The Wit and Humor of America, Volume I | Page 4

into the heart,
to remain there treasured and unforgotten.
In these volumes are selections from the pen of all whom I have

mentioned, as well as many more, including a number by the clever
women humorists, of whom America is justly proud.
It is with pride and pleasure that I acknowledge the honor done me in
being asked to introduce this company of fun-makers--such a goodly
number that space permits the mention of but a few. But we cannot
have too much or even enough of anything so good or so necessary as
the literature that makes us laugh. In that regard we are like a little
friend of Mr. Riley's.
The Hoosier poet, as everyone knows, is the devoted friend, companion,
and singer of children. He has a habit of taking them on wild orgies
where they are turned loose in a candy store and told to do their worst.
This particular young lady had been allowed to choose all the sorts of
candy she liked until her mouth, both arms, and her pockets were full.
Just as they got to the door to go out, she hung back, and when Mr.
Riley stooped over asking her what was the matter, she whispered:
"Don't you think it smells like ice cream?"
Poems, stories, humorous articles, fables, and fairy tales are offered for
your choice, with subjects as diverse as the styles; but however the
laugh is gained, in whatever fashion the jest is delivered, the
laugh-maker is a public benefactor, for laughter is the salt of life, and
keeps the whole dish sweet.
Merrily yours, MARSHALL P. WILDER.
ATLANTIC CITY, 1908.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Acknowledgment is due to the following publishers, whose permission
was cordially granted to reprint selections which appear in this
collection of American humor.
AINSLEE'S MAGAZINE for "Not According to Schedule," by Mary

Stewart Cutting.
THE HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY for "The New Version," by
William J. Lampton.
THE AMERICAN PUBLISHING COMPANY for "How We Bought a
Sewin' Machine and Organ," from Josiah Allen's Wife as a P.A. and
P.I., by Marietta Holley.
D. APPLETON & COMPANY for "The Recruit," from With the Band,
by Robert W. Chambers.
E.H. BACON & COMPANY for "The V-a-s-e" and "A Concord
Love-Song," from The V-a-s-e and Other Bric-a-Brac, by James
Jeffrey Roche.
THE H.M. CALDWELL COMPANY for "Yes" and "Disappointment,"
from In Bohemia, by John Boyle O'Reilly.
THE COLVER PUBLISHING HOUSE for "The Crimson Cord," by
Ellis Parker Butler, and "A Ballade of the 'How to' Books," by John
James Davies, from The American Illustrated Magazine.
THE CROWELL PUBLISHING COMPANY for "Familiar Authors at
Work," by Hayden Carruth, from The Woman's Home Companion.
THE CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY for "The Love Sonnets of a
Husband," by Maurice Smiley, and "Cheer for the Consumer," by
Nixon Waterman, from The Saturday Evening Post.
DEWOLFE, FISKE & COMPANY for "Grandma Keeler Gets
Grandpa Ready for Sunday-School," from Cape Cod Folks, by Sarah P.
McLean Greene.
DICK & FITZGERALD for "The Thompson Street Poker Club," from
The Thompson Street Poker Club, by Henry Guy Carleton.
G.W. DILLINGHAM COMPANY for "The Tower of London" and
"Science and Natural History," by Charles Farrar Browne ("Artemus

Ward"); "The Musketeer," from Farmer's Alminax, and "Laffing," from
Josh Billings: His Works, by Henry W. Shaw ("Josh Billings"); and for
"John Henry in a Street Car," from John Henry, by George V. Hobart
("Hugh McHugh").
DODD, MEAD & COMPANY for "The Rhyme of the Chivalrous
Shark," "The Forbearance of the Admiral," "The Dutiful Mariner,"
"The Meditations of a Mariner" and "The Boat that Ain't," from
Nautical Lays of a Landsman, by Wallace Irwin.
THE DUQUESNE DISTRIBUTING COMPANY for "The Grand
Opera," from Billy Baxter's Letters, by William J. Kountz, Jr.
PAUL ELDER & COMPANY for Sonnets I, VIII, IX, XII, XIV, XXI,
from The Love Sonnets of a Hoodlum, by Wallace Irwin.
EVERYBODY'S MAGAZINE for "The Strike of One," by Elliott
Flower; "The Wolf's Holiday," by Caroline Duer; "A Mother of Four,"
by Juliet Wilbor Tompkins; "The Weddin'," by Jennie Betts Hartswick,
and "A Double-Dyed Deceiver," by Sydney Porter ("O. Henry").
THE FEDERAL BOOK COMPANY for "Budge and Toddie," from
Helen's Babies, by John Habberton.
FORDS, HOWARD & HURLBURT, for "The Deacon's Trout," from
Norwood, by Henry Ward Beecher.
FOX, DUFFIELD & COMPANY for "The Paintermine," "The
Octopussycat," "The Welsh Rabbittern," "The Bumblebeaver," "The
Wild Boarder," from Mixed Beasts, by Kenyon Cox; "The Lost
Inventor," "Niagara Be Dammed," "The Ballad of Grizzly Gulch," "A
Letter from Home," "Crankidoxology" and "Fall Styles in Faces," from
At the Sign of the Dollar, by Wallace Irwin, and a selection from The
Golfer's Rubaiyat, by Henry W. Boynton.
THE HARVARD LAMPOON for "A Lay of Ancient Rome," by
Thomas Ybarra.

HENRY HOLT & COMPANY for "Araminta and the Automobile,"
from Cheerful Americans, by Charles Battell Loomis.
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & COMPANY