Oh what pun! — Funeral directors and lawyers

The reporter managed to hold off until the last paragraph to crack a pun.

And the editor couldn’t bring himself to strike it out.

Undertakers from Warren, Washington and Saratoga counties met at the Rockwell House hotel in Glens Falls to discuss forming a regional trade association, The Morning Star reported on Oct. 27, 1886.

“Not withstanding their funeral calling, the representatives of the trade assembled yesterday are pleasant-faced gentlemen, whose ‘grave’ responsibilities have not ‘shrouded’ their better natures in the least.”

Speaking of funerals:

“A dead reckoning — calculating one’s funeral expenses,” The Granville Sentinel, May 17, 1889.

Which outfit would you rather be buried in?

“Some men have blossomed out in new spring suits, while others still remain seedy,” The Granville Sentinel, May 31, 1889.

Lawyers, too, were frequently targets of editorial humor in northern New York historical newspapers.

“‘Lie on the left side,’ says a health journal. If it had been a law journal, it would have said, ‘Lie on both sides,’” The Granville Sentinel, June 7, 1889.

From the same issue: “In ancient times, everybody played the lyre. Now, the liar plays everyone.”

Knowledge of the Bible is helpful in getting the punchlines of some 19th century puns.

“Brother Talmadge says that Adam’s second son was the first Abel-bodied man on record.” — The Granville Sentinel, June 7, 1889.

John Philip Sousa might get a chuckle out of this pun.

“It is said that mermaids tie up their hair with a marine band.” — The Granville Sentinel, May 24, 1889

Here are some more great — and some not so great — puns collected from historic northern New York newspapers.

• “A tennis player is the boy for a racket.” The Granville Sentinel, June 7, 1889
• “‘A photographer is really among the most trusting of men.’ — ‘How do you make that out?’ — ‘Doesn’t he always take people at their face value?’” — The Argus of Albany, Jan. 8,1906
• “A correspondent asks us: ‘What is the finest thing in gowns?’ — Well, we should say, women.” — The Granville Sentinel, April 26, 1889.
• “A well wisher is one who invests in oil territory.” — The Granville Sentinel, Dec. 23, 1887
• “A ground swell — A successful dealer in real estate.” — The Granville Sentinel, April 1, 1887.
• “Politicians who are on the fence keep themselves well posted.” — The Granville Sentinel, May 25, 1888
• “When an American rushes into a restaurant for a five-minute meal, he generally begins with the fish; that is, he takes a perch at the lunch counter.” — The Granville Sentinel, Dec. 14, 1884

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