cartoon themes: hospitals

Sex to Sexty, circa 1970s

Cavalcade, January 1943

Good Humor, October 1964

Bob Tupper
Good Humor, October 1964

Hello Buddies, June 1952

Bill Ward
Fun House, February 1979

Bill Wenzel
Fun House, February 1980

Bill Wenzel
Hi-Life, July 1963

Jaguar, circa 1961

Puck, circa 1880

Playboy, March 1970

Alden Erikson
Playboy, December 1967

Punch October 27, 1915

cartoons I don't get #41

Playboy, July 1963

Cavalcade, July 1942

Is there more to this?
For Laughing Out Loud, March 1960

I guess this is based on the “hung like a horse” cliché but I've never heard “hung like a centaur”
Sex to Sexty, mid 70s

He's not wearing a suit.
Hello Buddies, May 1955

I get that it's comparing the Wall Street bull to the golden calf, but are these supposed to be real people?
Life February 16, 1905

Helen Hokinson
New Yorker December 19, 1925

Playboy, March 1970

Howard Shoemaker
The Realist, June 1961

Frederick Opper
Puck June 16, 1880

The host of the British version of This Is Your Life, I guess.
Punch, April 1984

He's saying soldiers are fighting the Germans and it's taking away his movie business but how would they be able to see the battles without seeing them in newsreels, unless he's saying he's not getting enough business anymore because there are fewer civilians now. Which one is it?
Punch September 26, 1915

Punch February 4, 1920

Cartoons I don't get 21

Another cartoon, just like last week, I think about the Republican convention in Chicago, where having a third term was either something they were for or against. Whatever the case, I guess it was a big issue then. I think Grant was trying to get one. I don't know who all these people are either.

Considering even well-read people can barely keep track of what happened in the news earlier this year, it can be forgiven if anyone isn't clear on the most explicit political details of 135 years ago.

Puck June 16, 1880

“numphO-mania”? I guess if people were buying the magazines for the photos, there was no need for a proofreader for the text.

Fun House, February 1979

Hello Buddies. May 1955

Jest, circa 1942

Must have been the issues of that week. And if the legend about President Taft is true, I don't think he was this physically fit, , whether the story of his bathtub is true or not.

Judge October 9, 1909

Next two from Life February 16, 1905

Yes, I know this is a parody of the quote from Alfred Lord Tennyson relating it to these new motorcars, but is this supposed to be a caricature of anyone?

James Montgomery Flagg

Bernard Wiseman

Pic, November 1952

Buck Brown

If there was turbulence this bad, wouldn't everyone else notice and wouldn't the rest of the food also slide down?

This cartoon is fifty years old. See how many mistakes you can spot that wouldn't be possible in air travel today, even in first class.

Playboy, December 1967

Punch September 29, 1915

The Dude, March 1957

For those old enough to have been around during payphones, has anyone ever actually seen a number written on the wall near one? And even if so, did anyone ever actually call it? And even if so, have there ever actually been any successful hookups because of it? Was it the Tinder of the time?

Sid Harris

Playboy, January 1968

I wonder how many cartoons there have been where the punchline is that a newly married couple is checking into a hotel room solely for the purpose of screwing. Another cartoon where you'd get the joke now and look at it and think “So what? What's the big deal?”

The reason for a lot of repetition of so many gags is that the cartoonists probably didn't know that decades later, some guy would collect moldy old magazines just for the cartoons and put them on his blog.

He, March 1955

cartoons I don't get 20

I got a few but I'm going to guess at a lot of them.

Hello Buddies, June 1952
Reamer Keller
Coffee makes her nervous as does being near lecherous soldiers? Would this be acceptable in a post-Weinstein society? Or even a post-baby boom society, for that matter?

True, January 1953
This one too. Another gag where the punchline is that he's coercing a subordinate into sex. And this was a family magazine.

Punch September 26, 1915

Playboy March, 1968
He still has poker from the night before on his mind. Would a dealer cap sell the gag or just make it too obvious?

Ace January, 1964
Osvaldo Laino

Puck June 16, 1880
I don't need the history lessons here. I see that these were the Democratic and Republican candidates that year and those cities are where the convention was being held. But what do the sizes mean?
This one actually makes the most sense in this issue. I've got more from this magazine in my gag shuffle you won't be able to make heads or tails of. (And I wrote these next two words without realizing they've been co-opted) Believe me.

Punch September 11, 1927
Another “you had to be there” joke.

Outpost, February 1916

Hello Buddies May 1955
I guess she's either suggesting the engagement ring could be bigger or that they be married. But why is a searchlight on in the first place? Are they doing shadow puppets instead of making out or watching slides? And how come if she's holding the ring between her thumb and index finger, in the light it's in the web of her hand?

Judge October 9, 1909
I guess you wouldn't know it was a cop if he didn't have the word “COP” written on his hat. And is that a child or lawn jockey? And that's a really small pig.

Punch September 26, 1915

Life February 16, 1905
I don't even know if there's a gag here, I just find the caption really funny.

Man to Man, November 1965
Maybe there is no joke, just a funny drawing. It works on that level.