after us and helped us over the fence — that was the other cow's husband." A teacher received the following note from the mother of one of her pupils: "Dear Madam: Please ixcus my Tommy to-day. He wont come to skule because he is acting as time- keeper for his father and it is your fault. U gave him a ixample if a field is 6 miles around how long will it take a man walking 3y2 miles an hour to walk 2% times around it? Tommy aint a man, so we had to send his father. They went early this morning and father will walk around the field and Tommy will time him, but pleas don't give my boy such ixamples agin, because my husband must go to work every day to support his family." OOME philosopher has said that women are more intelli- gent than men but not so intellec- tual; in other words, a man will think a thing over all day and then do the wrong thing, while a wom- an will intuitively do the right thing and say the right word at the right time, as shown by this story: A very modest young man had been paying his addresses to a young woman. She thought he was not making the advances that she might reasonably expect. How- ever, he took her on an excursion to Park City, and when they were passing through the tunnel at the summit somehow his arm fell about her waist. When they suddenly emerged into broad day- light the conductor was standing in front of them. The young man was greatly embarrassed and rub- bing his hands nervously, said, "Mary, do you know that this tunnel cost a million dollars." "Did it?" she replied, "Well, it is worth it." T WO hundred stories were submitted to competent judges, but very few of them qual- ified. However, one of the judges ranked a given joke as nearly per- fect "from the psychological point of view." What is your estimate of it? A traveler in the South passed by a farm where a colored man was plowing with a very large- horse and a diminutive mule. "Boy," said the traveler, "isn't the work pretty hard on that little mule?" "Nossuh, nossuh, boss," answered the darky, "dis work don't hurt him none." "But," persisted the traveler, "you don't mean to tell me that this little mule can do as much work as that big 16 The Improvement Era For November, 1929 I horse?" "Nossuh, boss, he kaint do as much work, but I done fix dat. You see I's been givin' de mule de sho't end of de double-tree." 1 HE story marked highest by the judges was a favorite of William Jennings Bryan. "A man said to one of his friends, 'I am drinking too much. I know it but I can't help it.. My friends keep asking me to drink, and the first thing I know I get too much.' His friend said, 'I will tell you how to prevent it. After this, when you get all the whiskey you want, and anybody asks you to have more, don't call for it, call for sarsapa- rilla.' 'But', the man answered, 'that's just the trouble. When I get all the whiskey I want, I can't say sarsaparilla.' " 1 HERE are some good old stories that go the rounds for a long time and even though they are old they are never edged in black. I am reminded of the story that is told at most banquets, and notwithstanding its antiquity it still provokes a smile. A garrulous speaker at a banquet had talked on and on until the guests could not suppress their yawns. The irrita- ted toast-master raised his gavel, intending to rap for order. He brought it down and in place of hitting the table he struck a man next to him, who had stooped to pick up his napkin, right on top of his bald pate and knocked him unconscious. They administered restoratives and when he began to revive they asked him how he felt. He said, "I hear him still talking, hit me again." 1 HE English, the Ger- man, the Irish, all furnish a good supply of rich humor but just now the thrifty and canny Scotchman leads all others in this respect. His thrift is everywhere manifest. You have no doubt read of the Scotch- man who wanted to be married in his back yard so the chickens could eat the rice. A Scotch minister told one about Jock who met Sandy on the street and casually remarked that he was going to send over a hen for his friend's dinner. A long time elapsed and the hen was not forth- coming. Finally the friend said, "See here, Jock, what about that cfiuckie?" Jock looked at Sandv in astonishment and said, "Chuckie, what chuckie was that? Oh I mind, it got better." Their thrift, which is much to be commended, is the source of many a laugh, though a more generous and large—hearted people would be hard to find. They are not slow to meet any situation, as shown by the following: The enterprising and patriotic citizens of one of the mid- west cities had erected a monument to Washington and were paying for it by public subscriptions. One of the solicitors had on his list the name of a wealthy Scotchman — not unusual — from whom he ex- pected a liberal donation. He made his call and explained that one pur- pose of the monument was to keep in memory the great service of the noble Washington. The Scotch- man listened respectfully and finally replied that he did not need a monument to remember Wash- ington— he had him in his heart. After the second appeal he made the same reply. The solicitor, baf- fled and irritated, said, "Washing- ton in his lifetime was in many tight places, but if you have him in your heart let me say to you it is the tightest place he was ever in." MANY people can- not see anything in the follow- ing— perhaps there isn't anything: Two inmates of a mental hospital were comparing notes. One of them said to the other, -"How did they come to get you in here — how did they discover that you were a little looney?" He replied, "I do not know, but this happened and they heard about it. I was doing odd jobs for a man in Salt Lake who concluded to sell out and go to California. He said to his agent, If there is anything you cannot sell, give it to my Scotch servant.' And I said to him, 'If there is anything your Scotch servant does not want can I have it?' And \ am here." A MAN who had told some stories, such as the foregoing, at a public function, on returning home was asked by his wife how his stories got across. He replied that judging from the effects, his listeners must have thought that they came across in the Mayflower. . 3"One leaves the pages of humor with a firm conviction that the world is growing better. Humor is growing away from the gross and crude and toward the things that are wholesome and pleasant. It makes more of human virtues and less of human frailties — it is more kindly, more sympathetic, more truthful. The humorist sees things with uncompromising clear- ness and judges with tolerance and good temper. A large part of the best humor is directed against narrowness, bigotry and ineffi- ciency. It promotes reforms, builds character and helps to solve polit- ical and social problems." It is a most powerful weapon for good when used with discretion. 3"The Nature of Humor," by John C. Almack, Century Magazine, Sept., 1928. Ideal eais T -L HIS material matches my sample in color and seems all right. Don't you think so," said a lady to the clerk in a small dry-goods store. He examined the sample carefully and answered: "I am sorry, madam, this isn't as good as your sample. The weave is coarser and the quality is not so good. We are out of that grade." The woman left, and the proprietor, who had heard the conversation, re- marked, "Young man, why didn't you tell the woman the material was what she wanted? You could have stretched the truth a little to make a sale. She would never have known the difference." "Well, I wouldn't care to tell a falsehood to make a sale," the young man replied. "Go to the desk and get your wages," said the proprietor. "You can't be a clerk of mine." The young man was Marshall Field who later founded probably the largest and best conducted department store in the world. — From Bulletin on Law Enforcement by Dean Milton Bennion.